Equestrian sports are not something one generally associates with an ANSYS blog. Normally we blog about the realization of a jet engine program, or the promise of a new car on the road with lower emissions, or — to quote a recent blog by my colleague Daniel Burton — “How ANSYS Can Save the UK Economy.”

So why equestrian sports? I have a passion for horses, as do my family and many friends. Most of them compete at various levels in the equestrian world, and it’s in the equestrian world where a recent convert to ANSYS is making things safer.

Charles Owen designs riding helmets that benefit the equestrian world. Using ANSYS, the company designs and creates riding helmets that meet required standards well before they are manufactured. In addition, Charles Owen continually works developing techniques that maximize dissipation of energy from an impact. Continue reading →

Have you ever wondered how the electricity at your wall socket was generated? Or how the fuel in your car was produced? I expect you have at some point, as the things we see and do every day continually remind us of fuel prices, sustainability and the complex environmental issues concerning the energy supply.

For me, electricity is a hidden source of energy.  It’s not usually “seen” and it can’t be smelled or tasted. But with the click of a switch, you can experience its power. Our lights turn on, the TV flashes into life and our smartphones receive a much-needed recharge to make it through to the end of the day. But electricity doesn’t just appear from out of nowhere. It needs to be generated somehow — and here we look to coal, gas, solar, wind and wave, to name but some sources.

I recently attended a regional energy conference and was fascinated by two very different speakers’ presentations. One focused on the need to keep safe and extend the life of our existing, aging energy assets, such as for oil and gas extraction; the other emphasized making more cost-effective supply and manufacture of new, sustainable assets, such as wind and wave power generation. You might say these topics represent two very important aspects of our future energy supply, and of course, the environmental debate that surrounds it. Continue reading →

You never know what you’ll find when cleaning out a workshop. Several months ago, my husband and I spent some time cleaning out my father-in-law’s workshop in Meaford, Canada. He was an accomplished woodworker, a marksman, and could fix just about anything. My father-in-law had, as my husband said, two of every tool plus one to spare, so sorting and cleaning this space was quite a chore. Under a pile of hand tools covered in sawdust, we discovered a small, worn wooden box.  Surprisingly, the inside was lined with satin and velvet and contained part of a set of drafting tools with plastic handles carved to look like ivory. We found more of this set around the workshop — well used and obviously well loved by the woodworker. We collected the tools and put them back in their toolbox.

But how did my father-in-law come to have this elegant set of delicate tools? Continue reading →