NOVEMBER Q&A SOFTWARE
2019
Q&A: From democratising modelling and
Quick on
the draw
simulation to helping engineers
produce ventilators for the NHS,
software is enabling innovation
at a pace never seen before. The
Engineer spoke with experts from
COMSOL, PTC and Autodesk to ask
about the demands that are driving their
solutions.
Meet the panel
Bjorn Sjodin, VP of Product Management
at COMSOL
Paul Haimes, VP Europe Technical Sales
at PTC
Andy Harris, Senior Principal Research
Engineer, Autodesk Research
What trends or customer requirements
are driving developments in your product
area?
BS: One of the biggest trends driving
the development of modelling and
simulation software right now is the
need for democratisation. Modelling
and simulation of physics-based
problems is an extremely powerful
predictive tool in product and process
development. The technology is so
valuable to organisations that many
consider it urgent to make these tools
available to a wider audience than just
simulation experts. COMSOL provides
leading technology in this area for app
building, app compilation and enterprise
deployment of apps to serve this need.
PH: 2019 saw forward-thinking
Experts from COMSOL, PTC
and Autodesk reveal the trends
that are their driving their
solutions forward
May 2020 / www.theengineer.co.uk 32
greater innovation in the design and
manufacture of vehicles. Advanced lightweighting
approaches via generative
design will be pivotal to improving
power consumption and the range of
vehicles. While different materials and
compositions will improve the structure
of vehicles.
Can you provide one or two examples of
how your products are helping customers
meet their challenges?
BS: Using simulation apps, people who
are not simulation experts can run
their own tests without needing to
comprehend the complexities of the
underlying simulation. This means an
entire organisation can benefit from
simulation, which leads to an increased
understanding of how products will
behave in the real world. Also, apps with
highly specialised user interfaces can
help exceed customer expectations.
In addition to providing customers
with results in terms of standardised
documents, apps allow customers to
view the results and even manipulate the
inputs by themselves. Simulation apps
bring real-time answers directly to sales
meetings, pitch talks and discussions on
the factory floor.
PH: PTC is a partner in the
VentilatorChallengeUK consortium,
led by High Value Manufacturing
Catapult CEO Dick Elsy and leading UK
engineering businesses. The consortium
has used PTC’s Vuforia Expert Capture
JASON FORD reports
PTC’s Vuforia
Expert Capture
AR Technology
can be used to
assi
companies making it a breakout year for Augmented Reality
(AR). Now, as COVID-19 forces companies to look at new ways of
providing assistance to workers and customers in other regions,
more and more companies are seeing the true value of AR.
Companies are now seeing the gains in worker efficiency and
quality, whilst reducing the cost of training by more effectively
transferring knowledge to new workers via AR. The issues
presented by Covid-19 go way beyond the everyday business
concerns of productivity or cost - this is about the health and
safety of workers and thus demands a far more urgent and
targeted response, and AR can provide this.
AH: Globally, companies are using generative design to solve
engineering challenges and produce new design solutions that
meet their needs, in less time and with less negative impact on
the environment. One such area is the automotive industry.
The move to reduce the carbon footprint of the sector has driven
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