Q: What industry challenges are driving the need to increase the use of modeling and simulation (MODSIM)?
A: When I travel and meet our customers at their locations and at our events, I hear similar challenges among them. Certainly, time, cost, global economics, and environmental regulations are driving the expanded use of modeling and simulation across all industries. Product development companies aim to build fewer (or zero) prototypes to reduce time, costs, and waste while reducing the risk of product failure during operation.
Product development organizations are also looking for solutions to improve process efficiencies, decision-making, and product quality throughout the design process, leading to growth in the use of simulation earlier in the development cycle.
Other important areas that will benefit from simulation solutions include sustainability (CO2 emissions, green energy, etc.), battery development, new materials innovation, and connected cyber systems.
Q: What are some of the industry requirements for simulation?
A: Each industry has unique requirements, and a diverse range of industries are empowered to leverage robust multiphysics/multiscale simulation applications to solve their challenges. For example, theTransportation and Mobility industry requires more simulation to develop vehicles that meet fleet emission mandates. This requires managing the development of multiple powertrain configurations across their vehicle lineup, including internal combustion engines, hybrids, hybrid plug-ins, full-electric vehicles, and research for hydrogen power. Connected vehicle systems, including Driver Assistance and fully autonomous vehicle developments, also demand more simulation within the electronics and mechatronics fields.
The Aerospace and Defense industry is being influenced by the need for sustainable aircraft and the growth in low-orbit satellites for communications, geo-mapping, and climate forecasting. The growth in the number of satellites and space programs requires reliable electronics and lightweight yet durable reusable launch vehicles.
The Life Sciences & Healthcare industry is growing in medical device and implant development to meet the demands of aging populations.
The Infrastructure & Energy industry is looking for alternative and new energy sources that must be developed and maintained to handle the increasing demands for charging electric vehicles, computational power for expanding AI applications, and electrical transmission grids for powering businesses and homes. There are industry requirements to explore CO2 capture and storage solutions and meet plant maintenance and fitness for services requirements, in which modeling and simulation play a critical role.
The High-Tech industry’s growth in semiconductors and mobile devices requires simulation to improve processor (chip) designs and performance, including those related to size, design space, wireless transmissions, electronic interference, heat, moisture, and drop-testing, among other functional performance requirements.
The Consumer Packaged Goods industry is in demand for green, recyclable packaging, which is driving growth opportunities for analyzing the complex behavior of metals, plastics, paper, glass, and fluids and related manufacturing processes to reduce material usage and improve the reliability of packaging during manufacturing, storage, and shipping.
Q: What do you see as Technology Trends in simulation?
A: Our customers want to improve their product development through Digital Transformation Initiatives. Unified Modeling and Simulation (MODSIM) is a critical part of that transformation. MODSIM unifies modeling and simulation on a common data model within a single user experience on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. The goal is to consider the whole product development process and break down barriers. The movement away from working in silos to a more integrated approach is more the norm in today’s landscape.
Advances in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) is not just a trend in the simulation industry, but is a cornerstone of how we will use simulation in the future. I believe this will drive increased use of simulation by requiring substantial use of simulation to train and validate the AI/ML models, now and in the future. AI/ML models will continually need maintenance and additional training, which will further drive the use of simulation. And, simulation models will provide data for virtual validation to AI/ML in the same way that simulation and physical testing are used in the verification and validation processes today.
The trend of using the 3DEXPERIENCE cloud platform is growing within small and large organizations. I’ve heard end-users report that they highly value access to our Software-as-a-Service and high-performance computing on the 3DEXPERIENCE cloud platform. This acts as a “kick starter” on the cloud, allowing them to perform simulations from any computer anywhere, at any time. Plus, it gives them access to more computing capacity than they have available on their local computers or networks (especially in smaller companies that have not invested in local compute clusters). By using the 3DEXPERIENCE cloud platform product development organizations can run more simulations at higher fidelity while reducing the cost and maintenance of on premise computing infrastructure.
Organizations must understand that digital transformation is more than accessing simulation software or high-performance computing resources on the cloud. It’s also about connecting people, processes, and data. All of the required design and simulation applications and the associated functional requirements and results are available on 3DEXPERIENCE on-cloud to all stakeholders, such as designers, industry process specialists, simulation experts, and manufacturing teams. This enables them to collaborate on their projects securely, in real-time, across global time zones, which improves efficiencies, reduces manual errors, and helps them confidently accelerate innovative products to market.
As we start to wrap up 2024, I’m looking forward to connecting with our customers at upcoming events, including India in November and the MODSIM Summit in early 2025, to discuss how we can innovate the future together. There are many challenges as industries change and technologies grow, but simulation continues to evolve and transform.
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Sebastien obtained his mechanical engineering degree from EPFL in Switzerland in 2001. He began his career at MTU Aeroengines in Munich, focusing on aerodynamics and structural analysis. Later, he assumed various Technical Director roles at EXA Corp in Europe. In 2014, Sebastien became the Managing Director for the Aerospace Industry, a position he held until the integration of EXA into Dassault Systèmes in 2019. At Dassault Systèmes, he served as SIMULIA Head of Aerospace and SIMULIA GEO Leader EUROCENTRAL until July 2023, when he transitioned to the role of SIMULIA VP Sales and Marketing.