Every year since 2020, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has held a special day in early March to celebrate the work of engineers and their achievements in our modern world.
The day, recognized as World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development, aims to promote engineering as a career and raise awareness of how engineering and technology have a positive effect on our daily lives as well as contributing to a more sustainable future. Here at Dassault Systèmes, that mission really resonates.
Days like these are a great opportunity to reflect on the huge progress we’ve made as a society thanks to engineering. They’re also a chance to consider how we can continue to develop best practices and innovative solutions to address some of the world’s most pressing issues, particularly related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and dealing with the impacts of climate change.
Dassault Systèmes is proud to work with some of the most brilliant minds in the engineering world and support them to bring their innovative ideas to life through the power of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. Here, we put the spotlight on some of our own engineering success stories:
CSI Entwicklungstechnik: Designing sustainable vehicles from the ground up
The German engineering company works with leading automotive manufacturers to solve their most critical engineering challenges. Today, that involves helping them to develop truly sustainable vehicles. Using cloud-based LCA tools in the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, CSI is making environmental assessments and calculating the carbon impact of products and vehicles right from the design concept stage.
Learn about CSI’s sustainable automotive manufacturing.
Electrum: Affordable electric motorcycles
Created by Indonesian firm PT Energi Kreasi Bersama – a joint venture between TBS Group and GOTO Group – Electrum is an electric motorcycle brand. Its first vehicle will feature swappable batteries so riders can continue their journeys without waiting to recharge. To imagine, develop and industrialize its new electric motorcycles at speed, the company made the decision to handle all product development on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud, and is already benefiting from seamless design and engineering workflows.
EPFL: Making motorsport a force for good
At the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) research university in Switzerland, a group of students are shining the light on how Formula Student can contribute to a more sustainable world. It’s the first Formula Student organization to have its own sustainability division committed to measuring and reducing the carbon footprint of the team and its cars at every stage of development. Sponsored by Dassault Systèmes, the EPFL Racing Team takes advantage of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud to design and engineer all aspects of its racing cars and, using the dedicated Sustainable Innovation Intelligence solution, carry out an in-depth lifecycle assessment (LCA) of its competing vehicle.
Evolectric: Transforming old trucks into electric vehicles
California-based Evolectric develops electrified transportation and battery technologies for commercial vehicles. Through its CircularEV approach – managed entirely in the cloud on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform – the company is breathing new life into older vehicles and repurposing them to be 100% electric and smart. Combining circular economy principles and advanced electric vehicle (EV) technology and services, it can swap out a truck’s existing internal combustion engine and parts for an innovative electric powertrain, new cooling system, battery, electronics, and chassis, and updated the cab, making it cleaner, smarter and more affordable to run.
Learn about Evolectric’s CircularEV approach.
NAAREA: Turning nuclear waste into clean, decarbonized energy
In France, NAAREA is developing a pioneering micro nuclear power plant capable of delivering abundant, carbon-free and decentralized energy at scale and using up radioactive waste in the process. To bring XAMR® (eXtrasmall Advanced Modular Reactor) to life as fast as possible, the startup company is creating a functional version of the fast neutron micro reactor in the virtual world first and using this integrated virtual environment to manage all its design, engineering and manufacturing processes. Everything is being handled on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud.
Pacific Consultants: Protecting civilians from landslides
Among its many areas of expertise, Japanese civil engineering firm Pacific Consultants designs erosion control weirs, also known as check dams, which directly stop mud and landslides. Today, the company uses the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to validate its check dam designs virtually and work from a continuous digital model throughout an engineering project. Engineers appreciate this collaborative and transparent approach, which helps them to come up with new infrastructure designs and analyses much faster than before.
Read more about Pacific Consultants.
Piveteaubois: Sustainable construction materials
Paving the way for positive change in the construction industry is French timber company PIVETEAUBOIS, which makes cross-laminated timber (CLT) – a sustainable multi-layered wood panel used for making large-scale walls as strong as concrete. Moving to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud empowers the company to embrace new production methods, cater to customers’ individual requests, scale up to meet demand and make the entire product development process as efficient as possible.
Discover more about PIVETEAUBOIS.
Sunway: Solar fences for rural areas
Based in Busan, Korea, Sunway specializes in solar and renewable energy solutions. The company is behind an innovative idea to make crop production and solar power generation work in harmony with its solar fences, which can be installed around the edge of fields and crops. Sunway uses the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud and an integrated modeling and simulation (MODSIM) approach to develop its solar fences. Testing and refining its designs in the virtual world helps to speed up R&D and save significant costs along the way.
Rebecca Lambert est journaliste et copywriter freelance basée en Grande-Bretagne.