CFD is Cool..it's even on YouTube

Amazing to see how far along CAE software has come. It is becoming more and more mainstream. So cool to see it being used in so many different applications. Programs are becoming easier and easier to use, it simply allows more and more people to use them. It was only a year or two ago that SolidWorks had the boys from Orange Country Choppers guest speakers at SW World.

The fact that people are posting clips on YouTube simply proves that CAE and specifically CFD are becoming mainstream.

There are literally countless videos of CFD, CAD and FEA examples posted on YouTube and even MySpace. It's really awesome to see our little world becoming mainstream. See for yourself, go to http://www.youtube.com. Search for "SolidWorks", "Autodesk Inventor" or any of the other mainstream packages out there. Funny if you search for "CFD", you will get a bunch of Chicago Fire Department videos. But dig deeper, you'll find them - try "cfd flow".

It makes me wonder what the future brings? Meaning, exactly how mainstream will it become? We are already seeing the number of vendors reducing substantially due to acquisitions and mergers. Dassault Systemes has SolidWorks, Catia and ABAQUS (now re-branded Simulia). Siemens has Solid Edge, UGNx and its own NASTRAN version. Not to mention, ANSYS, who just seems to just be buying and buying. I posted earlier on PTC acquiring CoCreate. And last but certainly not least, Autodesk has finally entered the simulation market by purchasing Plassotech earlier this year.

What's next? Who else will get into the mix? Adobe has entered quietly with their version of a 3D pdf. It is only a matter of time before this is being used all the time. It simply will expose 3D models that we engineers build everyday to the rest of the world.

I wonder if Microsoft, Yahoo, Google or even Apple will get into the game. Can you imagine Google being a CFD vendor? Or better yet, Steve Jobs demonstrating at a user conference? I am probably getting carried away. But you never know...