Sunday, April 27, 2008

Will Amazon enter the CAE industry?

I really enjoy listening to Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon. He thinks out of the box and it has been proven time and again that he knows how to make things happen. I have to admit that I only understand a small portion of what he is saying regarding the scalability of Amazon etc.

But I stumbled on an article in this month's Wired magazine on Amazon Web Services (AWS). There was a reference to "cloud computing". Essentially it allows start-ups, developers etc. to develop the next best thing while utilizing the massive computation and hardware resources of Amazon. They have dumped close to $2B into the IT infrastructure. Yeah, B=billion!!!

So, this seems like a variation of ASP's (Application Service Providers) or something that could rival Google Apps. This idea has been around for quite some time, but until recently broadband accessibility was in its infancy. This is changing rapidly. It will not be in the distant future that we will be connected all the time, everywhere we go.

Web based computing for engineers is not too far behind. Some companies already offer this service for a small select % of their users. However, the process is too clunky, model sizes are too large and the amount of user interaction is too high. I firmly believe that this will evolve in the near future, drastically. It is already happening on the PDM/PLM side of the world. Take Arena Solutions, for example. They coin their technology, "on demand".

I am looking forward to the day when Upfront CFD is available as an online app. The computing can be done "in the clouds". Allows for really large models to run really fast. Would be kind of odd to do your engineering design via Amazon? But, I think it will only be a matter of time before one of the big boys gets involved in CAE. Whether it be Amazon, Microsoft, Apple - whoever. Personally, I hope to never have to deal with these monster companies. But, I would love to leverage some of their technology to make our lives a bit easier.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Everyday is Earth Day

Today is Earth Day. It has been an annual event to promote awareness and appreciation of the Earth's environment. I remember attending a festival ~15 years ago and it mainly consisted of hippy environmentalists. Today it is becoming a part of everyone's responsibility to do their part.

We as consumers are encouraged to be conscious of the energy we consume, the trash we create and the products we buy. It is amazing how easy it can be if we just take a minute to think about it. We can all adjust the thermostat, recycle what we can and turn out lights that are not being used. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

We as engineers have a responsbility to do what we can to help expand the technology to make the world a bit greener. We in the simulation world are seeing a surge in optimizing products to help the cause.

I am looking forward to doing my part. I am also looking forward to seeing the technology that evolves in an effort to help improve the environment.

Monday, April 21, 2008

CFdesign is the Preferred Industry Partner for Autodesk

This post is more than just a marketing plug. I've been running Inventor since it came onto the market. It sure started off slow. It lagged substantially behind SolidWorks and Solid Edge. But over the last few releases it has advanced quite a bit.


I was fortunate enough to participate in an Autodesk event a few weeks ago. I saw first hand the vision of Autodesk the company and the plans for Inventor. It was awesome to see how Alias, Autocad, ProductStream etc all worked seamlessly together. I am really looking forward to the world of Simulation for Autodesk, I think they have a bright future in an untapped market for their customers.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) is around the corner

We have had quite a bit of success helping folks in the Oil & Gas Industry design better products. It is interesting that 95% of what they do involves fluid flow and some thermal, yet doing CFD early in the design phase is relatively new to them. Quite similar story in many industries, actually. But this all changing for the better. Check out the video below (has audio too...).


We will be at OTC this year. For some this may be near and dear to you, others - probably not. OTC is the world’s foremost event for the development of offshore resources in the fields of drilling, exploration, production and environmental protection. With more than 2,500 exhibiting companies, divisions, and subsidiaries, the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) is the largest conference and exhibition in the offshore industry. It is being held at the Reliant Center in Houston, TX on May 5-8th, 2008. We are sharing booth #5763 with our friends at Autodesk.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Remoting into your Remote Office???

It is often the case that you need to gain access to your "other" computer. Whether you are in a colleague's office, at home or traveling. If you are on the network, you can always use Remote Desktop in Windows. Seems to work ok, but definitely has its issues.

Since I work remote, I have a small little network that I can use Remote Desktop to view my desktop from my laptop. Works fairly well when I am downstairs and do not feel like running upstairs to check on a model. But what happens when I am on the road? I cannot seem to use Remote Desktop. The documentation claims that there is a "web" option, but I can never seem to get it to work.


Enter GoToMyPC. It is a web based system that you can connect to any computer as long as you have an Internet connection. It works really well. While in Europe, I have been able to successfully connect to my desktop back in the US, even with a slow connection. I can run applications as well as copy files back and forth with only a small delay.

I am interested to hear if people have had similar experience with Remote Desktop in Windows?

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Marin Bikes are designed using Autodesk Products

I wrote in a previous post, that I have been bicycle shopping. I chose to stick with REI as my bike shop. Quite a few reasons why I chose REI, partly because it is local to my house and I figured I'd support the co-op. The two main bike brands that REI sells are Novara and Marin. It was tough to decide between the two, but I noticed the Marin had a sticker "designed using Autodesk". Being a big fan and user of Autodesk Inventor, I easily picked the Marin.

I decided to go with the Marin Muirwoods 29er. It is a hybrid bike that I can ride mostly on the streets of Philly but allows me to hit some of the gravel paths in the neighborhood parks.


Here is another shot of a model our team worked on for one of the other bike manufacturers.


I am looking forward to the warmer season and one of my goals this summer is to drastically reduce the need to drive a car. Not only is it great exercise, but it is one of the many things I think we all should be doing to help improve the environment.

Upfront CFD for Consumer Products: A Wake-Up Call

The more I do an unofficial market analysis, the more I think the potential for Upfront CFD is endless. There are all of the obvious applications for fluid flow and thermal simulation, but I find that often engineers do not even realize that they are having issues.

I was at an event a few years ago manning our booth. People were stopping by to see what all of the buzz was about. I gave him my 30 second pitch to what we do. I then said, "so do you have any flow or thermal issues?" He gave me the standard shrug and said, "no, not really. I don't see any application for us." Forever being stubborn, I said, "what does your company make?". "Vacuum cleaners!", he responded proudly. It was a defining moment for me. It is not in his mind-set to identify with "flow & thermal issues". It is my job to ask, "what are your design challenges?" Once I asked this question, the flood gates opened and they are now a great customer.


I tell people that the applications for Upfront CFD are endless. I woke up this morning and within a few minutes, I identified 15 applications. My mobile phone alarm buzzed early this am. As I rolled out of bed, I heard the roar of a public transportation bus (valves, hvac, hoses, radiators, electronics, hydraulics) outside my window. I walked into the bathroom, turned on the faucet, looked in the mirror and saw the washer and dryer in the corner, debated about a shower and went downstairs. I clicked on my XM radio player, walked into the kitchen for some coffee and noticed the refrigerator, coffee pot, blender, oven, microwave etc. Strapped on my shoes and ipod to walk the dogs as I heard the heater kick on. Oh yeah, I forgot to check my email on the laptop. Point is begin to think about devices and products and and ask yourself is there a fluid flowing in or around it or does it need to heat up or cool down? If so, you can probably optimize the design using Upfront CFD.

The above images are only a small percentage of the 1000s of applications out there in the world. CFD has been around for along time, but has really been used predominantly by specialists. Often people in the Consumer Product world, thought CFD was too complicated or was over-kill for their needs. Times have changed -- go see for yourself.

Monday, April 07, 2008

A "Must-Have" for Road Warriors

I have always debated about lugging around a surge protector when on the road. I always stayed away from it, as I have plenty of stuff in my bag. But the more international traveling I do, the more I realize I need to bring one along. There are three main instances where I find it super valuable .
  1. In a foreign country, I have one adpater. I want to charge both my laptop and my mobile phone.
  2. In an airport, I am struggling to find power, all of the outlets are taken. I can now make friends and can always get someone to share as I am providing the "strip".
  3. At a conference or meetings, everyone scrambles to plug in to the "one" power strip in the room. Again, I am making friends.

I just scored this Monster Outlets to Go from Radio Shack of all places. Personally, I don't ever think of Radio Schack for this type of thing. Maybe I should. It's definitely my favorite gadget for the road right now.

Saturday, April 05, 2008

The "Avg Joe" Relates to Upfront CFD

I have been bicycle shopping over the last few weeks. I have hit a handful of the local bike shops. It's becoming clear that the bike offerings are all similar - brands vary a bit, but in general, they are all very similar. Well, at least at the level of bike that I am looking for. The real difference is in the shop. In other words, its the support of the local shop that makes all the difference.

It is great to be educated by guys that are passionate about what they do. I sure learned alot in the last few weeks. One of the local shops sells Trek bikes. He was telling me stories about how focused Trek is on performance, not only on the structural integrity, but aerodynamics as well. Wow, finally we were now talking my language. I casually mentioned that co-workers of mine closely work with the Trek engineers to perform fluid flow simulations to optimize the performance of their bikes.

The tables were turned a bit, as now, the bike shop guy had a bunch of questions. After a few minutes of discussion, he said, "so, your software allows the engineers to do a bunch of 'what-if" scenarios before testing them out in the wind tunnel? That's really cool, they probably have the liberty to try all kinds of things." It was really cool to see a guy just get it. He related right away to something that he knew very well and was able to see the benefits of doing simulation early in the design process.

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

A Quick Spin on Wattage Training

As with everything in my life, I am either all-in or nothing. In an effort to be healthier and greener, I am jumping into the bicycling community. I pick my new bike up next week, so I will get to that later. But in the meantime, I picked up a free rag at REI that covers various sporting activities.

There was a really cool article on "Wattage Training". In essence its a fairly new way which athletes measure their performance. For years, people measured heart rates etc. But measuring your Power, makes perfect sense. Super excited to be able to include a formula.

Where,


P = Power


F = Force at the pedal


V = Velocity


C = Cadence

So in simple terms, if I ride for one hour up hills, into a head wind it may require 1000 kilojoules (kj) of work. But if I was cruising along an easy flat surface with a nice tail wind, it may take me 2.5 hours to do the same amount of work. This method also provides a great way to determine the amount of calories that are burned as well.

Totally paraphrasing this poor guy's article, go check it out at the link above.

Anyway, I thought I needed to add this little gadget to my new gear. Bit pricey for a newbie, but someday I am jumping on this.