Finally-- some good news about somebody spending some freaking $$$ on a good thing.
Genuinely excited for these dudes. I could easily be classed as a fanboy of Spaceclaim as I have written about it enough. But, it's more than that. It's all about a group of folks that have some really cool technology and believe that there is a better way. They are rockin' the market up a bit finding their way. I am hoping with some more cash, they will rock even harder. Their product is a score for anyone that has found bumps in the road with geometry when it comes to simulation, among other things.
It's a tough world out there in the 3D CAD space, but all things are not created equal. There are some folks that just need to grab, pull, move. There some of us that need to merge, delete, align. Simple as that.
I consider myself fortunate to have a good relationship with quite a few of the folks there. Check out Kevin Leblanc putting it in his own words.. Good stuff boys, good luck!!
Everyone in the world blogged and posted about this a few weeks ago. I have been burning at both ends and neglecting the old blog. But figured it was worth a quick me too post. Check out the video below, it highlights some of the coolness.
Exciting to see our friends at Autodesk, jumping full bore into the simulation world. They are doing what thet do- taking tactful, well thought out implementation of the technology. Some might say a bit slow, some might say just fast enough. They have a dedicated audience of fanatical customers that can truly use some of the FEA capabilities coming from the Plassotech acquisition and expand out into the Mechanical Event Simulation stuff in Algor.
Personally, we have seen a huge interest from the Inventor community in flow and thermal simulation. The future for the Autodesk community looks bright, lots of cool stuff. Looking forward to the day when I am running flow simulations in CFdesign while sculpting my Inventor models with some of the Alias technology and morphing and pulling with Fusion. This day is not too far in the future
But what caught my attention was the first sentence, "If you’re a design engineer working in a “typical” manufacturing company, you may be spending60% to 80% of your time updating and optimizing old designs, or making changes for ECOs, instead of creating new designs."
They are some bold statistics. There are a ton of companies that are putting themselves at risk updating and attempting to optimize old designs utilizing physical testing or good old intuition. Whether it is a brand new design or an improvement to an existing design, the main question is -- how are design changes determined? Another question, why is a change required- did it fail in the field? If so, do you know why? How convinced are you that the failure will not happen in the future. Did you simply over-design it this time so that it will certainly not fail again? How much time are you wasting "re-designing"? For every minute you are spending "fixing things", you are allowing your competitors to gain momentum. The old-guard way of over-designing is a death sentence in a rough economy. Companies literally cannot not afford to spend a ton of time and money physically testing everything. But yet, you cannot just wing it and hope for the best. If you are reading this and are finding that you are asking one or more of the questions above, now is the time to act.
Design decisions need proof of concept. Above is a model of the natural convection in and around an avionics assembly. The thermal management of this assembly was optimized over the course of a few days where a number of "what-if" scenarios were investigated before one physical prototype was created. Once the optimal digital design was identified, a physical model was built and tested for verification. Companies that are not conducting some level of digital design studies are putting themselves at risk. The technology is available, you need to see how it can help your bottom line.
The last thing I would say to someone is simply, go purchase some software, it will solve all of your problems. Investing in Upfront CFD or CAE tools is a true investment. You are investing in a technology that has to save you money and time but most importantly provides an opportunity for innovation. There are a few vendors that specialize in creating tools that are tested and proven to solve your problem.
CFdesign is focused on solving flow and thermal design challenges. We created and own the Upfront CFD market. I'm convinced that if you are finding yourself in a tough design environment that involves flow and/or thermal design challenges, we can help. Give one of the folks on our team a call, we have pretty much seen it all and can give you a straight forward solution to your problem.
Who is responsible for the thermal management of your electronics components? The answer to this question varies. Some companies rely on their mechanical engineers, others have dedicated thermal engineers. The tools used by these two groups tend to be quite different.
Some of the mechanical engineers have access to MCAD tools. It is a natural progression for these guys to leverage their existing geometric models and use an upfront tool for flow and thermal simulation. It allows for a nice compact environment where you can do parametric digital design studies right on the desktop. We, at CFdesign, have been helping companies solve their flow and thermal challenges for over 16 years in this space.
But there are a fair number of mechanical engineers and the majority of thermal engineers that do not drive MCAD tools everyday and rely on the mechanical designers for that part of the process. This group tends to gravitate to analyst type tools simply because up until recently, that was the only option. There is an unfortunate disconnect between the design guys and the thermal folks. There needs to be a bridge between the two extremes.
We have been seeing a fair amount of "gopher popping". A silly term for engineers popping their heads up and looking around to see what's out there. Times are tough and money is tight. They have been spending a tremendous amount of money on these analyst type tools. Many of these tools have gone through major acquisitions lately and they aren't getting any cheaper.
A simple solution would be to engage with your mechanical group and leverage the models that already exist. But the simple fact is that you still want a fast intuitive modeler to put together some basic layouts, have the ability to read in ECAD data and often times chop away the excess of the MCAD model so that you can strip out only what you need.
There is a better way. Take a serious look at our friends at Spaceclaim. Above is a bit of an old skool demo I did about a year ago.. They have a super cool, intuitive modeler, reads in all the major MCAD data, has a slick ECAD reader and on top of that is completely integrated with CFdesign. Works exactly like it does with all of the MCAD tools. Open your model in CFdesign, run a simulation, make a change in Spaceclaim, copy all of your settings and compare your what-if scenario in CFdesign.
I need to update a demo to show the ECAD module, its pretty fierce. Ping me or my buddy Jeff, both be happy to show you the Spaceclaim/CFdesign combo.
I've ranted enough about itunes. Time for an alternative. Clear example of poor user experience. Some people may love it. Personally, I hate it. My main gripes...
I store my library on an external drive, the same external drive everytime and itunes never remembers. So each time I plug into my network, it fails to recognize the drive. Drives me crazy.
For various reasons (no comments, Charlie), I reinstall my OS fairly often. itunes only allows 5 computers per account, so I am constantly in a deauthorize/authorize war.
I have more duplicates of songs than you can imagine. I am sure it is operator error, but give me a break.
For an Apple product, the ui sucks. Try multi-selecting and then trying to right click to create a playlist on the fly? Just lame all around.
So, now, what's my alternative? Good question. I am not totally sure. But, I am narrowing in on a few alternatives. Evaluating Banshee and Rhythmbox. Ideally, would love the manager to be web based???
Saying goodbye to satellite radio (XM) is hitting me a bit harder. I have been a huge fan of satellite radio for a few years. Recently been dedicated to XM but at one point I had both Siruis and XM. The merger was music to my ears. I listen to XM online, in the car and via DirectTV. But recently received an email that I had to commit to a year contract in order to continue listening online or pay an additional fee. Fair enough, I tried upgrading online to pay the monthly fee, no dice. After an hour on the phone and countless solicitations to commit to a 3 year contract, I am done. Really bummed. Here is where satellite failed me.
There is close to ZERO online support.
The online player hasn't been upgraded in years, its clunky and old.
Lack of effort supporting portable devices. They missed the boat altogether with this one. They partnered with Napster but there was no easy way to seamlessly have my music wherever, whenever.
No iphone app. Biggest mistake they made and believe it was one of the final straws that they are a dinosaur and not able to quickly capitalize on a perfect oppty. I don't want yet another device to listen to my music.
I've been listening to Pandora, Last.fm and recently, Slacker. I like Pandora but the selection is limited and repeats are common. Last is ok, but the interface is too busy, I can't seem to want to use it. A friend suggested slacker. So far so good- upgrading to the Pro account for a few $ a month is worth the no commercials and unlimited skips. I like their automatic link to amazon for purchase.
I am not a slacker power user, but I do have one gripe. I am able to create a playlist by song, and it begins to play my songs but then includes "similar" songs. I want ONLY my songs???
They are also pushing their own portable player, would rather use my own mp3 or ipod player. Their iphone application is awesome! So, how about allowing me to listen "offline" for a fee for flights etc.
So, who is using Amazon? What do you think? What are you using to manage your music? How about Rhapsody, Napster, what else?
I love my netbook. I have a Dell Mini 9, 1GB RAM, 16GB SSD, ubuntu Linux OS. I jumped on it as soon as they were announced and was on a 2 month back order. Very un-Dell-like, but worth the wait. As with everything, it is always good to wait until something matures, but in this case I was eager. Below is a screenshot of my desktop with twhirl opened so you can get a sense for the size.
I know some folks are in the market for a netbook and figured I'd give a list of some advice/experiences.
I have the 16GB SSD drive, it was the biggest that they offered at the time. You can get way bigger now. I wanted to try life living in the clouds and so far so good. Majority of my files are in the clouds, only thing installed locally are applications. But, I'd go bigger if I had the choice today.
I went with Linux as something I just wanted to do. ZERO regrets. I am very interested in Linux but was worried how I would interact with the world, ubuntu is truly amazing. It is a completely new way of thinking about Linux. I use it as much for work - office, online interaction.
It came installed with ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) with the netbook remix interface. I have since upgraded to 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) without much issue and have skipped the remix interface.
Know what to expect. A netbook is just that. A computer primarily intended to be used as for web browsing, light office application work.
Watching tv, movies. Works like a charm if downloaded, 70% of the time it works streaming, but sometimes delays etc. Boxee is not working, hulu most of the time.
Expect to pay $400-500. The $200 being advertised, you will quickly find are very low end machines. Pay the extra cash, its worth it. Extra cash comes with large storage, more memory, integrated camera and bluetooth.
I am getting used to blogging now, but it wasnt ideal initially. I was lost without SnagIt (linux issue, not netbook). Also the tiny keyboard takes some getting used to. I still fat finger it alot.
Really think about how you will access work, other files. I have settled on box.net, but still not perfect. There are a whole list out there.
Google docs is a fantastic tool. I couldn't use it all the time, but its awesome. Great tool for netbook users. Collaboration is nice. Downside is if another collaborator doesn't have a google account. They claim otherwise, but that's been my experience. Also, no "review" tools.
BIGGEST disappointment is the lack of 3G integration with the mini9, no excuses at all. It should be a requirement if you have a netbook. Live and learn for me.
Most netbooks do not come with a CD/DVD drive, I purchased an external one and it was a total waste of money. I used it once to watch a movie.
I have the Timbuk2 bag, really nice but it fits exactly the netbook and power cord, no room for a pen even.
Battery life is pretty solid-- I get ~4hr with the larger Dell battery.
I also bought speakers and a mouse. I would skip both next time. The creative speakers are nice, but they are now attached to my desktop. The mouse is still in the packaging.
Web browsing takes some getting used to as the screen size is tiny. It is working ok for me, but I'd also take a look at the soon to be released mini10.
Here is a shot of the CFdesign home page in Firefox. Should give you an idea of the aspect ratio. I have both the netbook and the iphone. I couldn't imagine life without either. I know there is a trend that smaller is better and everything is going toward the handheld. I agree up to a point, but if I had to choose one, I'd go with the netbook, no question.
The beauty of the hardware vendors making strides in technology is a great thing for all. It simply drives the market to a point where really powerful computing power is available to the common man, not just the elite early adopters.
It was only a few years ago that the idea of parallel computing was really only available to a select few. Parallel computing, of course, is the ability to leverage multiple machines connected together via a VERY high speed network connection for the purposes of doing some sort of computation FAST. Really fast.
Those of us in the Upfront CFD world or anyone in the CAE world for that matter, can always benefit from a bit more horsepower. Whether it is to help solve a really large model that can't be solved on a standard workstation due to its size OR to reduce the amount of time a monster model takes to solve OR to speed up the process of your multiple what-if scenarios. In other words, all in an effort to SAVE TIME.
With Microsoft jumping into this world with Server 2008 HPC Edition, it now makes it possible for mainstream engineering companies to enter the world of High Performance Computing (HPC). This is clearly not a dig on Linux computing farms. I am a huge Linux fan, writing this post directly from my Linux netbook.
So why is Microsoft a game changer? Simple answer- they are familiar to people. But there is more to the story- the hardware needed is becoming mainstream. So it is really a combination of the two. Any engineer or IT professional can now setup a "cluster" or a "computing engine" and take advantage of the power in numbers.
So, here are two scenarios that you can consider when looking at hardware for your computing engine.
You can look at purchasing 2, 3 maybe 4 workstations or (equivalent servers) from Dell or HP or whoever. You will need to ensure that they have an infiniband connection to hook the two together. Fancy word for saying that each machine has a card and special cable for the processors to communicate to each other. Don't bother trying to connect via Ethernet, you'll use Ethernet to put them on your network so that you can communicate to them from a remote machine (laptop, workstation etc). Connecting 2 machines would require a cable, more than 2, you will need a "switch". The more you want the more it will cost, BUT the quicker the solve, the bigger the return.
Here are a few pics of my multiple machine computing engine.
Here is the front- obviously.
Here is a look at the back. Pointing to the two infiniband connections (not ethernet) "hooking" the machines together to form the cluster. This whole configuration is in the $10k price range. This specific configuration are Dell Precisions with dual dual core processors and 8GB RAM each. The setup is fairly straightforward and is worth the effort for the cost.
But, if you have a bit deeper pockets, not super deep - but deeper. You could go with the "cluster in a box". This is literally, unpack it and plug it in. Really nice. The "infiniband" type connections are all built into the box. In this configuration, each computer is referred to as a "blade".
Here is a shot of the back of the box. Each one of the "slots" with a green light is the individual blade(computer). This box has 5 blades in all. The beauty is that this works as 2 clusters - one with 3 and one with 2 computers each. Essentially, the same speed/config as above.
Extremely exciting times right now for Design Engineers that are currently in or thinking about getting into the Upfront CAE space. There is massive potential for doing way more than we have ever been able to do before.
Personally, I am anxious to see where the MCAD world, MCAE space in general, finds itself leveraging various forms of cloud computing in the near future.
Unfortunately, I will be missing SolidWorks World 2009 this year. Not to worry, fortunately, many of the SW fanatics and even some employees will be delivering the blow by blow commentary via Twitter.
For those not familiar with Twitter, dig in and try and catch up. For those that are familiar, check out the little beauty below that I snagged from Gabi Jack's site (yea, thankfully, she is tweeting from #SWW09).
Leave it to the crew at SolidWorks and their legion of dedicated users to yet again, be thinking out of the box and leading the charge. Surely not the only vendor leveraging twitter, but there is a fairly large presence of SW folks tweeting. Check out this SolidSmack list..
Since the beginning of time, Upfront CAE engineers have always been pushing the limits of computing power. The CAE industry has always been leading the charge in maximizing computer resources in attempt to solve larger and more sophisticated problems. Even in the early days when solving a simple 2D stress analysis, the computing power required was much greater than what was available to the average user.
The battle is on two fronts: "get more with less"and"get more with more".
GET MORE WITH LESS
There are some of us in the world that are using workstation class laptops, such as the Dell M6300. This is a powerhouse machine that is capable of handling fairly large CAD models and can run fairly large CFD models. The benefits of a workstation laptop are pretty obvious: ability to have all engineering AND office applications all on one machine, with the ability to take your work on the road or simply having the ability to work at home/remote etc.
So what are the negatives???
Machines and power supplies are a bit bulky and HEAVY- not the most ideal for traveling
Battery life is SUB-par even for basic office applications; near useless for CAD or CFD work
Durability is questionable- I have had about 7 of these machines and everyone has had hardware failures in less than 2 years
The "all-in-one" machine becomes unusable when a simulation is running.
There is a risk to having your number cruncher mobile. If the machine drops or is damaged, you risk losing valuable information that sometimes takes hours to days to compute.
Progressive companies that understand the need for speed, budget accordingly and provide engineers access to a second machine. Sometimes this secondary machine is shared. Some companies have grand-visions of having a computing "server". I like to call this the "machine in the corner". The idea is that users can work locally on their laptop or mortal desktop and have the big ole' "machine in the corner" to crunch the numbers. Many organizations pull this off, but many have come up short. Why is this?
The fact is until recently, the "machine in the corner" was expensive and could do more than the laptops or smaller desktops but were always plagued with out-dated memory, limited access when outside the company firewall and unreliable means of interacting with the "machine in the corner" efficiently. So, what inevitably happened was that machine was often monopolized by one or two guys and the machine would just crank away for hours. Or WORSE, the investment is made and the only thing happening in the corner is dust collecting.
GET MORE WITH MORE
This methodology is what I refer to as maximizing the investment. Just when we were seeing a slow down in the "machine in the corner" way of life, it is having a bit of a resurgence.
Let's take a look at why...
People are "connected" more now than ever before
It is a common way of life in companies to provide access from "outside"
Computing power is increasing everyday
CAE vendors are automating sophisticated analyses; making things easy today that were not even possible only a few years ago
FEA and CFD are becoming mainstream; therefore the demand is increasing everyday
Engineers want to solve larger and more sophisticated models
CAE is becoming part of the design process, so the need to run multiple cases as part of a design study is becoming mainstream
Hardware prices are now within everyone's reach
Hardware performance is increasing everyday
But as the "machine in the corner" is becoming popular, so are the "MACHINES in the corner" OR the "cluster in the corner". But, don't panic, it is not your father's compute farm that I am talking about. Parallel computing, distributed computing or High Performance Computing has been around for quite some time and is heavily used by the elite companies in the world that have 16, 32, infinite number of Linux computers at their disposal to run models for their superstar analysts. These clusters are very sophisticated, require a dedicated team of analysts and IT professionals to maintain and utilize its immense power.
What I am talking about are simple, 2, 4, maybe 6 basic nice windows machines that are networked together using Windows Server 2008 and an Infiniband network connection that can run multiple models in a fraction of the time it would take on one machine. For organizations that are seeing the value of leveraging FEA and CFD simulation as part of the design process and have a need to do multiple "what-if" scenarios or have always felt limited in what could be run due to hardware limitations, can easily justify the cost of a few machines to speed up the process and deliver results that used to take all night. These models can now be run in a few hours.
So, let's say it takes on average 6 hours per simulation and even on your most efficient week you were able to run 2 models/night. You were getting ~10 simulations done a week or 10 what-if scenarios a week. Imagine if you had 2 dedicated machines making up your "cluster in the corner" and you were able to run 45 simulations a week. Or think of it a different way, what took you a week, you can now get done in a little bit more than a day. That payback on efficiency can easily justify the cost of the additional hardware and the software licensing required to access the increase in speed.
This idea of a plug and play cluster will be a game changer for those companies that have felt as if their hands were tied. This is the next generation way of thinking about Upfront CAE. Keep your eyes peeled for the trends from the various vendors.
It is no secret that CFdesign is very focused on High Performance Computing (HPC) and providing a means to solve larger models and more what if scenarios FAST. This doesn't mean that the doing "more with less" crowd will be left in the dark. The needs of the Upfront market are vast, and the technology out there is constantly changing. All of the chip maunfacturers are promising performance boosts in the near future. Quite frankly, the R&D that happens in the area of performance benefits everyone. Getting just a bit more from what we already have is just as important as anything.
Finally, after all these years, I think I have a system. I have never been more buried in email than in the last few months. I used to LOVE email, obsessed with it, checked it constantly- drove my wife nuts. Now, I am quickly beginning to hate email. My obsession(s) have simply grown to texting, instant messaging & tweeting. I can't have my info fast enough. And I surely don't want to miss anything.
To support a greener lifestyle and reduce clutter, I try to work in a paperless. environment. I have been looking for an electronic way to capture and store, "my stuff". I have a ton of it and you never know when you might need it. Believe it or not, I find that I need alot of it often.
So, one of the best self-help books I ever read was given to me by my good friend, Jeff.Getting Things Done is hardcore, I am not as good as others, but I have learned to keep my inbox to a minimum. GTD says zero each day, my goal is less than 20. There is quite a bit more to GTD but this was a huge takeaway for me.
Anything I want to store as part of an ongoing "project" goes in Evernote. I have developed a very simple system for organizing. I use the notebooks in Evernote for projects or sub-projects. I name them by @projectname ( I wish they had subnotebooks). The way to organize data in Evernote is via "tags". I didn't get it initially and I am not sure I am 100% sold, but I am running with it. So, I place multiple tags on each posting in a notebook, usually with a #subject, *contactname, keyword. Seems insane, but it remembers all my tags, so many of the @, #, * are very similar. I simply pick them from a list. So, lets say I have a call scheduled with *jim. I can sort by "*jim", all the topics are then listed by #subject and I have all my notes, clippings, attachments (with Evernote Premium) and things that are high priority I tag with a #1. Seems complicated, but it is working really well. Any files stored other places, no problem, hyperlinks handle that.
Now, all "other" email, not pressing,"FYI stuff" I delete and use Xobnito search, sort, find attachments etc. It is the coolest "find" of last year. I saw a post thought the name was cool, INBOX backwards and it is a SCORE! Go grab it, trust me.
Working in the CAE world on multiple computers and being a globetrotter I deal with massive file sets (CAD, CFdesign, images etc), bigger picture stuff then stuff I'd store into Evernote. I used to carry around a 100GB external drive and though I was bad ass, found that this did nothing but get filled with data. So, I still have that (3 actually) but for the important documents I use 2 systems. The first is Live Mesh. Very cool way to flag a folder on one machine, upload the content to the web and include a folder on another machine. So, I have the data in 3 locations, seems like overkill, but it allows me to work seamlessly on local drives (external drives) are shady when dealing with CAD and Simulation files. Live Mesh is free and allows 5GB, not too bad. Live Mesh used to be all I used when I had a Windows Mobile phone. As there was a mobile version as well.
BUT I just jumped on the iPhone bandwagon and Live Mesh is no dice for iPhone. I also use my beloved UbuntuNetbook, doesn't play nice with Mesh. So, I use my trusted box.net as well to share mostly Office docs back and forth among all my devices. It has an awesome iPhone client and Open Office works like a charm on my netbook.
Last but not least is Jing Pro. I used to be a fancy SnagIt/PPT guy, still am for some things, but my new way of communicating is to use Jing to grab a quick screen capture and pop it up to my free screencast.com account and shoot you the link. It is like receiving an audio/video voice mail, text or email Nothing more powerful to clicking a link, I am talking to you and showing you exactly what my question is, no heavy file transfer etc-- just a simple link. Jump in for free with Jing, upgrade to Jing Pro as needed.
When I read all of this back, it even looks overwhelming to me. BUT, I feel like my efficiency has gone WAY up, everything is nice and orderly. No major effort keeping everything in synch, all the tools seem to just do it for me.
I am not sure that David Allen had this in mind when he developed GTD, but this is how I make it work for me.
The CAD industry can be a tight, competitive industry. Yet, we are still seeing some serious innovative technology coming out of the various players. Every year there seems to be the "new thing". The buzz over the last 12-18 months has been history-based vs. direct modeling.
A good majority of mechanical engineers are familiar with history based solid modeling MCAD systems. Everyone knows the major players - SolidWorks, Inventor, Pro/Engineer, NX, Solid Edge, CATIA etc.. There are numerous advantages to a history based system. I won't bother pitching it as I think most will agree with some of the advantages.
But let's talk about some of the disadvantages. Probably the biggest disadvantage is when it comes to collaboration. This is a very broad category that involves collaborating with other CAD designers, the CAM guys, the CAE folks as well as other CAD systems. Many of the CAD systems can fail quickly if you attempt to break a parent/child relationship. In essence, if you are trying to edit a feature that depends on another, which may depend on yet another. If you are not exactly clear how this model was built or how it all ties together, it can be very frustrating to try and edit a simple feature. It is somewhat the nature of these systems, but a good majority of the issues come back to POOR cad modeling practices. One can easily argue that the system allows the poor practices, therefore, its the systems fault. I'm not sure we will all ever agree on this one.
So, what is the solution? Many, me included, think that Direct Modeling can be the answer. Almost every vendor out there has some form of direct modeling initiative. Siemens has probably been the most aggressive in marketing their Synchronous Technology. So, imagine that you can have a powerful CAD tool like NX or Solid Edge and you can simply then just grab, pull, and drag the geometry around. From a simulation guy's perspective, this is an amazing capability. So, let's say I have a valve assembly and I run a quick CFD simulation to measure pressure drop and attempt to identify the inefficient flow locations. I can then simply grab and shape the internal flow pattern and "morph-it" as if it were clay to "smooth" out the flow patterns? This quite bluntly will change the way engineers design if implemented properly.
Recently, Autodesk announced their version - Inventor Fusion. Their technology will be embedded inside Inventor (to be released soon). Autodesk may be at an advantage as they are still (others as well) converting companies from 2D to 3D. So, feasibly, you will have a sector of engineers that are not familiar with history based systems and will see the best of both worlds. Not only will they have parametric capabilities, but they will also have the power of interacting with their models in a unique way. But most importantly, this will seem natural to them as they won't know any different. It will be very interesting to see if this methodology takes off.
Gotta mention our friends at SpaceClaim. They may not have invented the push/pull concept, but they certainly are taking it and running with it. They are one of the easiest/coolest modelers out there, especially for those of us in the simulation world. Not only can I model the way I expect and want, but I can also bring in geometry from essentially anywhere and edit, delete, push/pull features at will. I have praisedSpaceClaim many times here. But its only fair to say that these direct modelers have some really powerful grab and pull capabilities. BUT -- they must allow some for of parametrization, some sort of dimensioning, some way to tie my model together.
WHOA, sounds like I am suggesting the dreaded parametric, history-based modeling? Or am I suggesting some sort of hybrid modeler. Call it what you want, fight it out in your strategy meetings. But here is what I (the market) wants for simulation, at least..
I want a very powerful (capable of complex shapes), SUPER modern and fun to use, ability to edit other CAD systems, ability to create constraints/dimensions/parameters (ideally with the option to drive from a table/excel) that can create multiple "configurations" on the fly and have unique simulation tools (gap/interference detection/repair, small feature removal, part simplification (dumb down part by part).
Is that too much to ask? The CAD system/modeling system that can dial this in will have a leg up on everyone else.
No, I haven't been kidnapped by aliens. I have been a bit consumed getting ready for the birth of our son. Welcome Finn Hogan Cooper. Big boy entered the world at 10lbs (4.54kg). Mom and baby are doing well.
Dad is in a bit of a fog as I am working the midnight shift while my wife gets back on her feet. Thank goodness for coffee.
How is everyone feeling today? First real work day of 2009. Yeah, ok, some of us worked last week. But, in general, today was the day.
Affectionately referred to a "heroes to zeros" day. In reference to those that had a good previous year. For those that didn't lick the wounds and move on. A wise old sales guy told me once, "its not what you've done, it's all about what you do."
This is the last attempt to be inspirational for awhile, I promise. I am looking forward to 2009 just starting. I'm looking forward to the end to planning, projecting, complaining, worrying and discussing. I am looking forward to just doing. I am a half descent planner, but I am a great do-er. That doesn't mean I always do it perfectly right. But I sure give it my all.
If tonight is any sign of the year to come, it will be a doozy, as I am wooped.
Not complaining, just wooped. Don't settle, Go get em'
Usually at this time of year, I am cleaning up my office, cleaning up computers, doing a bit of reflection and getting ready for the new year. This year was certainly one for the record books in my life. So the dust seems to be settling later this year than ever before. I worked primarily in Europe and feel like I earned 5 years of experience in just 12 months. It was fascinating to visit and begin to understand how engineering organizations operate in various countries.
My biggest take-away this year is to stick to my guns, listen, learn and respect those around me and push myself to strive to be better everyday. Everyday should be better than the day before.
There is definitely a sense of uneasiness in the air on the state of world lately. I think 2009 will be an extremely tough year. The strong will survive, many will struggle and some will fail like never before.
Blame can be passed around and rightfully so. But the fact is that "it is what it is". It is an absolute requirement that everyone has to suck it up and make the best of a crappy situation and show the world what you are all about.
If you are worried, maybe a little scared? You're not alone. Acknowledge the fear and move on and do something about it.
Personally, I am feeling optimistic. More than optimistic, actually. I plan to do exactly what I know how to do. Work hard, work smart, engage with people, build relationships and help engineers overcome their design challenges.
Whatever it is that you do. Make sure you do it this year better than you ever did it before. You owe it to yourself and to everyone else!
I think we are all familiar with the story of The Christmas Carol. Good ole' Ebenezer takes a trip through the past, present and future to see the impact he has on his own destiny. Got me thinking of how it relates to where we are today in the engineering software world, specifically the CFD world.
If we take a quick look at the PAST, we see that CAD was changing the way that engineers designed products. In the 80s and into the 90s 3D CAD was considered to be on the high end of the design spectrum. It wasn't mainstream, but by only a select few industries. There was an even smaller sector of very specialized engineers that were focused on CFD. It was used primarily in the automotive and aerospace industries. There were numerous independent codes that were developed to solve a particular problem. Some of these specialized codes evolved and morphed into various portions of commercially available software. Some of which is still available today.
The typical user was a very specialized engineer, usually a PhD, that was focused on driving and in many cases customizing CFD software to solve a very specific problem. The use of USR (user sub-routines) was common. As was spending a tremendous amount of time building a mesh manually to hopefully solve a very simplified version of a particular problem. The end result was often a very anti-climactic simple vector and iso-line plots Not to mention, the computer power required to solve these models was either super expensive to buy or needed to be shared/rented.
Over the years, huge strides have been made in geometric handling, automatic mesh generation, infinite list of numerical (solver) methods and true real-life visualization. Many of the commercial vendors made improvements in making it "easier to use". But let's face it, anything was easier than what was available in the beginning.
That brings us to the PRESENT. Dare I say, that CFD is "beginning" to become mainstream in a number of industries. It is used by engineers with various backgrounds. Safe to say that you can't turn your head and identify a product, piece of equipment, or device that a CFD model was run at some point.
Many of the older, "traditional" CFD vendors are finding themselves in a difficult position. They are still serving a very specialized community of "R&D" engineers that are solving very sophisticated problems. The vendors are trying to make their software easier to use so that they can touch a wider audience. Some are remaining very general purpose, others are creating specific verticals and some are creating "CFD-lite" programs. It is very challenging for a company to have multiple products that serve vastly different markets. But the challenge drives deeper as many of the vendors do not realize that the markets are vastly different. Many feel that if the product is easier to use, then the market that is serves grows. This isn't exactly true.
Some of us, work for the new generation CFD companies that are focused on mainstream engineers that happen to have a need to optimize their designs from a fluid flow and heat transfer perspective. I'll spare you the sales pitch. But think it is only fair to acknowledge that there are a variety of challenges involved in taking something that is technically very complex, and make it simply work - all the time, for every situation, the way that "Joe Engineer" expects it to work.
The crunch that the world is finding itself into lately is only going to make things tougher on the vendors but should result in some pretty amazing products for engineers everywhere.
So, what does the FUTURE hold for the CFD market?
The monster CAE vendors that are gobbling up company after company have their hands full to deliver quality products that serve a unique market of design engineers that need to make CFD a part of their product design process.
Expectations of design engineers is growing everyday. Users with minimal experience expect that the CFD software will help solve their problem with minimal input (requiring automation), extremely fast (requiring sophisticated software) and help bring products to market faster (requiring design insight beyond traditional visualization).
New-generation engineers expect instant gratification. CFD software should work like all of the other tools that engineers use. We will begin to see MCAD, CFD, Office and Web Applications looking and working alike.
High performance computing, distributed computing, maybe even cloud computing will become a normal part of an engineers day to day.
Communication and collaboration tools (including Social Media) will play a bigger part in the product development community.
Just a bit of reflection on where we've been and where we're going.
I snagged this little gem from Ben Eadie's blog, Solid Mentor. I thought it was a great video to sit back and reflect upon. Jon is a great presenter and obvious visionary. I was fortunate to attend some of the SolidWorks Worlds' in the early days. His presentations always have everyone sitting on the edge of their seats, mentally recording every word. Always fascinating to see the new guy come onto the scene, make a ruckus but then dominate.
I am anxious to see what the future brings. I think we are on the verge of seeing some big breakthroughs on the CAE front. Some of my own predictions.
I think touch screens will make a breakthrough into the CAE market in the very near-term and change the way we interact with our computers/models.
3D Printing will become much more popular as performance, as well as fit and function become more and more important.
Social Media will change the way engineer's communicate and collaborate. Perhaps slow to adopt this type of technology, but once adopted it will grow exponentially.
Upfront CAE will become an integral part of the "designers" day to day.
Direct/hybrid modeling is here to stay. I dont think parametrics will go away, but the hybrid, push and pull (w. optional dimensions and constraints) will be the modeling approach moving forward.
Anyone that has followed this blog during the Holidays knows that I like to have a bit of fun and try and create a CFdesign Holiday-inspired model. I wanted to get this bad boy posted before XMAS. A video will be posted to You Tube shortly.
In the spirit of the season, I reached out to friends at the various CAD companies to see if anyone had a model to share. I'd happily give credit where credit was due etc. Figured it would be fun.
Well, the folks at SpaceClaim not only stepped up, but they are clearly over-achievers. I mean that in the best way possible. Check out the image below of the model they sent.
I honestly wasn't expecting much of a response at all. So, I felt obliged to deliver on my end. Here are some of the images from the model run in CFdesign....
Ok, a few take-aways on this experience...
The guys @ SpaceClaim are awesome to deal with. Super responsive in a genuinely interested in helping kind of way.
I forgot how much fun SpaceClaim is to drive. When I received the model, it was really fancy, tons of gaps, small surfaces, interferences, surface and solids. I was able to wack it up in SC in a matter of no time to get it "meshable" in CFdesign. Some of the tools in the 2009 BETA are awesome.
Spaceclaim just works. Its definitely different than CAD, but from a simulation perspective, it is a great modeler. I learned a ton by just clicking away- their UNDO is second to none.
Another year, another Holiday model from CFdesign. Nothing like waiting until the last minute, to get this one out the door. Better late than never. Stay tuned, I have another awesome model to post from the boys at SpaceClaim.
I am finally developing an actual system to store all of my "stuff". That's emails, random thoughts, to do lists, grocery lists, project organizer, attachment bucket. You name it and I put it in Evernote. I have preached this message before.
I just saw an announcement that Evernote Premium allows me to attach or embed files (MS, pdf etc) as thumbnails in my notes. This is awesome. Something I have been wanting for some time.
So the catch? Premium costs money, Basic is free. How much?
Drum roll.... Evernote Premium is $5/month, $45/annual. Not a bad deal at all.
I feel like I am doing my part by supporting a product that I have been using successfully for months. Why should it be free? It shouldn't.
Ok, now that I have plugged Evernote.. Here is my wish list.
I want an output button from SnagIt to Evernote. I can't seem to get the hang of the "Clipper".
I want markup capability in Evernote, similar to SnagIt. I want to be able to highlight, circle, draw arrows etc to stuff that I clip. Currently, I do all of this in SnagIt and then save to Evernote. The problem is, sometimes I want to edit them.
Third, creating a to-do list or numbered list of tasks needs some work. I want it to work more like Word. Currently, it is more like Notepad.
So, now that I am a paying customer..... are you listening?
Look at Autodesk, jumping head first into spending some coin. $34M for Algor, hmm, not sure what to say about that. It looks like Autodesk is falling in line with all of the other monsters out there and just gobbling up as much technology as possible. If you look back, they acquired Plassotech a few years ago and more recently Moldflow. They have been fairly slow to incorporate these two products into Inventor. Slow is all realtive, I suppose. But, the buzz has been fairly silent.
I just returned from Autodesk University and was a bit surprised that there wasn't more buzz along the lines of simulation. Tons of hype over "Digital Prototyping", but not as specific to simulation. Not overly surprising as Plassotech has historically been a fairly small player, at least in this part of the world. But Moldflow, was always the standard in mold simulation. I was expecting more "holy cr*p, look at that cool animation" type stuff at AU.
Now we look at Algor. Fairly well known, but always tagged (perhaps unfairly) as the low-end side of the market. Someone referred to them as "Wal-mart style FEA". Not sure that is fair, but still pretty funny way of putting it. After all, Wal-mart is kicking some tale in our little economic "crisis".
The rags are reporting that Algor had revenue of $12M and sold for $34M-- ~3x, not bad. What is the motivation of Autodesk to acquire "yet another" FEA code? Well, look at ANSYS. Why did they purchase CFX and a few years later, arch enemy, Fluent? Is it the technology, install base, potential revenue, future revenue? My hunch is that it is a little of all of the above. I think Autodesk is targeting the up and coming companies. Companies that are still transitioning from 2d to 3d. Companies that still live in a 2d/3d world. These are the same companies that want an introductory step into FEA and simulation. So, perhaps Algor is a fit?
Here is my slant on all of this stuff. I think it is fascinating to see all of these monster companies (Autodesk, ANSYS, Dassault Systems) swallow up all of the market and transition themselves as an all encompassing "solution provider". The concept of "one-stop" shop is great in theory. But it is all about the execution. Can a CAD company, successfully implement, support and develop mold simulation software? Can this same company successfully integrate a CAD system, with a mold simulation tool and work seamlessly with a thermal stress module? Maybe -- no easy task though.
Take ANSYS, for example, can a company founded on structural FEA simulation evolve into a CFD company powerhouse? Goose is getting fatter and fatter. Will it lay the golden egg? Time will tell.
Think back a few years ago. Our good friends at SDRC. They were a powerhouse in the world of CAD/FEA/PDM. Now? They are swallowed up inside of Siemens. Did you ever think that SDRC wouldn't be a major player in the future. Ok, arguably, they still are just with a different wrapper. My point is will we see another disruptive technology come along and make it an even playing field with a bunch of small independents fighting it out like it was in the 90s with SolidWorks and the like? Or will the monsters rule? Editors note: I loved the 90s. Personally, I hope we go back :)
How about our friends at PTC? Who is sleeping at the helm with regards to simulation? Will PTC stick it out and ride the PLM wagon? Suppose Pro/engineer was sold? Suppose PTC sold their CAD business or "retired" it and bet the farm on Windchill.
I know, I'm stretching it a bit. Some of my predictions from last year were way off. What do you want me to say? Such as life. Another famous list will come out in 2 weeks.
Longest hiatus I have taken from blogging since I started. But, I plan to come back in full swing over the next few weeks. I am noticing that my email inbox is growing out of control. I am trying to stay on top and stick to my GTD roots. Getting harder and harder everyday. Just spent a week in the UK, staying on top of email and had to clean out over 200 "strays" over the weekend.
I have Outlook folders etc but I find emails just get lost in the mix. I find them difficult to search (takes too long), they get archived, crappy tagging system etc.. I then began to use Evernote as a "catchall" file system- I use tags to organize, clips, snagit grabs, links, photos and now email.
But, I still struggle to find certain emails etc. Especially those that contain attachments and especially those that have attachments that cannot be dragged into Evernote. So, I downloaded Xobni (clever--INBOX, spelled backwards).
So, I use it as an awesome search tool within Outlook. It is fast, relevant and easy to use. Probably one of my favorite tools of 2008.
I have been fortunate enough to gain access to Inventor 2010. New "ribbon" interface is really, really well done. I think like everyone, I wasn't a huge fan of the ribbon when it came out, but have grown to really love it in many different applications (Office, SnagIt, Spaceclaim, SolidWorks etc). I have downloaded Solid Edge, but need to brush up my Edge skills before I can comment on the UI.
AU attendees were privileged enough to get a peek into the future. Here is a quick list of what I could type while watching..
2d design kinematics- so you can have linkages, mechanism sketched and interacting in 2d- saves from having to have a full 3d model when working on kinematic stiff.
dynamic simulation - so you can take the reaction forces from a fully kinematic simulation and automatically go into a stress analysis.
parametric optimization - structural simulation design studies on different geom in Inventor based on a goal.
industrial design sketcher- I'm not an ID guy, but it looked very much like a pencil sketching on paper, but it was actually creating 3d sketches that can be turned into surfaces and solids, it was amazing realistic
tech pubs- really cool exploded view and tech publications a la Inventor
inventor fusion- really cool hybrid modeling that will be available in Labs very soon.
I sat through one of the keynotes kicked off by Buzz Kross this am. I have to admit, I agree with the messaging coming out of Autodesk. Always one to try and stay impartial - Autodesk is definitely heading down the right path.
Grossly paraphrasing, Mr. Kross, but here are a few blips that I jotted down.
"Digital Prototyping is Innovation..."
"..if you make a physical prototype, you are limiting innovation..."
"..much more design choices can be made if Digital Prototyping is used..."
This was echoed by an awesome presentation by Burt Rutan, founder of Scaled Composites. His presentation was really interesting. Paraphrasing a bit, but a big take away for me in regards to design engineering in a troubled economy.
"...breakthroughs occur when we are threatened, during the bad times, not the good times..."
He gave a reflection of the 1960w when we put a man on the moon. It was a fragile time- fear of the cold war, Cuban missile crisis, unpopular Vietnam war etc, yet INNOVATION still occurred.
So, yes, times are tough. But, there is plenty of opportunity out there to come out on top and fix what is broken. The tools are there, we as engineers need to use them smartly and get back to the basics and innovate. Lead the charge and show the world what we are all about.
I am a mechanical engineer with over 10 years experience working in the CFD/CAD/FEA market.
I work for Blue Ridge Numerics, the developers of CFdesign. I am the Product Manager and responsible for the overall product line life cycle from strategic planning to tactical activities..
