Still catching up with the backlog of CFD news but there’s a lot of good stuff including a new Lattice-Boltmann method, several open positions for those of you who are looking, financial updates from several companies to assess how they’re weathering the macroeconomic slowdown, a glowing review of Discovery Live, and a multiphysics simulation of the sound an electric guitar string would make when plucked. Shown here is a FieldView visualization of helicopter downwash from their presentation at the Altair Technology Conference.
Software
- Tech-Clarity would like to know what you need from CAD in the next decade.
- What’s new in Simcenter Flotherm 2020.1 for electronics thermal analysis.
- Researchers at the National Univ. of Singapore have introduced an improved Lattice-Boltzmann method, the simplified and highly stable LBM.
- An introduction to the Fluid Dynamics Engineer role on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. [I am really out of date with respect to this platform because it’s unclear to me what a “role” is in this context.]

Jobs & Stevies
- Altair seeks to hire a turbulence modeling expert, someone to develop new physical models for an SPH code, and an expert in electrochemistry.
- Chalmers University [no relation] has an open PhD position involving CFD and thermal comfort in urban areas.
- Congratulations to Cadence for winning two Golden Stevies, one for Most Innovative Tech Company of the Year and one for Innovation of the Year for the company’s Clarity software.

Financials & News
- 3D Systems‘ gross revenue for Q2 was down 29% relative to the same quarter last year. The company announced a reorganization and a 20% headcount reduction.
- Stratasys fared no better with a 28% loss.
- ANSYS on the other hand was up 5% during Q2 with gross revenue of $385 million which includes the largest deal in the company’s history.
- ESI reported a 13% decline in Q2.
- The U.S. DoD awarded grants to eight universities for hypersonic research, many of which will involve CFD.
- Read about the engineering simulation revolution on automation.com.
- Engineers Rule enumerates the benefits of the cloud for CAE. #3 Simplified data management.
- Tecplot and Pointwise announced a partnership whereby the former will distribute the latter’s products in Europe.

Events
- It’s too late to submit your abstract for SAE’s WCX 2021 (call for papers closed 18 September) but it’s important to note they’re “pivoting to a hybrid event” with both virtual and in-person components.
- While there hasn’t been any official news one way or the other, it’s fair to assume that the next Symposium on Overset Composite Grids and Solution Technology won’t be held in 2020 as planned.
- The 16th OpenFOAM Workshop 2021 will be hosted by University College Dublin, will be online, and will be held on 8-11 June. Abstracts are due 31 Jan 2021.
- Dassault Systemes’ Global 3DEXPERIENCE Modeling & Simulation Virtual Conference will be held on 17-18 November 2020.
- The FieldView presentation from Altair’s ATCx CFD 2020.
CFD for…

- Tesla’s Octovalve. [These folks did a CT scan of this complex valve used for thermal regulation yet I can’t even be bothered to pop the hood of my car.]
- The Ares Design S1 V8 supercar. [It’s interesting that their “extensive” client research will result in a maximum of 24 sales, because that’s all the cars they plan to make.]
- Batteries to store solar-generated power.
- Electric guitar sounds. [OK, it’s not CFD but the application is kinda cool.]
- A Ford Mustang’s torque converter.
- Tugboats and workboats.
The Geometric Meets the Organic
The tension between the geometric and the organic is palpable in Sipho Mabona‘s origami-inspired, cotton-based works. The cotton sheet, the natural dyes and the frayed edges bring softness to the otherwise hard-edges, so much so that it imparts a strong desire to touch the work.
Form and color are never separate and Mabona’s folded third dimension brings light and shadow into the image, elevating the simple to the sublime.
See more at Colossal.

Bonus: Which square is larger?