When we’re children, the concept of time can be, at best, sketchy.Summers feel endless, Christmas is an age away, and the weekend always takes too long to come. In some respects, that sense of timebeing elastic can stay with us in various forms as we grow up. That feeling we all occasionally have of last years holiday feeling like it only happened yesterday, while that meeting from last week being lost in the dark distant past. Maybe that says more about the type of meetings we have in the workplace, but it certainly owes something to our inbuilt sense of time passing.

Two years can seem like a long time, but in some senses, it’s no time at all. Yes, the biennial NAFEMS World Congress is here (yup, that’s where this is going). Moreover, it’s looking like the biggest yet. It feels like I’ve been saying that for years, but it’s true. This “world of engineering simulation” that we are all a part of genuinely keeps getting bigger, more involved, more intense and more exciting. It’s a pleasure to be involved in it, and to invite you to join us.

This year, we have over 330 presentations over the course of the Congress, which includes the 4th International SPDM Conference as well as symposia on Additive Manufacturing, Systems Modelling & Simulation, and all things “cloud” and “digital” (more on that later!). NAFEMS isn’t, by any means, the largest organisation in the world. However, the efforts made by staff members, volunteers and everyone involved, are significant and go a long way to making the Congress a thoroughly unique event. Plus, we’re all going for a sunset dinner-ship-cruise, so life is good.