BENCHMARK July 2024

In this Issue:
(click on the titles to download the individual articles)

• F​or the Love of Football,
• P​assports, Please! – The Business of Simulation,
• S​peaking of Simulation Part 1 - Machine Learning,
• F​uel tank Sloshing: Digital modelling with Mesh-less CFD,
• E​xploring the Future of Electromagnetic Certification in Consumer Electronics.

BENCHED

View From Your Editorial Team

Fans of TV show Ted Lasso will be very familiar with Danny Rojas’ motto – “Football is Life!”. Over the past month, it’s certainly felt that way for a huge number of people, what with the Copa America and UEFA EURO 2024 football tournaments. But, as large as the football fan cohort is, it is not everyone and so, sorry Danny, football isn’t life. “Simulation is Life”, on the other hand, may be closer to the truth. I’ve often spoken here about how simulation is becoming more democratized, more pervasive, and becoming an ever-larger part of more people's work. But it doesn’t just stop at work. We’re seeing the use – and benefits of that use – of simulation in almost every sphere of life; it’s becoming more and more a part of all our lives. The days of 80% of presentations at a NAFEMS conference being about the aerospace and automotive industries are long gone. We now welcome sessions on biomedical applications, food and drink industries, furniture design, toy manufacturing – you name it, and there’s been a presentation at a NAFEMS event about it (don’t test me – probably not literally, but you get what I mean). It’s everywhere. And NAFEMS reflects that.

In this issue, we have a great selection of articles covering a few of these ‘non-traditional’ industries. From a fantastic case study on the functional characteristics of the ball that was used in the UEFA EURO 2024 tournament, to a look at electromagnetics in wireless charging and a thought-provoking take on the concept of passports for products – it gets interesting. That’s not all, the automotive industry is represented, and we have input from all sorts of industries in our new regular series “Speaking of Simulation”, which, in this issue, looks at AI. It’s clear that the scope of our member's activities is broadening, and we’re here to reflect that.

I’ve spent a big part of the past few months working on and attending several of our Regional Conferences, and the development and progression I’m talking about is clear to see. Our community really is evolving in every sense. There are more industries, products, techniques, diversity in our attendees, and a real sense of the cutting-edge. While it’s always great to catch up with old colleagues at our events, it’s arguably even better to meet new ones. Our Americas Regional Conference featured a keynote presentation from Alice Popescu-Gatlin, recently retired from John Deere, who took us through her fascinating lifetime journey with product development analysis and simulation. Some interesting truths came through from her highly experienced perspective, namely, the usefulness, or lack thereof, of certain much-advocated systems and processes, and the honest assertion that no software package really “does it all”: an illuminating take on a working life in simulation, given just as simulation is reaching more and more into all areas of life. 

Now the question is, are we getting to the stage where simulation itself is completely mainstream, and within the reach of everyone designing anything, no matter what level of expertise they have? That answer is far above my paygrade, but if Ted Lasso has taught us anything, it’s that to make things happen, you first do really need to “believe”.

Enjoy this issue of benchmark.

David Quinn - Editor

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