Speakers

Charlie Gagliano is the Director of Digital Innovation Division within the Advanced Tech Research Business Unit at Honda Development and Manufacturing of America. Charlie’s journey started as an NVH test engineer who became one of the champions of Advanced Testing methods and CAE at Honda twenty-five years ago. After moving into the Vehicle Dynamics organization, Charlie initiated the application of systems engineering approaches to Ride Comfort, Handling and Steering in North America and later worked to expand this approach to Body Structure, Crash and Powertrain Integration through cross functional teams. Leveraging the V-Flow model of vehicle development and lightweight system and conceptual models have been key to the success of these initiatives. In his current role he is leading digital transformation initiatives in north American while working with Japan counter parts as one team.

Ganesh Subbarayan is the James G. Dwyer Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University and the Co-Director of the Purdue-Binghamton SRC Center for Heterogeneous Integration Research in Packaging (CHIRP). He also serves as the Director of the recently created Atalla Institute for Advanced System Integration and Packaging (ASIP) at Purdue University. He began his professional career at IBM Corporation (1990-1993). He holds a B.Tech degree in Mechanical Engineering (1985) from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and a Direct Ph. D. (1991) in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University. Dr. Subbarayan's research is broadly concerned with modeling and experimentally characterizing failure in microelectronic devices and assemblies. He was a pioneer in using geometric models directly for analysis, popularly referred to as Isogeometric Analysis. Among others, Dr. Subbarayan received the 2024 Richard Chu Award for Excellence in Thermal and Thermo-Mechanical Management of Electronics, 2022 SRC Technical Excellence Award, 2005 Excellence in Mechanics Award from the ASME Electronics and Photonics Packaging Division and the NSF CAREER award. He is a Fellow of ASME as well as IEEE, and he served as the Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Advanced Packaging during 2002-2010.

Vignaud is a doctor in Science and Technology with a specialty in design and development of mechanical systems. Graduate in PICYT CIDESI Querétaro Mexico in 2021. He is professor in the robotics engineering department. He has worked on projects such as robot design, evaluation of residual stresses in thermally affected zones, mechanical validation of hip prostheses, powder metallurgy, implementation of industrial robots, conversion of an internal combustion vehicle to electric and development of an electric single-seater similar to formula one and Electrathon America. He collaborated in the installation and start-up of the laser technology laboratory for LSP applications at CIDESI. He performed simulation work of treatment LSP and has also worked with researchers from the University of Guadalajara, CIDESI and the Polytechnic University of Madrid. His research interests include advanced design mechanism, mechanical design, CAD-CAM-CAE technologies, fatigue and experimental mechanics.

Dr. Arif Badrou is a postdoctoral scholar focusing on structural pulmonary biomechanics research. His work involves multiple computational projects with an emphasis on an inverse finite element modeling project of whole-organ nonlinear deformation mechanics, using 3D surface strain digital image correlation (DIC). Arif obtained his PhD in Biomechanics from INSA de Lyon (France) in 2022, where he worked on the development of decision support tools using model order reduction for active endovascular navigation. Afterwards, he continued his research as an industrial postdoc to work on the simulation of an active catheter to reach cerebral targets.

Ben has a Master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering, from IPSA, France, in 2013 and Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, from Laval University, Quebec, in 2016. He completed his research thesis about FEA of delamination on aerospace composite material for CRIAQ projects and has 10 years experience in FEA and CFD analyses.

Following the start of his career in 2015 as a Product Engineer in the wind energy sector, Martin Bridge began designing battery systems for the motive power industry as a Mechanical Engineer at Navitas Systems in 2021. Since the fall of 2023, he has been Engineering Analyst at Navitas Systems, engaged in the structural, thermal, and electrical analysis of battery systems for motive power and government applications.

Chris Cookston is a licensed professional engineer with 13 years in the Oil & Gas Industry, specializing in the design of downhole equipment. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Oregon State University, as well as one patent, one publication, five children, and a faithful wife. He aims to explore new ideas and efficiencies, pushing the limits of current technology to uncover innovative solutions.

Haodong Du is a Ph.D. candidate in Aeronautics and Astronautics Engineering at Purdue University, specializing in composite materials and nonlinear mechanics. His expertise includes composite mechanics, multiscale modeling, damage analysis, nonlinear mechanics, and machine learning. He has conducted extensive research on the constitutive modeling of metamaterials, multiscale analysis of composite damage and nonlinear behavior, and the application of generative language models for predictive mechanics problems.

Amir Esrafilian, PhD, is a biomechanics researcher and is currently pursuing his postdoc fellowship at Stanford University. His work focuses on osteoarthritis disease, developing personalized digital twins to enable tailored treatments, such as rehabilitation and assistive devices, to prevent or decelerate disease progression. He specializes in neuromusculoskeletal modeling (multibody dynamics) and finite element analysis, with expertise in implementing biological material models via UMAT in Abaqus.

Matt Gee, Hardware Engineer working at Robert Bosch LLC North America for 10 years. Graduated from Kettering University with Electrical Engineering degree. Currently working on automotive camera design.

Alejandra Guzmán is a graduate of Robotics Engineering and is currently pursuing a postgraduate degree in Advanced Technology, where she specializes in the development of innovative solutions. She has worked on structural and dynamic analysis of a lightweight car and justifying modifications to its design. Its current focus is on simulation to optimize structures and improve the performance of mechanical systems. Its objective is to continue training and applying its knowledge in technology to promote more efficient and sustainable solutions.

Dr. Song He is the NVH Technical Specialist for Advanced Propulsion at General Motors. He works on NVH related analysis, optimization and validation tasks for GM's electric propulsion systems and vehicles including the Chevy Bolt EV, GMC Hummer EV and Cadillac Lyriq EV. He also leads advanced work to develop GM’s new NVH technology roadmap.

Before joining GM, Dr. He was a Marie Curie Fellow at the National Institute of Applied Science in Lyon, France. He received his PhD degree from the Ohio State University.

Dr. He has 30+ international journals and conference publications and holds more than a dozen US patents.

Wei He is currently working at Volvo Truck North American, Cab Department, in the analysis team, expertized on aerodynamics, soiling and cab HVAC

He has worked for Volvo for 17 years and has 25 years of experience working in the CFD area.

Wei has used PowerFlow for about 15 years

Wei received his Bachelor degree in Zhejiang University in China, and Master degree in Southern Illinois University at Carbondale

Jaewon Kim received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electronics Engineering from Korea University, South Korea, in 2001 and the Ph.D. degree in Electrical engineering from University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, in 2008. Since 2008, research area includes electromagnetics and metamaterials at 3M Corp. Research Lab in St.Paul, MN. Current project is working on 5G/mmWave material developments with CST microwave simulations. His publication at 3M includes 166 IS submissions and 50 patents filed.

Purushotham Kunduru is a Virtual Propulsion Engineer at General Motors, focusing on the durability of powertrain casting components and developing methods to simulate lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing processes. He joined GM in 2021. He has over 18 years of experience in durability, sealing, and structural optimization of powertrain structures using ABAQUS. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from NIT Surat, India and a master’s in computational engineering from IIT Madras, India.

Matt Langford is the Chief Engineer at Techsburg, Inc. (located in Christiansburg VA), where he has worked since 2003. His technical focus over that time has been on aerodynamics and aeroacoustics of aircraft propulsion systems, including fans, propellers, vertical lift, and gas turbines. He has split time between experimental and computational projects, but efforts since 2020 have focused on unsteady computational fluid dynamics and computational aeroacoustics using the SIMULIA PowerFLOW® lattice-Boltzmann method solver.

Fan Li servers as Chassis Structure, Wheel System, and Chassis Tools Focus Group Chair and VDDV Tech Specialist at General Motors (GM) in Warren, MI.  In this role, Fan Li has developed comprehensive virtual strategies to achieve GM’s objective of 100% virtual design and validation, collaborated with GM Tech Specialists on the GM Virtual 2025 projects, and supported other GM engineering regions and suppliers with CAE methods. Fan Li has earned his PhD in 1998 from Queen Mary University of London, England.

Dr. Chunfu Lin, currently a Thermoplastic Material Technical Specialist in GM Advanced Manufacturing Product Integration & Materials Engineering department, Advanced Material Technology & Virtualization group. Before joining GM in 2016, he has worked at DuPont as a Mechanical Engineering Consultant for nearly five years, and as a Principal Engineer at Veyance Technologies (former Goodyear Engineered Products department) for three and half years. He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from University of Akron, Ohio, as well as a M.S. & B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from China. Dr. Lin has a strong background on elastomer, thermoplastic and composite mechanics. He has fifteen trade secrets and seventeen publications in the field of elastomer, thermoplastic and composites including a best paper award in the journal of Composite Structures.

Yi Liu is currently a Metallic Materials Technical Specialist at General Motors LLC. He obtained Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering in 2003 from Wayne State University and did postdoctoral research in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan (Main Campus) and Case Western Reserve University during 2003-2006. From 2006-2013, he managed core electron microscopy facilities as Senior Research Scientist, Manager and Director at Wayne State University, Oregon State University, and North Carolina State University, and provided training and education to graduate students. He joined FCA in 2013 and spent nearly 9 years as Production Engineer, Powertrain Structural Engineer and Senior Technical Specialist. Yi Joined General Motor in 2022 as Metallic Materials Technical Specialist and support virtualization and materials development, and he focuses his expertise in materials science, mechanical behavior of materials, microstructure characterization, material modeling in FEA, and failure analysis.

Marcus supports development programs as a structural analyst for primary structure, and uses a variety of meshing and simulation tools to evaluate part designs. He began his career as an instrumentation designer which gave him an earlier familiarity with using CATIA for part designs. As a team member of Project Gamma, an ADP effort to expand tools & processes, he uses his mixed designer-analyst background to explore accelerating the structural part development process.

Froilán Marquéz Osorio has studied Programming Techniques at the Centro Bachillerato Tecnológico Industrial y de Servicios #255. Currently, he is pursuing a degree in Robotics Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Guanajuato and holds the title of Associate Professional in Automation. He has participated in innovative projects, including the creation of an electric single-seater vehicle that achieved second place at the state and national levels in 2024. He is currently leading the team that is creating a larger electric single-seater vehicle tipe F1. With his experience and skills in automation and robotics, Froilán Marquéz Osorio stands out as a talented and entrepreneurial young professional in his field.

Clay McElwain is an Aerospace Engineer at Lockheed Martin in Marietta, GA with 9 years of experience. He graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA, where he earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Civil Engineering, with a Structural focus. He worked from 2016 to 2018 at L3 Communications in Greenville, TX (now L3Harris) in the flight sciences group, performing both static and fatigue structural analysis on a variety of aircraft. Clay joined Lockheed Martin in 2018, as a member of ADP Structural Analysis, where he has worked ever since, performing a variety of duties including static stress analysis and detailed finite element model work.

Jeeva Myla is an Analysis Engineer with 15 years of experience in the Aerospace and Heavy Engineering industries. Currently, he serves as a Simulation and Analysis Engineer at Raymond Corporation, Greene, New York, which is part of Toyota Material Handling North America. He holds a master’s degree in Machine Design from JNTU Kakinada, India. Jeeva is passionate about exploring new methods and technologies and applying them to enhance his work.

CAE analysis Engineer with 18+ years of experience in the field of Automotive and electric vehicles.

Suresh Patra is a seasoned noise and vibration engineer with over 15 plus years of combined research and industry experience across the automotive, aerospace and rail sectors. Currently serving as a Senior Noise and Vibration Engineer at General Motors, he specializes in acoustic modeling and sound package design for interior of the vehicles. Suresh has a strong background in Statistical Energy Analysis and advanced simulation tools. His work has contributed to innovations in acoustic package design and occupant comfort. He holds a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and has authored multiple peer-reviewed publications in the field of human body biodynamics and noise control.

Sascha Pazour studied at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences and graduated with a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering. He is working for PART Engineering in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany and is in charge of the PART Software customer and partner relations.

Hunter Poole is a Vehicle Dynamics Simulation Integration Engineer at General Motors. He is focused on developing Software-in-the-Loop vehicle integration environments for active chassis controls development. He has a wide range of experience with active chassis controls systems including Electric Power Steering, Semi-Active Damping, Active Roll Control, Active Rear Steer, and Brake Controls. He joined GM in 2017 as a steering development engineer and has had assignments in vehicle integration and manufacturing before joining the vehicle dynamics simulation team. Hunter holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University a Master of Engineering in Automotive Engineering from the University of Michigan.

Pooyan Razi has received his PhD in mechanical engineering with the focus on turbulence modeling. He is currently working at GM in the vehicle aerodynamic group and supporting various programs with aero development process and wind noise evaluations.

Nuno Rebelo received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley in 1980.

For most of his professional life, he has been involved in both the software development and in the industrial application of finite element methods.

From1984-2001, he was a member of the development staff of the Marc and the Abaqus finite element codes, during which among others, he worked on contact algorithms, material modeling and stabilization methods.

From 1989 until 2018, he opened and was the Director of Technical Sales of what became the SIMULIA West Center of Excellence. In this capacity he managed a group of engineers dedicated to helping customers solve difficult problems in varied industries such as aerospace, life sciences and high tech.

In 2018 he retired and continues to do consulting work through Nuno Rebelo Associates LLC. He has been a member from the beginning of ASME’s V&V 40 Standards Subcommittee, dedicated to medical devices.

For more than 20 years he has been involved with FE analysis of medical devices and he wrote the Nitinol material model available in Abaqus.

Kiera Rudden-Flanagan is an Aerospace Engineer at Lockheed Martin in Marietta, GA. Kiera has been working at Lockheed Martin as a structural analyst for 3 years since graduating in 2022 from the George Washington University in Washington, DC with a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Recently admitted to the Lockheed Martin Engineering Leadership Development Program, Kiera is currently working with the Lockheed Martin thermodynamics team, as well as continuing to support internal research and developments projects as a structural analyst.

Venkat Santhanam is part of the Computational Analytics Team for the Performance Solutions Division at W.L. Gore located in Elkton, Maryland. He has been conducting structural mechanics simulations for more than 6 years while at Gore, primarily using Abaqus CAE, to enable future growth of the division. He also performs hands-on materials characterization to feed into the models. In his role, he has supported several product development and technology projects with root cause investigation, materials down-selection and fundamental research efforts.
Outside of work, Venkat enjoys long-distance running and working out!

Hisham Sawan is currently a principal engineer and project lead at Honda Development and Manufacturing of America's Automobile Development Center. Before joining Honda, He earned his Master’s degree in Mechanical engineering from The Ohio State University, and published research on the characterization of composite materials’ mechanical properties and monitoring damage progression through unsupervised learning of Acoustic Emissions. During his decade-long tenure at Honda, he helped develop vehicle dynamics characteristics of iconic Honda and Acura products, such as Acura MDX and Honda Pilot. He holds expertise in vehicle body structure optimization methods for vehicle dynamics characteristics such has NVH, ride and handling. As a part of his current role at Honda he is responsible for leading a vehicle dynamics group on a vehicle platform.

Dr. James Swayze earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Wayne State University in 1994, specializing in Noise, Vibration, and Harshness (NVH). He joined Ford Motor Company the same year as an NVH Technical Specialist, where he has made significant contributions to the field. Dr. Swayze holds four U.S. patents, with an additional patent pending, and has authored seven refereed publications, with two more forthcoming. In 1997, he developed Ford’s Elastomer Stiffness Testing procedure, which remains in use today. A recognized expert in test-based Transfer Path Analysis, Modal Analysis, and Operational Deflection Shape (both frequency- and time-based), Dr. Swayze has authored multiple NVH test procedures for Ford. His recent work focuses on integrating AI for mode shape identification and advancing nonlinear finite element analysis for mount systems.

Greg Thorwald is a principal engineer at Quest Integrity in Boulder, Colorado, which is now part of Baker Hughes. He uses Abaqus finite element analysis for structural, fracture, and fatigue crack growth assessments in a variety of fitness-for-service consulting projects. He is the lead developer of the commercial FEACrack software, an automated parametric 3D crack mesh generation program creating Abaqus input files to compute crack front stress intensity and J-integral values needed for Level 3 assessments. He also contributes to the Signal Fitness-for-Service software used for Level 2 fitness-for-service assessments. He is a member of the API/ASME fitness-for-service committee that provides the API 579/ASME FFS engineering standard.

Dr. Gang Wang earned his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, where he developed a strong foundation in fluid dynamics, aeroacoustics, thermodynamics, and advanced simulation techniques.

In 2002, Dr. Wang joined Trane, a global leader in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. At Trane, Dr. Wang primarily focuses on the CFD simulation of fans and blowers used in various Trane products. His work involves creating detailed models to analyze and optimize the performance of these components, ensuring they meet the highest standards of efficiency and reliability. The simulations help in understanding the complex fluid dynamics involved, leading to the design of more effective and energy-efficient HVAC systems. Dr. Wang's contributions extend to the field of aeroacoustics, where he conducts simulations to study and mitigate fan-generated noise in air handler units. His research and findings have led to quieter and more comfortable HVAC solutions, significantly improving the user experience.

Dr. Wang is the recipient of four USA patents.

Dr. Xing is a technical lead in control integration in Noise and Vibration VDDV group in General Motors Company. He obtained his PhD degree from Michigan State University with a specialization in vibration and dynamics field. His current role at General Motors focus on utilizing multi-body-dynamics tool and driveline control model co-simulation to investigate noise and vibration problems, identify physics, support driveline control algorithm design and improvement.

John Burford is an engineer with 27 years of experience in the Automotive and Aerospace industries performing Computer Aided Engineering analysis in the areas of Multi-Body Dynamics and Finite Element Analysis. As Manager of the VI-grade Detroit SimCenter, he demonstrates the value of RealTime and Driver In the Loop simulation for the develop of Automotive vehicles and systems.

Dr. Arindam Chakraborty serves as the CTO of Engineering Consulting at VIAS3D and has more than 18 years of combined academic and industry consulting experience in the domain of simulation and engineering analysis. He has degrees in Civil (Bachelors), Aerospace (MTech.) and Mechanical (PhD) with focus on computational solid and structural mechanics, non-linear FEA, fatigue and fracture, reliability and optimization, and composite structures. His industry experience spans Oil & Gas, Nuclear, Process & Petrochemical, Consumer Packaged Goods, Life Science, Hi-Tech. and Industrial Equipment. He has been involved with consulting project management and leadership, business development, development of new technology and future growth strategy with a strong focus on public safety regulations (BSEE, NRC, FDA) and Digital Transformation. He has experience in automating complex engineering problems using codes in FORTRAN/C/C#/VBA/Java/Python/FOX Toolkit, including Abaqus automation scripts. Dr. Chakraborty has more than twenty-five conference and journal publications and many invited talks and panel discussions. He is also actively involved with many code (ASME, API) and international conferences committees. He is also a Dassault Systèmes Certified Training Instructor and taught University courses as invited lecturer.

Dr. Akshay Dandekar is a mechanical engineer with more than 8 years of academic and consulting experience in solid mechanics, fracture mechanics, material characterization and finite element analysis. He holds a PhD in mechanical engineering from Purdue University and Master’s in aerospace engineering from the University of Illinois. He is a registered professional engineer in Ohio.

Joe was born and raised in Detroit and is proud of his auto industry influence. After earning a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University, he immediately embarked on a career in CAE consulting. He began his journey in 1985 with Concept Analysis, then moved on to Automated Analysis, an amazing spin-off from the University of Michigan. He later joined Hoff and Associates, which had spun-off from Automated Analysis. His work in the CAE consulting allowed him to gain experience across various industries, particularly in transportation and mobility, and included contract roles at Ford and Chrysler. In 2005, he established Caelynx, which became a Simulia partner in 2011. In 2009, he co-founded Caelynx Europe with Stefan Castravete. After 15 years of growth and hard work, he sold Caelynx to Computer Aided Technology, which was acquired by GoEngineer in 2022. He is now a proud member of the simulation team at GoEngineer.

Martin received his degree in Automotive Engineering from Loughborough University in 1997, specializing in Non-linear impact simulation of Formula 1 structures for his thesis. He has worked in the field of Computer Aided Engineering, developing specialisms in non-linear analysis and the application and development of design optimization methods. In 2003, Martin founded GRM Consulting; a simulation-based consultancy developing and providing design optimization software and services to the engineering community. As part of his activities, he developed innovative composite optimization solutions, creating the product OptiAssist. In 2023, GRM was acquired by the TriMech Group where he heads the UK simulation activities.

Paul specializes in advanced structural computational simulation in the biomedical, automotive and manufacturing market sectors. BS in biomedical engineering from Michigan Tech, and MS and PhD from the University of Iowa in biomedical engineering with an emphasis on computational mechanics. He has previously worked for Dassault and Medtronic. He loves working with clients and developing state-of-the-art simulations that are pragmatic and useful.

Mr. Yushi Tan started his career as an application engineer for CST of America in the support team, helping customers to find solutions in Microwave Radio Frequency Component Design, Antenna Design, Electromagnetic Compatibility/Electromagnetic Interference, Signal Integrity, and Power Integrity applications using CST Studio Suite. Yushi then moved to the pre-sales team to promote the solution of CST Studio Suite to customers in a wide range of application areas in the High-Tech and Aerospace Defense industries after joining Dassault Systemes. He is also a Dassault Systemes certified instructor for numerous CST courses and has taught classes to commercial as well as government customers. Yushi completed his M.S.E. in Electrical Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

I am the CATIA Team Lead and Elite Applications Engineer for GoEngineer in Austin, TX. I'm an expert in 3D design and engineering, and have managed clients in the process of best practices on CATIA, SOLIDWORKS, PDM, Simulation, Flow, CamWorks, Autodesk, and Unigraphics Products, and can provide solutions to everyday mechanical problems as well as a total solution for your entire process. BSME from the UALR, many years as a SOLIDWORKS and Autodesk and two years’ experience in designing medical equipment.

HPC Performance and CAE Segment Architect on the HPC Worldwide Customer Engagement Team within the Infrastructure Solutions Group at LenovoMaster’s in Aerospace Engineering from University of Florida12 years of experience in aerodynamic design and CFD in the US Defense and automotive racing industriesCurrently based in North Carolina

Andreas Lohbrunner is an SDM Technical Specialist at SCALE in Novi, Michigan, where he has been optimizing SDM features for clients like Rivian and enhancing the SCALE demo environment since March 2024. Previously, Andreas was a CAE & Simulation Engineer in Germany with nine years of experience in finite element analysis (FEA), project management, and process automation within the automotive industry. His expertise in Python programming, SDM software, and FEM modeling has driven efficiency and delivered accurate simulation results for major clients, including Audi and Porsche. Andreas holds a Master’s in Lightweight Design and Simulation from the University of Applied Sciences Landshut and a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Applied Sciences Augsburg.

Prasad Mandava is the co-founder and CEO of VCollab, a pioneering company transforming how manufacturers leverage CAE (Computer-Aided Engineering) data. With over 25 years of experience, Prasad has driven innovation in the simulation industry, enhancing VCollab's platform and establishing global partnerships. Before VCollab, he spent 15 years in aerospace, leading projects in CAD, CAE, and virtual reality. He is a recipient of the prestigious Sir C.V. Raman Award for his contributions to computer science and serves on several advisory boards.

Dr. Will Mars worked for 19 years at The Cooper Tire & Rubber Company as an expert in tire FEA andsimulations. While working at Cooper, he earned a PhD from the University of Toledo in the area ofelastomer fatigue. He then founded Endurica LLC in 2008 to give product developers a simple andaccurate workflow for analyzing the durability of elastomer products. The company's products andservices are used by leading firms around the world to manage durability. Dr. Mars has received severalawards for his scientific contributions and innovations. He has more than 60 peer-reviewed publications,holds four patents in the area of elastomer durability and is the past editor of two scientific journals.

Mohitha Mugundan is a CFD Solutions Consultant at TriMech, specializing in computational fluid dynamics. She previously worked at Dassault Systèmes, gaining valuable experience in simulation technologies. With a master's degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, she is passionate about using simulation to drive innovation and solve complex design challenges.

Master’s in Aerospace Engineering University of Southampton, UK

12 years’ experience as a CFD engineer

Outside work Ian is a keen runner, programmer, and enjoys skiing

Currently based in Chicago

Part of NVIDIA's CAE team focused on developer relations and business development

Matt Sherak graduated with a bachelors in mechanical engineering in 2015 specializing in advanced manufacturing, specifically additive technologies. After a brief stint in the general aviation industry working on avionics integrations, he found his place as a Simulation Product Specialist in the Dassault Partner channel. With nearly 10 years of experience with structural and fluid simulation tools as well as 3D printing technologies, he is eager to show you how these tools can be combined to make products of the future.

Chris is a Senior Industry Process Consultant at Dassault Systemes, with over 15 years specializing in finite element analysis. Before coming to DS, Chris also has past industry experience working for Boeing, NASA, and Johnson & Johnson. He also has a BS and MS in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Tech.

In his current role, he is responsible for demonstrating and developing solutions on Abaqus, the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, and other SIMULIA tools.

Ashish is from the CATIA Mechanical design, modelling, and simulation technical team and supports customers in the area of conceptual body structure development. He is responsible for developing best practices and methods for concept engineering on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. He holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Wayne State University with a focus on solid mechanics.

Shashank Aggarwal is an accomplished sales and technology leader with a passion for simulation and design. He currently leads the SIMULIA brand organization for North America. Shashank started his career at Dassault Systèmes as an application engineer for the SIMULIA brand after completing a master’s degree in Mechanical engineering from The Ohio State University. During the last 18 years with Dassault, Shashank has successfully transitioned from application engineering to sales and then to sales leadership roles. During this time he helped transform the SIMULIA organization and significantly grow value delivery in critical industry segments through direct and indirect channels. Shashank lives in San Francisco with his wife and two kids and loves spending time outdoors.

Adarsh Bavani Shankar serves as the Roles Portfolio Senior Manager within the SIMULIA R&D Structures organization. He brings over 15 years of extensive industry experience in developing structural simulation and optimization methods through his work with various OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers. Throughout his tenure at Dassault Systèmes, Adarsh has contributed across multiple facets of the business, including technical presales, consulting and technical support. Currently, he is responsible for product define and managing the roadmap for Structures Roles in the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. He holds both a Master’s and a Bachelor’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering.

Mark has been with SIMULIA for over 30 years. Contributing in a variety of sales and technical management roles, he currently leads a global technical sales group supporting advanced applications. He has degrees in structural engineering from Brown University and the University of California, Berkeley

Kingshuk joined DASSAULT SYSTEMES (HKS Inc. at the time) after completing his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics. Over the years, he worked in a number of different areas of nonlinear mechanics including element technology, constitutive modeling for advanced materials, fracture and failure, multiphysics, and adjoint sensitivities for non-parametric design optimization. Currently he is an R&D Technology Director, and leads a development team within SIMULIA Structures organization with responsibility in the areas of Element & Fracture Technology

Timothy Carlson is a Modeling and Simulation Industry Process Consultant at Dassault Systèmes, specializing in computational mechanics, electrochemistry, and electromagnetism. Over the past four years, he has contributed to both the development and practical implementation of highly coupled electromagnetic-chemo-mechanical simulation capabilities.

In the last two years, Timothy has focused on advancing modeling and simulation techniques for microstructure modeling and the homogenization of battery materials, leveraging BIOVIA and SIMULIA tools for multiphysics simulation. More recently, he has worked on adapting these workflows to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, promoting its use as a powerful tool for battery optimization across all scales.

In addition to his industry work, Timothy remains actively engaged in research at the University of California, Berkeley, exploring advancements in computational mechanics and multiphysics modeling.

He holds a degree in Mathematics and Civil Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and an M.Sc. in Computational Mechanics from UC Berkeley.

Kevin Carvalho is a Roles Portfolio Senior Manager within the R&D group at Dassault Systèmes. He is responsible for product strategy and definition for SIMULIA’s mainstream fluid simulation applications on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. He has significant experience in CFD/CAE: including working as a CFD analyst in two leading T&M OEMs, as well as at SIMULIA to develop simulation methods for complex workflows. He holds a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering and Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Jaehwan Choi got his Ph.D. degree from the Ohio State University in 2004 right before joining Abaqus, Inc. He continued to serve as technical consultant for Dassault Systèmes SIMULIA Corp. after Dassault Systèmes acquired Abaqus Inc. in 2005. He also has 10+ year experience of working as CAE engineer for Hyundai Motor Company in South Korea. He focused on the body structure strength and durability simulations when he was working for Hyundai Motor Company.

His current role is supporting Abaqus and fe-safe worldwide focusing on material modeling and calibration, and simulation method development by using Abaqus and fe-safe (and fe-safe/Rubber). His specialty is rubber and plastic material modeling and rubber fatigue assessment including rubber material modeling/calibration and fatigue testing. He is also serving co-manager role for Korea IC team from year 2023.

Tod has worked in the field of nonlinear finite element analysis for over 20 years, and has held many positions within the SIMULIA organization.  He has worked as the Engineering Services manager and later the General Manager of the Great Lakes CSE in the USA, and is now working for the SIMULIA R&D organization focusing attention on how we deliver advanced material modeling technology to our customers.

Dr. Indranil Dandaroy has close to 30 years of industry and academic experience in the field of acoustics, vibration and shock. He leads the pre-post technical sales & business development for Dassault Systèmes (DS) wave6 Americas field support team. Prior to joining DS, Indranil spent 15 years at Lockheed Martin as a Dynamics Technical Fellow where he extensively used wave6 on various spacecraft, satellite and missile programs for design and verification. Before that, he spent a decade in business aviation leading the acoustics group at Beechcraft designing quiet interiors. He has also served as Adjunct Faculty at various universities teaching undergraduate and graduate courses. Indranil has a Masters and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering in Acoustics/Vibrations from University of Missouri-Rolla.

Debarun Das is an Industry Process Consultant (IPC) supporting Life Sciences & Healthcare (LS&H) and Industrial Equipment (IE) customers in the NAM region for deployment of SIMULIA’s Fluids (CFD) portfolio. As a member of NAM Industry Process Consultant (IPC) team, he is involved in pre-sales customer engagement, post-deployment support, technical account management, and presenting latest advancements in simulation technology in single-phase flow (internal, external), thermal management, particle modeling, acoustics, multiphase flow & FSI. He has Bachelors and MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering, with nearly 10 years’ experience in multiphysics, multiscale computational modeling, engaging with commercial customers and government agencies in the LS&H and IE domains.

Dr. Tyler Dodge is an Industry Process Consultant at Dassault Systèmes. Within this role, his primary focus is on electromagnetic simulations applied to a wide set of applications across the electromagnetic spectrum. Truly a physicist at heart, his expertise expands further into broader multiphysics aspects of electrical systems. His publications span from topics like superconductors to metamaterials while earning his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Boston College. While there, he’s been the instructor for a half dozen of physics courses dedicated for undergraduate engineers, earning the Donald J. White Teaching Excellence Award. Being a dedicated member to the American Physical Society, he has given several presentations at the various conferences. Today, Tyler applies his knowledge of electromagnetics, and its interactions with the world, as a simulation expert sharing that expertise amongst the wide-ranging CST STUDIO SUTE user base, across several industries

Sandy has developed and maintained course content for 3DEXPERIENCE apps & topics including: Getting Started on the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform, Linear Structural Scenario Creation, Durability Simulation, Fluid Dynamics Engineer, and Parametric Design Study. Most recently, the team developed a series of short eLearning courses including Quickstart for Structural Simulation on the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform. These Quickstart courses can be accessed for free on eduspace.3ds.com by anyone with a 3DEXPERIENCE ID.

Dr. Hicham Farid has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Quebec, Canada, where his research focused on Fracture Mechanics. His primary research interests are material modeling and calibration, fracture mechanics, fatigue and creep. Prior to joining Dassault Systèmes, Dr. Farid spent 12 years working as R&D Engineer/Scientist at leading organizations in the aerospace, nuclear, and renewable energy industries.

Sebastien obtained his mechanical engineering degree from EPFL in Switzerland in 2001. He began his career at MTU Aeroengines in Munich, focusing on aerodynamics and structural analysis. Later, he assumed various Technical Director roles at EXA Corp in Europe. In 2014, Sebastien became the Managing Director for the Aerospace Industry, a position he held until the integration of EXA into Dassault Systèmes in 2019. At Dassault Systèmes, he served as SIMULIA Head of Aerospace and SIMULIA GEO Leader EUROCENTRAL until July 2023, when he transitioned to the role of SIMULIA VP Sales and Marketing.

Senior Industry Process Consultant for Dassault Systemes in the UK. More than 25 years industry experience covering topics such as Process Automation, Test Data Management, Data Acquisition, Simulation Process Data Management and Signal Processing

Prabu has been with Dassault Systèmes for 13 years and has been working in the North America MODSIM Technical Sales Team responsible for highlighting the value of 3DExperience MODSIM Roles in customer engagements. Before his current role in the Technical sales team, he was part of the Simulia Program office at P&G and Johnson & Johnson Ethicon working on supporting various projects, including creating simulation processes for packaging workflows for Rigid packages and Flexible pouches and deploying it to the broader designer community using our automation tools. Prabu received his Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from Ohio State University where he worked on Fiber reinforced Composite damage mechanics. He works out of our Cincinnati, OH office.

Peng Guan is a member of SIMULIA Multibody Systems & Motion worldwide technical sales team. He is responsible for Simpack Realtime Solution in North America. Before joining DS, Peng finished his PhD at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in field of Dynamics modeling and control. He published 10 peer-reviewed publication and presented his work in multiple conferences.

30 years with HKS, ABAQUS, and SIMULIA

Has managed Abaqus contact development for over 25 years

PhD from Northwestern University under Ted Belytschko

John Higgins is an Industry Process Consultant at SIMULIA. He joined Dassault Systèmes in 2019, following the integration of Exa Corporation. John has over 10 years of experience in fluids and thermal sciences, during which he has worked in pre-sales, post-sales support, and services capacities. He has experience supporting customers across all industries, including Transportation & Mobility, Industrial Equipment, and Aerospace & Defense. In his current role, he focuses on enhancing fluid solutions through development of first-of-a-kind processes, physics validation testing, and deploying fluid solutions to optimize customer processes. Recently, he has been a key member of the core validation group for SIMULIA’s AI/ML initiatives, specifically for fluids-related applications.

John Huber is an Automotive Industry Process Expert in NVH at Dassault Systèmes. He has spent the last 24 years of his professional career working in the automotive industry as a simulation expert in structural noise and vibration. He holds a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan (1991) specializing in structural dynamics and vibration. Mr. Huber has focused mainly on optimization of lightweight body structures including the underbody of the aluminum F-150 pickup truck cab. He has also worked on a diverse set of projects including vehicle cabin speech recognition robustness, Monte Carlo simulations of both engine idle and tire and wheel imbalance, HVAC unit blower noise and vibration, and fatigue failure investigation of components on the Boeing 777 airplane. He holds several patents in lightweight structures, speech recognition, and design. His passion has always been writing code to help with efficiency on the job.

Dr. Ramji Kamakoti is the North America Modelling and Simulation Director at Dassault Systemes. He has over 20 years of experience in computational modelling and simulation focusing in areas such as fluid dynamics, structure dynamics and multi-physics in general. His team is currently responsible for leading and providing technical solutions that involves integrated simulation-based design for a variety of industries. He received his masters and PhD in Engineering Mechanics from the University of Florida.

Vinay possesses extensive technical expertise in multibody dynamics, having contributed to numerous projects in Vehicle Dynamics, Chassis Development, Comfort and Durability load assessments, Kinematic analysis, and Controls integration using virtual CAE tools. He currently works on technical engagements at SIMULIA, where he enjoys collaborating with customers to provide multibody solutions using Simpack. Vinay earned his MTech. degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi in Multibody Dynamics and Vibration Design and has over 15 years of diverse experience across industries such as automotive, agricultural and farm equipment, construction and forestry, and marine.

Binu Jose Kochucheruvil is a member of the SIMULIA Multibody Systems & Motion worldwide technical sales team. He is responsible for pre-sales, services and deployment of Simpack multibody dynamics solutions. Binu has 16+ years of virtual product development and validation experience with a leading US automotive OEM, including collaboration with physical testing and simulation correlation. Binu earned his M. Eng. from University of Michigan, in the field of automotive engineering.

Dominick has over 25 years of experience in the CAE space using a variety of solvers across multiple industries ranging from Aerospace, Industrial Equipment, Transportation & Mobility as well as HiTech. Over the last decade Dominick was involved with several OEM customers defining best practices for CAE-related methodologies enabling simulation management, automation and process democratization. More recently being a member of the Process Automation and MBSE team, his focus was dedicated to define methodologies enabling the system engineers to perform expert level simulations and trade studies as early as possible in the product development cycle. His work also includes leveraging latest technology available in the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to define the V&V strategy and help customers capture the digital thread between requirements and simulation results which is a critical component of product certification related activities.

Anna LIANG is a Modeling and Simulation Industry Process Consultant for Dassault Systèmes. In her current role, she is responsible for developing and demonstrating solutions on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. Anna received her Master’s degree in Nuclear Science and Engineering from MIT, specializing in thermal hydraulics and fundamental heat transfer.

Dr. Marlow has over 30 years of experience in the fields of engineering analysis and applied mechanics. He is a Senior Expert at Dassault Systèmes SIMULIA Corp. where he has worked for the last 24 years. Dr. Marlow is considered an expert in applications of the finite-element programs Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit. Dr. Marlow received his MS and PhD in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from the University of Illinois. He graduated with a BS in Engineering Mechanics from the University of Missouri-Rolla.

Ross MCLENDON serves as the product manager for the Abaqus FEA structural solvers and Abaqus/CAE interactive product within the SIMULIA Structures R&D organization in Johnston, Rhode Island (USA). He joined Dassault Systemés in 2013 as a member of the back-end mechanics support team after completing his Ph.D. in aerospace engineering at Texas A&M University where he studied composite mechanics. During his time in support he led the development of the Micromechanics Plugin for Abaqus/CAE, after which he moved into the R&D organization as a developer for materials and then material calibration before taking on the Product Manager role. He works closely with the Abaqus development teams while collaborating with customers and the field and sales organizations to help ensure that the Abaqus FEA structural solvers at the heart of all DS structural simulation continue to deliver the class-leading capabilities needed to solve DS customer’s most challenging engineering mechanics problems.

Harikrishnan Murali works as an Industry Process Consultant supporting the Transportation & Mobility, and High Tech industries within North America. He has been with Dassault Systemes for the last 7 years during which he has provide pre-sales & after sales support on software deployment for aerodynamics & thermal management. He has a Master’s degree in Aeronautics and has over 9 years of experience in the field of computational fluid dynamics.

Biswanath joined Dassault Systemes Corp. in 2005 and has been focusing primarily on structural simulations using Abaqus. He has co-authored several publications and presentations on structural simulations. His technical expertise are tire simulations, advanced material models, co-simulations and crashworthiness and occupant safety simulations.  He received his Masters in Technology degree in Aerospace Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (India).

Hunter Norrgard is a Modeling and Simulation Industry Process Senior Consultant for the North American GEO of Dassault Systèmes. With over 13 years of experience in industry, Hunter has a broad background in finite element analysis and computer aided design across numerous commercial tools and industries. As a member of the MODSIM team supporting the Aerospace and Defense industry, Hunter specialized helping customers improve their design and simulation workflows through the close integration of CAD, simulation across domains, and design optimization using the MODSIM approach offered by 3DS.

Chris Olson has spent the last decade working with Dassault Systemes’ tools to help companies streamline their product development processes through the use of analysis tools. After graduating with a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, he worked for a Dassault Systemes’ partner where he helped companies in various industries implement SOLIDWORKS and 3DEXPERIENCE analysis tools and provided consulting and training services in the areas of Computational Fluid Dynamics, Multi-body Dynamics, Linear & Non-Linear FEA, and Injection Molding Analysis. Chris now uses his extensive analysis experience in the area of Process Automation on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to help customers improve their Simulation Data Management processes and streamline productivity through the use of Analysis Templates.

Dinesh Panneerselvam is an Industry Process Consultant Director at Dassault Systemes with the SIMULIA brand. He has been with the company for over 15 years and his background is structures with a Ph. D in Engineering Mechanics. Dinesh and his team in the technical sales organization lead technical execution of customer engagements starting from lead generation to opportunity qualification to successful implementation of simulation solutions with a focus on Hi-Tech, Aerospace & Defense and Electric Vehicle industries.

Scott Piper has 20 years of experience focusing on electronics design, test, and simulation. Scott has recently joined Dassault Systèmes as a Senior Industry Process Consultant where he works with customers from several industries regarding the implementation of CST Studio Suite for electronic system electromagnetic design.

Ani Rajagopal has been working as Industry Process Consultant at SIMULIA since 2019, and joined the Worldwide Fluids team through the integration of the former Exa Corporation. With nearly 8 years of experience in fluids and thermal sciences, he serves as an expert voice in supporting customers across all industries including Industrial Equipment and Transportation & Mobility. His responsibilities within the Worldwide SIMULIA Fluids team focus on deployment of our fluids solutions to improve customer processes notably through automation.

Nick Reynolds is an Industry Process Consultant Director in North America at BIOVIA, a Dassault Systèmes, brand. He has been with the company for over 30 years, and his background is in Materials Science, with a Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering. Nick’s and his team’s role is in providing scientific and technical support for Dassault Systèmes’ customers in adopting our solutions for computational materials science, formulation management, laboratory informatics, and data science, across a range of industries.

Justin Sacco has worked with PowerFLOW for the past 16 years. He is currently a R&D Application Senior Manager for 3DEXPERIENCE Fluids group. He has previous worked on the PowerFLOW Aerodynamics Applications, Physics Validation, and Customer Support teams during his time with Dassault Systems and Exa Corp. He has a M.S. and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University, with a focus on Fluids and Acoustics.

Rafael Salazar-Tio has been an Energy & Materials Industry Process Expert at Dassault Systèmes since 2018, specializing in porous media modeling and simulation using multiscale/multiphysics methods. Previously, he worked as a Research Petrophysicist at Chevron for 12 years. He holds a BS in Physics from San Marcos National University in Peru and a PhD in Physics from the University of the Balearic Islands in Spain. He is the author of approximately 40 papers and holds 5 patents.

Frank obtained his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum, Germany, in 2008. During his graduate studies, he focused on modeling and simulating the plasma sheath in high intensity discharge lamps. After graduating, Frank joined Computer Simulation Technology (CST), which was subsequently acquired by Dassault Systèmes in 2016 and is now part of the SIMULIA brand. Frank worked in a number of technical presales roles and currently leads the global electromagnetics team within the SIMULIA Industry Process Consulting organization.

Rick Shock is an Industry Process Expert Director with a focus on automotive aerodynamics. Rick has over 25 years of experience in Computational Fluid Dynamics with Exa Corp. and subsequently Dassault Systèmes SIMULIA. Rick has worked with vehicle OEMs throughout the world on vehicle aerodynamics for development, verification & certification. Rick is based out of the Dassault Systèmes Boston Campus in Waltham, MA.

Phil SHORTER has over 25 years of experience in the development of commercial vibro-acoustic simulation software. He was one of the co-founders of wave six LLC and led the teams responsible for the research, development, promotion and support of the wave6 software.


After the acquisition of wave six LLC by Dassault Systèmes, he has continued to lead the vibro-acoustics team as part of his role as a Senior R&D Director within SIMULIA. Phil holds a PhD in vibro-acoustics from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

David brings a wealth of experience from an engineering career spanning small, medium, and large organizations across diverse industries. Over the years, Abaqus scripting has been a cornerstone of his work, empowering him to create efficient and productive simulations. He’s excited to share valuable insights and lessons learned along the way, providing practical tips and strategies to help others unlock the full potential of Abaqus.

After completing his PhD in Mechanical Engineering and a short tenure at Lockheed Martin, Chris joined Dassault Systèmes (HKS, Inc. at that time) as a Software Development Engineer in the Abaqus R&D organization, working on fundamental capabilities in the Abaqus solvers. From there, he took on additional leadership activities in development, strategy, and product management. Eventually, he assumed full responsibility for the Structural Simulation R&D in 2016. Today, Chris leads the global SIMULIA R&D organization within Dassault Systèmes’ global R&D.

Tamer Yanni is a member of the SIMULIA Multibody Systems & Motion worldwide technical sales team. He has been a Multibody Analyst and a Simpack user for the past 15 years, he held multiple roles at several industries including Automotive, Wind Energy, and most recently Robotics. Tamer has earned his M.Eng. degree in 2010 from Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CUICAR).

Dr. Matias G. Zielonka is a SIMULIA Industry Process Consultant with 25 years of experience as a developer, researcher, designer, and consultant in computational mechanics, multi-physics simulation, and engineering simulation software development.

In the last few years, Dr. Zielonka has specialized in driving innovation in battery development through the use of multiphysics and multiscale modeling and simulation.

Before his current role at SIMULIA, Dr. Zielonka held various roles at ExxonMobil Corporation as scientist, developer, technical lead, and technical advisor for several modeling and simulation projects. He has also served in the role of software developer at MSC Software Corporation, where he developed new capabilities for the NASTRAN solver as well as co-simulation platforms for fluid-structure interaction and multi-body dynamic analysis.

Dr. Zielonka earned his Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Buenos Aires, and his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Aeronautical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology.

Charles Yuan is an Industry Process Consultant Senior at MBSE/SPDM Process Team in Dassault Systemes where he started in 1996. He has been working in different industries on various projects such as simulation process integration, design exploration (DOE, optimization), multi-disciplinary optimization, multi-objective optimization, and robust engineering.