SIMULIA EURONORTH Regional User Meeting 2026 - NORDICS

Oliver Bracher is engineer with an interest in solving problems with niche but reliable methods and is keen to share the knowledge from his early career to convert the non-believers to the powers of lesser-known FEA methods. Oliver has achieved degrees in both mechanical and biomedical engineering which introduced him to the world of FEA. Currently working as a stress engineer at Atkinsréalis in the nuclear civil structural sector, his jack-of-all-trades background has enabled him to apply the depths of Simulia’s toolbox to real world projects.

Ioan Danese is a CAE Engineer at Essity AB, where he has spent nearly three years applying advanced finite element analysis to drive innovation in hygienic products. With a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Edinburgh and almost 7 years of specialized experience in the MedTech and Life‑Science sectors, he is driven by a passion to understand the physical interactions between products and humans by solving engineering problems that involve both objective and subjective measures to understand user experience.

Born in 1948, Anton Magne Gjørven's educational journey began with high school in 1964, followed by an M.Sc. in 1971 from NTNU in Trondheim. His professional career commenced in 1972 as a teacher at Møre og Romsdal tekniske skole, a technical high school. From 1974 to 1977, he contributed as a Research Assistant at FCB, SINTEF- working mainly with Concrete Offshore Structures. He then moved into engineering, working as a civil engineer at Dr. Techn Olav Olsen in Oslo from 1978 to 1981. During this period, he was involved in the design of the Statfjord B concrete offshore platform. His expertise continued to develop by working as an engineer with a bridge design consultant in Sandvika, Vik, Vigerust and Aarskog, 1981-1982. From 1982 he has been working with design of concrete structures and with performing FEM-analyses of structures and foundations with Strømme, Berdal Strømme and finally Norconsult- up to the present day.
Some of the recent Work experience:
Consultant to ExxonMobil on the Hebron Concrete Gravity Base Structure (GBS) which has been under construction at the Bull Arm site in New Foundland (2015) and was placed in the Hibernia area in 2016-2017. The platform (a monotower with deck weight 65000 tons) has a total weight of 860000 tons and is one of the bigger off-shore platforms in the world. ExxonMobil hired Anton Gjørven as Concrete and FEM-specialist to the project from 2011 and up to 2016. Main contribution to the consultant work was concrete design, wave loads and seismic design, crack-widths in concrete and ABAQUS FEM-analyses

Bob has used Abaqus since 1993 and other codes (including Boundary Element) since around 1980. Bob still works at the "coal face" making detailed consultancy models which all nowadays involve contact; friction; finite-sliding; plasticity and ultimate failure.

Dr. Robert Luo holds BEng, MEng and PhD qualifications and the position of the Chartered Engineer, the Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. He has 34 years’ experience in Abaqus, published 3 books and more than 70 peer-reviewed journal papers. He is a SIMULIA Champion in 2021.

Alit Putra is a results‑driven engineering professional with a Ph.D. in Injury Biomechanics and over 10 years of specialized experience in Computer‑Aided Engineering, with a strong focus on explicit finite element simulations. His career has centered on solving complex problems at the intersection of technology and human health, contributing to advancements in human body modeling, biomechanics, biomedical engineering, and automotive crash analysis.
Alit currently serves as Senior Developer – Simulation at Mölnlycke Health Care, where he applies advanced simulation capabilities to support innovation in medical technology. He thrives in dynamic environments and brings scientific rigor, creative problem‑solving, and strategic vision to every project he undertakes.

Dr Guy Rushton - PhD University of Cambridge 2003 on leakage flows in shrouded high-pressure gas turbines. Two years with Dyson in blue skies R&D followed by eight years with Schlumberger Oilfield services developing a variety of innovative drilling tool technology. Joined a startup called Perpetuum in 2014. They were building a vibration powered sensor to provide remote condition monitoring for equipment on train bogies. Guy managed the mechanical engineering team to both develop new products and design custom installations of the sensor equipment. Perpetuum was acquired by Hitachi Rail in 2021.

Jan Schröder is a researcher and doctoral student at the Institute of Solid Mechanics at Dresden University of Technology. He holds a Dipl.-Ing. degree (M.Sc.) in mechanical engineering. Working with Simpack for over 5 years, he gained experience as a student research assistant, industry intern at CLAAS, researching excitation behavior of gears for his diploma thesis and since march 2025 as a fulltime researcher. He specializes in modeling yarn dynamics in high-speed warp knitting using Simpack.

Nasrin Talebi is a doctoral student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology. Her project focuses on fatigue crack initiation in anisotropic railway rails. She investigates the influence of long-term accumulation of plastic deformations on the risk of fatigue crack initiation in rails under mixed traffic loading. This is achieved using machine learning-based plasticity modeling, finite element simulations of wheel over-rollings, and fatigue analysis.

Manuel Mendoza Vázquez is a CAE Engineer at Essity AB. He holds a PhD from Chalmers University of Technology, where he specialized in human body modeling. He has experience conducting finite element analyses across the automotive, medical device, and hygiene product sectors. His main professional interest lies in understanding and simulating the interaction between products and the human body.

Freysteinn received his BSc in Mechatronics Engineering from Reykjavik University in 2018 and his MSc in Electromagnetics, Fusion and Space Engineering from KTH in 2020. He started working as an RF engineer at TERASi in 2025.

Michelle ASH is a dynamic, engaging, and goal-oriented senior executive who specializes in transformational roles, including business model reorientation, strategy development, implementation, and cultural change. She is passionate about transforming organizations that face challenges like rapid change and disruption, helping them reach their full potential. She is also a relationship-builder and values enabling stakeholders to achieve success.

In the past, Michelle has held key positions at BHP, as Vice President of Strategy for Growth, and at Barrick Gold as CIO, where she developed her passion for science, technology, and digital innovation. She also served as COO at Acacia Mining. She currently participates as a board member of several organizations, including Railveyor, Magnium, SAPHI, and StratumAI.

She earned a bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from the University of Melbourne in 1992 and holds Graduate Diplomas in both Business and Economics, as well as an EMBA.

Michelle is also very familiar with Dassault Systèmes having held the position of GEOVIA CEO and Infrastructure Industry Segment Executive from 2019 to 2022.

- B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering (Institute of Engineering and Technology, India)

- Worked as Lead Engineer at Wipro Technologies, Bangalore, India (2006 – 2010)

- M. Sc. in Vehicle Dynamics (Coventry University, UK)

- Joined Simulia / Simpack at DASSAULT SYSTEMES in 2012

- Currently working as Senior Technical Manager for MultiPhysics including Multibody Dynamics, Electromagnetics and Vibro Acoustics

Giovanni Fiore is an Industry Consultant Manager for Fluid Dynamics simulations in EuroNORTH. He has a background in Applied Aerodynamics and has 15 years’ experience in CFD and aerodynamic correlation activities. He leads a brilliant Team of 4 people whose activities range from vehicle aerodynamics and aeroacoustics, to aerospace and life science applications.

Jan Granlund is a EuroNorth MODSIM & AI Industry Process Consultant Expert

• MSc in Civil Engineering (Luleå University of Technology)
• PhD in Steel Structures ( Luleå University of Technology)

Joined the Swedish HKS-office in 1998 – acquired by Dassault Systèmes  in 2005 - and has since been supporting mainly the Nordic users technically in the field of structural simulations.

Is currently in the EuroNorth MODSIM team

Mohan Jayawardene completed his Ph.D. at Loughborough University in 2000, where he subsequently worked as a Research Engineer at the Center for Mobile Communication and Research (CMCR) until 2005. In October 2005, Mohan joined CST AG as an Application Engineer. By 2007, he transitioned from a technical role to lead the sales and technical support team and in 2010 he was appointed as the Country Manager for CST UK Ltd.

Following the acquisition of CST AG by DASSAULT SYSTEMES, Mohan took on the role of SIMULIA Sales Director, overseeing channel partners. Mohan currently leads the sales teams in both direct and indirect channels for SIMULIA in the EuroNorth Region.

Sandeep Kulathu is a Senior Development Manager leading the Abaqus Multiphysics and Explicit Technology team at Dassault Systèmes Americas Corp. He holds a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Engineering from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. His primary area of expertise is computational solid mechanics, with a focus on developing advanced, fully coupled simulation capabilities across a range of applications. These include lithium-ion and solid-state batteries, additive manufacturing, wellbore and hydraulic fracturing, hi-tech and life science applications.

Over the past 15 years, he has played a key role in advancing the Multiphysics simulation capabilities of the finite element software Abaqus.

Tom Lindén is a Aerodynamics and Particle Modeling expert in the World Wide IPS T&M team. He has over 20 years of Automotive Aerodynamics experience, in both physical testing and CFD. His main focus is within the T&M industry, but also provides guidance in all industries with regards to Particle Modeling. He is currently working on expanding methodologies in multi-species gas dynamics and multiphase solutions for PowerFLOW.

Alejandro MARTINEZ NAVARRO is an Industry Process Specialist within the Industry Process Success Team for Transport and Mobility. He focuses on CFD applications and methodology developments for external aerodynamics in the automotive industry.

Tommaso Messa is a CFD engineer in the Northern Europe SIMULIA Fluids Team at Dassault Systèmes. He has experience in both aerospace and automotive industries, focusing on vehicle aerodynamics, thermal management, and fluid-structure interaction. He works with automotive OEMs to develop and deploy advanced simulation workflows using PowerFLOW and the 3DEXPERIENCE Fluid Dynamics Engineer Role (FMK), while contributing to R&D initiatives aimed at advancing CFD methodologies and simulation-driven design within the Transportation & Mobility sector.

Guido PARENTI is an Industry Process Senior Specialist, with 19 years of experience in aerodynamics and automotive industry.

As a member of the Industry Process Success Team for Transport and Mobility, he supports costumer’s engagements and deployments, bringing forward the latest advancements in simulation capabilities, methodologies and best practices with a specific focus on exterior aerodynamics

Ben Pine has worked for Dassault Systemes SIMULIA for almost 7 years. He works on electromagnetic simulations, especially in the areas of particle accelerators, MRI, permanent magnets and superconductivity. Before joining Dassault Systemes, Ben worked at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the UK for 15 years, as an Accelerator Physicist with the ISIS Spallation Neutron Source. Ben got his DPhil in Particle Physics from Oxford University in 2016.

Eric VERON joined Dassault Systèmes in 2017 as a Research Engineer and has since progressed to the role of Industry Process Consultant. Prior to this, he built extensive experience across several industrial organizations in the naval, energy, and space sectors. He brings over 15 years of expertise in simulation, with a focus on computational solid mechanics and co-simulation-driven multi-physics modeling. Eric holds both a Master of Science and a PhD in Applied Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering.

Yingjie YOU is an Industrial Process Consultant and has worked in this role for Dassault Systemès since September 2018.

Her main responsibility is delivering Electromagnetic Simulation technical solutions to a wide variety of customers across the EuroNorth. She specialises in antenna design, microwave component simulation and high power component simulation.

Prior to her current role, she worked as an early stage researcher for the 5G European Research (Horizon-2020) Programme. She studied for both her MSc and PhD degree at the University of Sheffield, UK, focussing on antenna design and propagation models for wireless mobile network systems.