BENCHmark April 2007
A Truly Global Industry
 Earlier this year, I had the privilege of travelling to India
to visit a number of the companies there that are making extensive
use of CAE. I was very intrigued about the visit – I had
heard many stories about what is happening there and the tremendous
growth in the use of engineering analysis.
However, nothing could have prepared me for the experience. The
extent of CAE usage that I witnessed was staggering. That I had
expected. What I had not bargained on was the overwhelming
enthusiasm and the passion for a career devoted to CAE that I came
across time and again. This was truly breathtaking, and highly
refreshing.
This booming time for Indian CAE engineers is very heavily based
upon work which has been subcontracted to India by Western
companies. What does this mean for the global analysis community?
Many engineers in the West fear the changes that are taking place,
and the reasons for this are well founded and clearly
understandable. But, realistically, in an increasingly global
marketplace, I believe that any attempts to prevent this will be
futile. Rather, we should all embrace the opportunities that are
unfolding as a consequence of these changes. I have yet to meet a
group of people that are more enthusiastic about our branch of
technology than those I met whilst in India. Through the explosion
in the use of simulation in the region, the talent pool of
experienced CAE professionals there is rapidly growing. This must
ultimately be good news for the entire profession, helping to
overcome the limiting factor of available personnel, and allowing
simulation to be used much more extensively.
 So, what about a role for NAFEMS? Well, the primary interest in
NAFEMS from engineers in India is twofold: training and
certification. To service the growth in CAE in India, the industry
needs to recruit 20,000+ new engineers each year to carry out
simulation work. Industry recognises that, if these new recruits
are to perform their work competently, they must receive high
quality training. Can NAFEMS help with this? Can we set the
training standards through defining learning outcomes, can we
“train the trainers” and/or endorse those who provide
the training? And, finally – certification of analysts.
Western companies outsourcing work to India have a keen interest in
determining the competence of all those who will be working for
them. Equally, those aspiring to a long and fruitful career in
engineering analysis want a means by which they can differentiate
themselves from their colleagues and demonstrate their prowess and
their skills – this certainly sounds like a role for a
Registered Analyst scheme!
Tim Morris, Chief Executive
April 2007
Articles are available to NAFEMS Members to download below.
Embedding Flow Simulation in Mainstream Mechanical Design
Knowledge Base 015 - Plasticity, Collapse and Fatigue
Using CAE Tools to Apply Advanced Materials and Processes in
Automotive Research
Simulation of Glass Melting Processes at TNO Group
A Conversation With.... Rodney Dreisbach
Virtual Benchmarking
If you are not a NAFEMS Member,
click here
to find out how you and your company can benefit from joining the
only independent, international association dedicated to
engineering analysis and simulation.
|
