EVEN - Evolutionary Engineering AG
EVEN was founded in January 2004 as a spin-off from the Centre of Structure Technologies at ETH Zurich. The founding members Dr. Oliver König, Dr. Marc Wintermantel, and Dr. Nino Zehnder accomplished their PhD degrees in the field of numerical optimization of mechanical and advanced composite structures. Up to now the staff has grown to a total number of 10 mechanical and software engineers.
The core competencies of EVEN - Evolutionary Engineering AG (EVEN) are numerical optimization, simulation, software development and engineering. Strong emphasis is laid on the design, optimization, and post-processing of advanced composite structures. It is based on profound knowledge from projects in various high performance fields such as Formula One, MotoGP, Americas Cup, and general aerospace applications. The goal of EVEN is to push the limits of state-of-the-art engineering tools to extend the possibilities for simulation and optimization of high performance structures.
From the dissertations of the founding members emerged a new generation of optimization methods and software tools based on evolutionary algorithms. These tools allow to optimize any problem that can be simulated by computers with arbitrary simulation tools. During recent years, these methods have already proven their superior efficiency in many applications, e.g. in Formula One racing, MotoGP racing, high-performance sailing (America's Cup), or on aerospace structures. The PhD thesis of René Roos (the newest member of the staff) researched and implemented a novel approach for the determination of interlaminar normal stresses in composite structures.
Within the research carried out at EVEN several new engineering softwares are developed and implemented. These tools are:
A general finite element framework based on graph theory. It incorporates anisotropic materials and extends the post-processing and strength analysis of laminated composite structures.
A coupling software between structural FEM- and CFD-codes (Fluid-Structure-Interaction) allowing to iteratively find the solution of fluid imposed loads to structures.
A post-processing software for composite structures which allows to combine arbitrary failure criteria and visualize the results in an intuitive all in one display.
An optimization tool which allows to combine a sequence of arbitrary simulation softwares and solve the simulations in a multi processor environment.