BENCHMARK July 2026

Human Intelligence

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

• 1D Thermal Modelling of Rack PDUs:Simulation Results vs. Experimental Measurements
• The Simulation Disconnect
• Never RAM Today...
• Safety First: Electromagnetic Simulations Including Human Body Models
• Why Data Science is the New Engineering Multitool 
• Formula SAE Impact Attenuator Simulation Challenge

BENCHED

View From Your Editorial Team

I was really, really tempted to boot up Claude (or Gemini, or your favourite fake intelligence), type “give me a summary of the NAFEMS Regional Conferences that happened this spring”, tidy it up, lay it out on page 32, and send it to print.Truly. I mean, anyone who knows the inner workings of NAFEMS knows just how hectic things can get, so that would be an understandable thing to do, right?

I was convinced to step back from the precipice by both the rest of the editorial team and by remembering the experience of actually being at the events. I was lucky enough to be able to attend most of the spring conferences (as my out-of-control inbox will attest), and there was one common thread running through them all. Well, two if you count“ EVERYTHING IS AI, LET’S ALL TALK ABOUT AI, WHAT ARE YOU DOING ABOUT AI” as a thread. No, the thread I’m talking about here is one I’ve mentioned on this page more than once in the past. 

Community.

Yes, yes, I’m a marketing guy, and I know community is one of our favourite words. But honestly, the conferences in Budapest, Como, Gothenburg, Coventry, Bamberg, Missouri were a revelation. Simulation users talking about their work, their passion, networking for work's sake, as well as connecting and catching up as people with very common interests and careers. That’s what stands out from these events, and that’s why I bang on and on about it. There’s nothing artificial about it, and no amount of “prompt engineering” will be able to replicate it.

And I guess that’s the real message you’ll find in this issue of the magazine. We’ve got several articles where our community gives their opinion, exclusive case studies from our Engineering Data Science Working Group, details of the just opened World Congress 2027 Call for Papers, an award-winning paper from our 2025 India conference, our regular contributions from Monica and Laurence, and much, much more.

At the core of it all is a picture of a community connected by a passion for engineering, sharing the same pain-points, day-to-day issues, and ultimately, the same goals – to use simulation to improve everything we do. Obviously, we rely on the technology getting better and better to enable us to do that, and that includes AI. But, to echo Laurence’s column,AI should be doing the dishes and taking the bins out, leaving the really intelligent stuff, like talking to each other, to us; we’re brilliant at it.

So once again, I encourage you to get involved with our (your) community. Get active on one of our subcommittees, apply for a working or steering group, submit an abstract for NWC27 (it’s surprisingly simple to get started, and we guide you through the whole process), or simply turn up at one of our events. In over 20 years as part of NAFEMS, I’ve yet to meet a single person who regretted doing just that.

And, to close, as I write this on June 18th, my commiserations to England, who by the time you’re reading this, will absolutely have crashed out gloriously from the 2026 World Cup, and be cursing the bad luck and VAR decision that ultimately cost them victory.

Risky for a Scotland fan, eh… 

Enjoy this issue of Benchmark.

David Quinn - Editor

If you have feedback or would like to see your article featured in benchmark contact benchmark@nafems.org