BENCHMARK October 2026

Everything You Know Is Wrong

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

• B​reaking the Grid - Exploring the Potential of Particle Methods
• You Aren’t Late to the AI Party
• I​n the Court of the One-eyed King
• W​hy You Should Attend the NAFEMS World Congress 2027
• T​ransformers In Numerical Simulation: What a Community Survey and an Industrial Benchmark Tell Us
• S​peaking of Simulation Part 6 - Successes and Obstacles in Certification by Simulation

BENCHED

View From Your Editorial Team

‘Everything you know is wrong’. During U2’s 1992-93 ZooTV tour, that phrase flashed up on the screens surrounding the stage during the performance of the song ‘The Fly’ (this was back in the day when Bono was mostly bearable). The images on the giant screens* painted a picture of a dystopian future where mass-media, corporations, and governments worked in the shadows to tell you what to think and convince you of what they thought was best. What a silly concept. Could never happen. Am I suggesting that the critically acclaimed follow-up to The Joshua Tree album was more than prescient? Well, hindsight does suggest that he of the wrap-around shades was onto something. 

This was all not long after the fall of the Berlin Wall, when the modern European Union was in its infancy. A few years later, as the dot-com frenzy was reaching its zenith, another warning came: “It’s cool to use the computer, don’t let the computer use you” (Prince) nafe.ms/prince.

We’ve been there during all of it. Since 1983, NAFEMS has been all about making sure everything you know is questioned. We’ve been telling you not to trust your results implicitly. We’ve been right there in the middle of the simulation software journey saying “remember to check your results” and “you need to make sure you understand what this stuff is actually doing”. There is better, more techy language for all of this: the verification and validation of results, the benchmarking of the software, etc. But however you phrase it, it all leads back to one thing: never put blind trust or faith into any one set of results. Question everything. Prove everything. Keep receipts.

Everything you know is in a state of flux. Be it geopolitics, technology, the environment, work, software, hardware – everything. When it comes to predicting change and seeing where we’re headed, I’ve long been in the habit of putting stock in the opinions of artists (yes, even Bono!). That’s because it takes a balance of minds to really question things. It takes a creative mind to question the logic, in the same way creativity needs logic to anchor it. Disconcertingly, this view currently appears to be in sharp contrast with the way the world and technology are moving towards a polarised future.The trajectory suggests a future where truth becomes subjective, and trust in results depends on the tool that’s been used to deliver it rather than the physics. The promise of “push-button” simulation and letting the “black box” get on with it inches ever closer, but we need to make sure everything is still explainable, everything can be verified, and sound logic underpins it all. 

NAFEMS’ role in the simulation eco-system is about to get even bigger and more important. Trust in results and methods needs to be demonstrable, and there need to be independent bodies that can work with each and every stakeholder to deliver that. Our work in ensuring best practice in simulation is disseminated and implemented by everyone involved is vital now more than ever. And our standing as a neutral body that operates without bias, without favour, and with the utmost integrity, continues.

So, everything you know might not necessarily be wrong, but it should certainly be open to question.

Enjoy this issue of Benchmark.

David Quinn - Editor

*The nichest reference ever, but if you were at our World Congress in Crete in 2009, you might remember that all of the video production (created by yours truly) was based on exactly this, complete with matching U2 soundtrack. One of my proudest marketing moments, that.

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