Christoph Gümbel is widely regarded as one of the leading minds in digital prototyping and applied simulation methods for design and functional verification in the vehicle development process. He spent over 30 years with Porsche starting off as a software engineer, progressing to the role of head of CAE before becoming director of the virtual vehicle. He's now a consultant for the virtual development process and partner at Future Matters, one of Europe’s leading future research institutes. He spoke to NAFEMS’ David Quinn about why being a futurist is vital in today’s automotive industry.