I love solving problems, it’s what engineers do, often what drives us. If I can solve a problem using CFD that's even better. My working life is always better when I have a simulation project underway. But since leaving corporate life to do consultancy, I’ve had to be very selective about the projects I take on. I usually can't justify multicore software licenses or a giant computer. However, much I enjoy doing simulation, I have to remember that it's the way I earn my living, so if a project costs more to complete than I can charge the client, it isn't an option.

I also suffer from having too many interests both professionally and personally. Maybe enjoy is a better word but I certainly find there often isn't enough time available to do everything that I want to. Professionally, as well as doing engineering consultancy using CFD, I'm commissioning editor for this magazine, I chair the NAFEMS CFD working group, do professional accreditation assessments, am a STEM
ambassador and this year, to help someone out, am teaching two courses of BTEC engineering mathematics. It's great to have such diverse activities but it makes it even more difficult to justify the hardware and software costs to do CFD when it is on a part-time basis.

The advent of CFD tools running in the cloud has changed that. This is my view on
what it means, the pros and cons and what to consider before you start running
engineering simulation in the cloud.