CAE technology conference attracts big guns

This year's Altair Technology Conference will take place on 2nd November at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon.

This year's Altair Technology Conference will take place on 2nd November at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon.

The free conference will showcase the potential of computer aided engineering (CAE) technologies and identify current trends and future directions in virtual product design and development.

The event has attracted an industry A-list of keynote speakers: Richard Parry Jones, the Group Vice President of Global Product Development and Chief Technical Officer at Ford Motor Company, Neil Jenkins, MD of Gibbs Technologies and Chris Wilkinson, Director of Capability and Engineering at BAE Systems Aerostructures.

The conference will address four key areas of CAE: automatically determining optimum performance designs; increasing product reliability through robust design; using CAE technologies to enhance manufacturing and product development processes; and future trends.

Under each of these headings, guest speakers from the world's leading engineering companies will present a series of papers sharing their knowledge and experience of working with cutting-edge CAE technologies.

The presentations chosen for the conference reflect the diverse industry sectors that are currently benefiting from advances in CAE and design optimisation technology.

The conference line-up includes such industry heavyweights as Ford, Jaguar, Airbus, Schlumberger and Linpac.

These representatives from the automotive, aerospace, offshore and packaging industries will identify massive cost and weight savings, innovative design improvements and measurable performance enhancements such as strength and durability.

By engaging with real case examples of design challenges such as airbags, steering wheels, aircraft wings and returnable transit packaging, delegates will be able to experience the scope of current CAE performance as well as future developments for the technology.

Richard Parry Jones will be discussing the vital links between innovation and technology.

Parry Jones heads Ford's largest engineering organisation, with a technical staff of some 30,000 engineers, scientists, designers and business professionals worldwide, including the Ford, Lincoln, Mazda, Jaguar, Volvo, Land Rover and Aston Martin brands.

He is a visiting professor at the Department of Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering at Loughborough University and has been named "Man of the Year" by magazines in the UK and the USA.

Parry Jones' passion for technology and engineering is legendary within the industry and his presentation on Ford's vision for accelerating innovation is guaranteed to be thought-provoking, informative and inspiring.

The innovation theme will be echoed in the keynote speech of Neil Jenkins, Managing Director of Gibbs Technologies.

Jenkins and his team developed the Aquada, in which Sir Richard Branson recently broke the record for the fastest crossing of the English Channel in an amphibious vehicle and Jenkins will explain how innovative design was essential in successfully bringing this new vehicle to market.

Chris Wilkinson's address will discuss how added-value engineering can be retained in the UK while working within an increasingly global supply chain.

Wilkinson has spent the last four years as a board member of BAE Systems' Aerostructures business unit developing its engineering service capability.

In addition, he performs a number of corporate roles as a member of the BAE Systems engineering council.

"The commercial aerospace design and manufacturing industry is part of a global economy in which the UK must play its part", says Wilkinson.

"In such a fast changing landscape, we need to identify our key skills, such as creativity and problem solving, and learn how to apply them as world-class services to the manufacturing industry".

"Increasingly, it is through collaboration with specialist companies that the most effective and innovative engineering solutions are to be found".

"The Altair Technology Conference showcases examples of just such collaborations, demonstrating the expertise, creativity and engineering excellence that the UK brings to the global economy".

"First held in 1999, the Altair Technology Conference has earned a reputation for presenting innovative and successful CAE solutions that demonstrate real business benefits", explains Dr Royston Jones, Managing Director of Altair in the UK.

"That is why it attracts such high calibre speakers and delegates, ensuring we create a forum for debate and discussion among the leading thinkers and practitioners involved in engineering design today".

"As always, we welcome familiar and new faces to this year's event and look forward to another exciting day of learning and networking".

In addition to the conference programme, visitors will find a vibrant exhibition showcasing physical examples of CAE-optimised products as well as display stands from key players in the engineering arena.

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