Recently Boeing announced that the 787 had officially been certified by the FAA and EASA.  This is truly a great milestone for Boeing but also a great development for the aerospace industry.  The 787 is the first commercial airplane that is manufactured with more than 50 percent advanced-composite materials.  As someone that got involved with advanced-composite materials back in 1984, when I was a sophomore at MIT, I have hoped for this day for a long time. My first summer internship was with Hercules in 1984, working on composite beams for the Boeing 757 cargo bay.  As a young student, I thought it would be a simple transition from cargo bay to fuselage, but it has been a long journey for Boeing and the industry.  I’m just grateful that the day
has finally arrived.

Altair has had the pleasure of being involved in the 787 program.  At our 2006 HyperWorks Technology Conference, Steve Amorosi offered a presentation on using OptiStruct for the leading-edge ribs on the 787.  In 2008, Joris Poort presented some work on using HyperStudy and HyperMesh to look at the design configuration for the composite horizontal stabilizer.  These papers are available on our website to our registered clients, so I invite you to check them out.  Also, Altair was recognized this year as a Boeing Performance Excellence Award winner. We are grateful to have been able to contribute to this successful program for Boeing and, equally important, for the industry.

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