The National Petroleum Council (a panel advising the US Energy Department) has just published a future fuels report stating that the internal combustion will remain the dominant power source for cars until at least 2050. The study says it will take a future “disruptive innovation” to replace the internal-combustion engine.

Last month, perhaps we saw a glimpse into the future as the University of Michigan Solar Car Team (UMSCT) won their 7th National Championship – this time by the largest margin of victory in the history of the American Solar Challenge. Read More

It was great to see the excitement in the room at JPL when the Curiosity Rover sent  its first signal that it was safely on the surface of Mars.  A lot of hard work from NASA engineers and many contractors had finally paid off.  When I was a senior at MIT in 1986 in the AeroAstro Department, my class was given an assignment by NASA to design a manned mission to Mars.  We discussed the general outline of the program and decided on a three-phase mission.  Phase I would be to send a vessel to Mars that would orbit the red planet and map the entire surface.  Phase II would be to send a rover to Mars that would move around the surface and collect samples that would be returned to earth for further study.  Phase III would be to send a crew to the planet.  The class then split into teams to take on various parts of the mission, and I was selected to lead the “Rover” team.  We designed a rover that looks very similar to Curiosity and addressed the issues regarding maneuverability, control, sensors, and instruments.  It was a great project, and we all learned a lot.  NASA got the benefit of seeing what the next generation of engineers could produce.  I was excited to see the first successful Mars rover mission, Pathfinder, in 1997.  We all hope Curiosity will continue to provide useful information to our scientists and engineers. Read More

I intently watched the news coming out of the Farnborough Air Show held recently, and I was happy to see the positive reviews of the Qatar Airlines 787.  People were raving about the comfortable cabin layout, the seating, the unique lighting, and the large windows.

This event comes on the heels of my recent visit to Japan.  The Japanese are very proud of their involvement on the 787 program.  At our HyperWorks Technology Conference in Japan, Altair COO Brett Chouinard recounted his recent experience flying on the 787 from Tokyo to Hiroshima.  Like those at Farnborough, he also raved about the plane’s features, including the quiet ride.  I also discovered that Eiichi Kasono, one of our managers in Japan, has flown on both the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787.  He happened to be on the inaugural commercial flight of the A380 and has flown on the 787 several times.

Altair had significant involvement with both the A380 and 787 programs, helping to reduce the weight of both aircrafts.  We are proud of our involvement and the positive contributions of our engineers and our technology.

I’m still waiting on my first 787 flight, so I might need to head back to Japan!

My colleague Narayan Rangarajan, Altair Engineering team leader, has contributed the following post:

Today, computer-aided engineering (CAE) has enabled high-end research in Crash, NVH, Durability and Optimization of many different industries, including automotive, aerospace, defense, consumer products and architecture, among others.

While yes, many if not all of these are essential in at least some shape or form, are these the most basic of necessities? What about the fundamental human necessities – food, clothing and shelter? Can CAE play a part when it comes to these?

Let’s take a closer look. Read More

The recent TV spots by Lexus (below) stirred up some questions from friends who know basically what we do here at Altair but not the specifics.

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