SimScale – Physics & AI engineering simulation in the cloud - David Heiny

Recorded at CDFAM Computational Design Symposium, Amsterdam , 2025 https://cdfam.com/amsterdam-2025/ Organization SimScale Presenter: David Heiny CEO & Co-FounderIn this presentation from CDFAM Amsterdam 2025, David Heiny, co-founder and CEO of SimScale, outlines a pragmatic approach to integrating AI into engineering workflows. Drawing from conversations with engineering leaders and data collected from a recent industry survey, he shares key insights into why widespread adoption of AI in core engineering remains limited—despite significant advances in generative design, simulation acceleration, and surrogate modeling.The talk explores:* The structural complexity of modern engineering organizations* Why conventional AI success in image generation or code translation hasn't translated to simulation workflows* A layered view of how AI tools are beginning to augment specific stages of the product development cycleHeiny introduces SimScale’s approach to cloud-native simulation, including the use of frontier models for automating setup and interpretation, and the deployment of physics-based AI surrogates for fast, scalable parametric optimization. A live demonstration showcases how AI agents can assist in simulation setup and design evaluation directly within SimScale's platform.Additional topics include:* AI adoption trends from a 300-leader survey* The role of data structuring and cloud infrastructure in enabling automation* Use cases from industry and academia, including work on snap-fit prediction, pump optimization, and native integration of implicit geometry via nTopThis presentation highlights the emerging convergence of simulation, design data, and AI, and presents a compelling case for how engineering teams can begin implementing these capabilities today.—To learn more about the CDFAM Computational Design Symposium series, including previous presentations and future events visit https://cdfam.com#CDFAM #ComputationalDesign #AIinEngineering #Simulation #CAE #DesignAutomation #SimScale #nTop #PhysicsAI #EngineeringWorkflow #GenerativeDesign #SurrogateModeling This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.designforam.com