Dale Goulding , Chief Development Officer , AeroTEC
Aerospace testing , engineering , and certification are where AeroTEC shines . Their tagline , Accelerating the Evolution of Aerospace , “ is something we put a lot of thought into ,” said Dale Goulding , chief development officer . He said , “ There are many innovators and technologists out there ; there is so much new technology coming into the space – but really , there aren ’ t many companies that can do the wide range of products that we can .” He elaborated on the expertise of AeroTEC and their 250 employees and ability to provide a wide range of services in things like , “ weather radar , a new interior system , a power generation upgrade , an aerodynamic improvement for drag reduction , and a whole new power train ( battery or hydrogen-electric ).”
He added , “ We are uniquely situated outside an OEM as a smaller company that can help bring a wide range of products to market .”
Bringing those products to market requires depth in the dynamic flow of information in products , delivery , management , and communication . This is where Applied CAx comes in . The name “ CAx ” may seem odd in its taxonomy and appearance . According to Taylor Saul , managing partner , “ CAx ” is an umbrella term that refers to various computer-aided technologies used throughout the design , engineering , and manufacturing processes . The “ CA ” stands for “ Computer-Aided ,” and the “ x ” is a placeholder that can be replaced with various letters to signify different tools and technologies .
He refers to computer-aided design , manufacturing , and engineering as the stand-ins for ‘ x ’ depending upon the application need . Therefore , CAD , CAM , and CAE are the acronyms for their applications .
In the case of AeroTEC the applications needed , via the services provided by Applied CAx , are great . Saul said the software used by AeroTEC includes “ multiple Siemens software solutions throughout the design lifecycle , including NX , Teamcenter , and a range of Siemens Simcenter Tools for advanced simulation applications . They utilize STAR-CCM + for CFD analysis , Simcenter FEMAP for FEA , Simcenter 3D , and AMESIM for 1D system simulation and system performance analysis .”
26 NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS