Converge 2016 gets engineers, designers and scientists talking tech

Networking in today’s fast-paced world of technology is one way to drive ideas, nurture growth and innovate. Converge 2016, the global conference series from simulation technology provider Altair, was recently held in Bangalore.

The day-long global conference bought together engineers, designers, academician and technologists to deliberate and explore the intersection of design and technology. It was the fifth in the series after similar editions held in the US, Germany, China and Japan to provide platforms to industry stakeholders for initiate a dialogue on design, simulation, product development and manufacturing. The event drew over 500 professionals and distinguished speakers across industries, all of them talking design and technology trends.

Converge 2016 saw Altair’s global leadership team engage with delegates, interacting and explaining the emergence of the Indian market in the simulation and design world and the opportunities India provides. They also focused on how Altair has been working with companies to bring about a change in the manner in which they design a product.

Setting the context of the conference, Brett Chouinard, chief operating officer, Altair, said the objective of the event is trying to engage with engineers, designers and software programmers. “We are converging technologies with design elements to help companies design their products faster and more efficiently. Altair has been dedicated to physic-based simulations targeted at a high level of engineers with a vision to radically change the way companies design products and make decisions,” he said.

In his keynote address for the design industry, Suresh Sethi (above), global design director, Air & Water vice- president, Design Asia South, Whirlpool, touched upon the importance of design and the role of designers as dreamers. He highlighted the parallel between designers in the 1980s and today, and how the design landscape has changed across industries radically.

“Dreams have to be visualised and that makes you a designer. Drawing is not about representation alone but it’s about thinking. Design is an essential element of any product and therefore the designers carry an incredible amount of responsibility to bring uniqueness in the product,” he said.

“Today we are living in a very disruptive world whether it is design, engineering or manufacturing and as we move forward these disruptions will change the way we do design and engineering,” said D Uma Maheshwar, executive chief consulting engineer, GE Aviation-India, in his presentation. 

Citing an example from the aviation industry and how the manufacturing and servicing of jet engines have changed over the years, he stressed upon the importance of additive manufacturing. He said GE is no longer an industrial company but a digital company which is one of the early adopters of digital technology and investing enormously in transforming itself completely by setting up a portfolio within GE with an aim to create Accenture and IBM within GE.   

Academia-industry connect

Bringing in the academia and industry collaboration perspective, Amaresh Chakrabarti (below), professor and chairman, Centre for Product Design & Manufacturing, Indian Institute of Science (IISC), Bangalore, said:  “Design is complex and important but it is also fun.” He peppered his presentation with highlights on some remarkable historical innovators like Albert Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel, the Wright brothers, Henry Ford and Soichiro Honda, drawing common outstanding game-changer elements between them and what engineers can learn from them. What’s common between all these stalwarts is that all of them were curious, had the drive to solve problems, persevered, had high standards, were keen in their actions and questioned the accepted wisdom of the time.

Chakrabarti said for business to succeed and society to be happy, it needs value and profit; one or the other will not work. Both of them are necessary to deliver profit and the value must be good too. Therefore, designers have two elements to play with –performance and cost. He said learning for designers has to come from three elements – society, business and technology. A designer also needs to understand the need of the user through domain knowledge.

In his keynote address on industrial design for automotive, Sathiyaseelan (above), head – Styling (Product Design), Ashok Leyland, said design is all about simplicity. He urged designers not to make design complicated; instead there is a need to make it simpler.

He spoke about various innovative products developed by Ashok Leyland in the past year with simple design but cost-effective methods. He revealed in detail how Ashok Leyland went about developing a new schoolbus called Sunshine, keeping in mind the safety and comfort of school children. The designers had to work within constraints to develop the bus with 15 percent less weight and 20 percent less cost than the competition. 

James Dagg (above), chief technology officer, Altair, explained the products the company is working on different technologies and how Altair’s software and simulations solutions are helping companies across industries to hasten the product development cycle and design capabilities.