BENCHMARK January 2022

The best of NAFEMS World Congress 2021

In the BENCHMARK January 2022 Issue, you will find out about:

• NAFEMS WORLD CONGRESS 2021 The Importance of People
• Balancing Interior Environmental Quality and HVAC Energy Efficiency using 1D and 3D Simulation
• NAFEMS Regional Conferences 2022
• Integration of Driving Physical Properties into the Development of a Virtual Test Field for Highly Automated Vehicle Systems
• User-Centric Traceability for Simulation-Informed Decisions
• Magnetic Latches and Fixtures: A Unique Multiphysics Solution

BENCHED

View From Your Editorial Team

How long is a year? Perhaps to you 2021 felt like a whole 5 years or maybe it felt more like just 5 months, but it was the same 12 months as usual, topped off with lashings of the usual mayhem, upheaval, upsides and downsides. I’ve read a number of “that was the year that was” style editorials over the past few weeks, and to be honest, I’m going to try to avoid falling into the usual sentimental look-back style summary of the year. It came and it went, and we all know what happened. Let’s leave it there.

A year is a long time in the world of simulation and we got plenty done. We published a handy “12 days” blog post just before the start of this year on our website, covering a whole host of great content that we opened up to everyone (nafe.ms/12Days). It was a quick reminder that, despite everything that has been going on over the past year (PSSSTT….don’t.go.sentimental.), NAFEMS has been consistently creating and distributing content more regularly than ever before. That our community has pulled together to keep working on the cutting-edge of simulation as well as looking at new ways to keep delivering those messages is, frankly, humbling. We’re all part of something bigger, and without getting schmaltzy (watch it…), it’s a pleasure to be involved.

Of course, the main NAFEMS focus of last year was our 2021 World Congress. It had variously been postponed, moved, scheduled to be in-person, then hybrid, almost cancelled... but in the end, circumstances dictated it went solely online, and that’s where the real work started. We were stunned by the dedication and sense of togetherness we got from our sponsors, presenters, attendees and staff when the event finally came around. The feedback we’ve had is that it was all worth it. Sure, there were things that could have been done better, and we were never going to completely replace the in-person conference experience, but it was a real conference, with some great content which was well received by the community.

This issue of benchmark is dedicated to the best of the best – the Best Paper winners from NWC21. Whilst we published one of the winners in the last issue of benchmark (You can download the article “Graph and Heuristic-based Topology Optimisation of Crash Loaded Structures” by Thorsten Pohl of Stellantis, which won “Best Automotive Paper”, at nafe.ms/pohl), we are delighted to present the work of some of the other winners in this issue. It’s great stuff, which means the articles are slightly longer this time, but it gives you something to really get your teeth into. We’ve also got a brief summary of the event itself, with an accompanying blog post picking out some of the video highlights that you can find at nafe.ms/nwc21review

Looking forward to 2022, we’re delighted to be bringing together our regional conference series under one banner. The NRC22 programme – NAFEMS Regional Conference, if you hadn’t guessed! – kicks off in March. You can get involved with the conferences through submitting your abstract online, and there will be early-bird registration offers available throughout the year at nafems.org/nrc22

I hope you have a great 2022. Enjoy the magazine.

David Quinn - Editor

If you have feedback or would like to see your article featured in benchmark contact benchmark@nafems.org