Engineering analysis software has been traditionally dominated by large commercial vendors such as MathWorks (MATLAB), MSC (NASTRAN/PATRAN), ANSYS (ANSYS and Fluent), Dassault Systemes (CATIA) and SIEMENS (NX and FEMAP). This is probably because these tools attract a comparatively small user base and therefore have not featured heavily within the Open Source community. However, that assumption may now be seriously questioned, as there are numerous software tools emerging that challenge the commercial equivalents.
Open Source Computational Engineering Tools 2
Posted by Adrian Smith
on August 02, 2008
Applying Agile Principles to Traditional Engineering Design 2
Posted by Adrian Smith
on January 20, 2008
Agile software development methods evolved as a reaction to traditional project management methods that focused on documentation, change control and the linear execution of tasks. Agile methods recognize the complex and highly non-linear nature of software development and address the associated risks by encouraging a range of working practices. While these practices are well accepted within the software industry, they have not yet permeated into the more traditional engineering design disciplines found in the aerospace or automotive engineering industries. The following considers the how some of the main agile principles and practices associated with Scrum, eXtreme Programming and Test-Driven Development, could be applied.