Covering Scientific & Technical AI | Thursday, July 9, 2026
Dassault Innovates for the Future
Thanks to the design arm of a small French plane maker, companies like Boeing have been able to replace costly physical testing with precise, efficient computer-based techniques. Full article
Training or Technology – Why Not Both?
A host of regional and international initiatives, including the White House-backed Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, seek to give advanced manufacturing a starring role in the revitalization of our economy. Full article
A PIC for Bob
There's no denying the business benefits of modeling and simulation, but smaller manufacturers rarely have the capital resources to invest in these tools. Now a new effort is underway from NCMS that aims to change that. A national network of high performance computing hubs, dubbed Predictive Innovation Centers, or PICs, will provide small and mid-market ... Full article
Virgin Racing Releases Details of Strategic Partnership
Virgin's new technical partnership with McLaren includes access to both virtual and physical design tools. Full article
Recyclable Laptops Signal New Era in Sustainable Design
Stanford researchers have created a recyclable laptop that can be disassembled without tools in less than 45 seconds. Full article
Altair’s Approach to Solving the Software Licensing Problem
Licensing is one of the major stumbling blocks to the spread of digital manufacturing technology among small- to medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs). Rapid advances in CAE software, especially in modeling and simulation, could help many SMMs reduce the costs and time associated with design, analysis and prototyping. This promises to make them more competitive, able to ... Full article
Case Study: Bringing the Power of HPC to Drug Discovery and the Delivery of ‘Smarter’ Healthcare
As recently as eight years ago, the application of high performance computing (HPC) techniques to drug discovery efforts was problematic at best. Even clusters composed of 40 or 50 processors could take a year to identify cancer-relevant genes. Today, due to advances in supercomputing and software platforms from companies like GNS, Wolfram Research, and MathWorks, ... Full article
Platform as a Service Appeals to Manufacturers
An often overlooked component of cloud computing, Platform as a Service provides a cost-effective management layer for hardware and software delivery. Full article
Play-Doh, Today
So much of manufacturing and product design still depends on that brick of clay, cut and shaped and formed into a car, or a camera, or a toaster oven. But more and more we are seeing creators, artists, and visionaries abandoning methods that hold them back and embracing new, digital technologies. Full article
More Help for the Missing Middle: This Time from DOE
A recent meeting in Chicago has started a process that could have far-reaching ramifications for small- to medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) and other small businesses. Full article
Morehead State University Students Help Launch Space Program
Students use the Space Science Center's 3D printer for rapid prototyping of a satellite launch system. Full article
Case Study: Making Cars Go Faster with Platform HPC
Swift Engineering has been designing and manufacturing high-end race cars since 1983. A small company with limited IT resources, Swift required an affordable state-of-the-art HPC solution that would boost efficiency and output. Having outgrown its two-workstation solution, Swift transitioned to a full-scale HPC cluster from Cray and Platform Computing. With increased computing power for running ... Full article
One-Man Machine Shop Boosts Productivity with CAD/CAM Workflow
Delcam's FeatureCAM system enables even the smallest of operations to move to 3D machining. Full article
NVIDIA Solution Brings Mercedes Illustrations to Life
The Mercedes Benz product visualization project creates highly-detailed, photorealistic images using NVIDIA's iray rendering solution. Full article
Ambitious Advanced Manufacturing Partnership Announced by White House
On Friday, President Obama, speaking at Carnegie Mellon University, announced the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP), a national initiative that enlists the cooperation of industry, academia and the federal government. The AMP's charter is to drive innovative technologies that will revitalize US manufacturing, creating new, quality jobs and helping restore this country's leadership in the global ... Full article
Because You Have to Make Things
The Advanced Manufacturing Partnership announced by President Obama earlier today is forged upon the recognition that by connecting talent, investment and infrastructure, we can revitalize manufacturing in North America and get back to making things. Full article
Manufacturing and the Economy: A Random Sojurn Around the Web
Four different websites, four different perspectives on manufacturing and the economy. Some seemingly random links reveal interesting correlations. Full article
Flaw in Chinese Software Leaves Critical Infrastructure Open to Attack
The US Department of Homeland Security warns that Sunway's SCADA systems have bugs that can be exploited by hackers. Full article
Case Study: Software Vendor Expands CFD Reach by Adding Cloud
Symscape, a developer of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, wanted to expand its customer base by making its CFD system even more affordable. The company used "burst to Windows Azure" functionality as part of the Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 SP1 operating system to offer nearly instantaneous scalability without significant up-front costs, making it possible ... Full article
From Safety to EcoBoost: HPC Enables Innovation and Productivity at Ford Motor Company
After an intense 30-year working relationship with supercomputers — ranging from early water-cooled Crays to today's commodity clusters — engineers at the Ford Motor Company view modeling and simulation with high performance computing (HPC) not as a high-tech miracle, but as an integral part of the business. Full article