We plan to make major inroads into aerospace, heavy and infrastructure-led engineering

Altair empowers client innovation and decision-making through technology that optimises the analysis, management and visualisation of business and engineering information. Jean Michel Terrier, Director-Radioss & Safety Technology, Altair Inc in a tête-à-tête with Editor of SP’s AirBuz B.K. Pandey.

SP’s AirBuz (SP’s): Briefly describe the profile of your company and its spectrum of activities worldwide.

Jean Michel Terrier (Terrier): Altair empowers client innovation and decision-making through technology that optimises the analysis, management and visualisation of business and engineering information. Altair develops the HyperWorks suite of products. It is a computer-aided engineering (CAE) simulation software platform, that allows businesses to create superior, market leading products efficiently and cost-effectively. HyperWorks provides the most comprehensive, open-architecture CAE solution in the industry, including best-in-class modelling, analysis, visualisation and data management solutions for linear, nonlinear, structural optimisation, fluid-structure interaction, and multibody dynamics applications. Committed to an open-systems philosophy, Altair HyperWorks continues to lead the industry with the broadest interoperability to commercial CAD and CAE solutions in the PLM market space. Altair ProductDesign is a global, multi-disciplinary product development consultancy of more than 500 designers, engineers, scientists, and creative thinkers. Altair PBS Works is a suite of on-demand grid computing technologies that allows enterprises to maximise ROI on computing infrastructure assets. PBS Works is the most widely implemented software environment for grid-, cloud-, cluster- and on-demand computing worldwide. Altair HiQube develops high-performance business intelligence software solutions that deliver in depth business analysis capabilities and superior reporting, faster, due to its unique HiQube technology. HiQube combines three data management methodologies, hierarchical, relational and multidimensional, within single, unified database architecture.

SP’s: What has been the involvement of your company specifically in the regime of safety in aerospace?

Terrier: Altair’s software suite HyperWorks is used by the major aircraft companies (Boeing, Airbus, Eurocopter, KAI, Embraer, Bombardier, Spirit, Cessna, BAE, etc) to develop new aircraft including helicopters, using the latest technologies in composites. Altair’s RADIOSS solver is used for ditching simulation and structure behaviour understanding, bird and hail impact on different parts of the aircraft, crash, etc. Sigma Aeroseat is using Altair tools to develop passengers and pilot seats. The design takes into account emergency landings which are simulated.

SP’s: What are the major problem areas with regard to safety in aerospace and defence?

Terrier: Safety simulations began in the automotive regime with the crash studies. Such studies were then extended to aerospace and more recently to other areas in the field of defence.

SP’s: What are the solutions that the company has to offer?

Terrier: Altair brings CAE tools which can be used in the design process for all kinds of structures. It is completely innovative. CAE comes most of the time after design to validate the solutions. Today, the validations are done at an early stage and influence the design directly. Optimisation is also used to determine the best design which will answer all the boundary conditions such as geometrical or loadings.

SP’s: What is the company’s global customer profile?

Terrier: Companies are from varied industries; from consumer goods to aerospace, automotive, heavy industry, shipbuilding, oil and gas. Details of Altair’s customer profile is available on the company’s website http://www.altair.com.

SP’s: Since when has the company been present in India, the scale of engagement and the nature of activities here?

Terrier: Altair India was established in 1996 and has over 500 customers in India. Its automotive customers include Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, TVS Motors, Ashok Leyland, Eicher and many more. Also, present in heavy engineering like FLSmidth and L&T. Altair is working with organisations involved in aerospace and defence in the country. The activities include sales, support, software development and services through Altair product design organisation.

SP’s: Can you please outline the strategy that the company proposes to adopt for market penetration in India?

Terrier: Altair has plans for a wider spread into existing segments such as automotive through new applications and hopes to make major in roads into aerospace, heavy and infrastructureled engineering.