Auto Parts Asia — October 2017

30 | AutoPartsAsia | OCTOBER 2017

COVER STORY

G

lobally driverless vehicles,

and driverless but assisted-

driving vehicles are becoming

a reality. By 2030 India

plans to have more electric vehicles

(EV) on its roads. Weight is going

to be the biggest deterrent for EVs.

“These are the new developments

across the globe and in India. Our

tools are ready to handle these new

requirements. We are equipped

to help OEMs in light-weighting of

the EVs,” Pavan Kumar, Managing

Director, Altair Engineering India,

told AutoParts Asia.

Altair is a leading provider of

enterprise-class engineering software

enabling innovation, reduced

development times, and lower costs

through the entire product lifecycle

from concept design to in-service

operation. Its simulation-driven

approach to innovation is powered by

an integrated suite of software which

optimises design performance across

multiple disciplines encompassing

structures, motion, fluids, thermal

management, electromagnetics,

system modelling and embedded

systems, while also providing data

analytics and true-to-life visualisation

and rendering.

“Our immediate focus is to stay

relevant to the changing requirements

like active safety systems, which

involve antennas, high frequency

communication, sensors, Internet of

Things (IoT) and cloud for predictive

analytics. These are the latest

developments in the sector. There

are several things that are driving

change. The way our customers

design products is an example.

The first change in the industry

is electrification. The second one

is a blend of new manufacturing

techniques like 3D printing. The third

is automation where people will be

increasingly replaced by machines,

robots or cobots. All these require

different types of engineering tools,”

he said.

“Shedding weight is an important

issue. Altair has two ways of

helping an OEM; one is through

consulting services and the other

is through tools which are used for

lightweighting. We have applied both

of them together, or individually in

many OEMs. They help OEMs reduce

the material used to create something

and get specific structural and

performance characteristics without

By Pramod Thomas

Altair

Develops Tools,

Systems For

Changing Needs