ESTECO UM25 North America: leveraging human capital through automation, simulation apps, and artificial intelligence

At the 9th biennial ESTECO Users’ Meeting North America in Plymouth, MI, industry leaders from companies like Cummins, Eaton, Ford Motor Company, Honda, Medtronic, SLB, and Stellantis showcased how they leverage ESTECO digital engineering solutions. They demonstrated maximizing human capital value through simulation process automation, reduced order models, AI, and easy-to-use simulation applications within their engineering workflows.

• Ford's "Human Algorithm" involves integrating experiential data into optimization decisions.
• Honda has implemented an AI-enhanced digital twin that utilizes machine learning for virtual quality assessment in its early stages.
• Stellantis has achieved 90%-time savings and improved global consistency through workflow standardization.
• Polaris is seeing a broader cultural adoption of using modeFRONTIER as a tool for decision-making.

Key insights from the 2025 ESTECO Users’ Meeting North America

Carlo Poloni, President of ESTECO, opened the Users' Meeting by emphasizing the company’s strategic focus on cutting-edge technologies that are shaping the future of digital engineering. He spotlighted ongoing investments in AI-driven automation, Reduced Order Modeld (ROM), and scalable cloud collaboration, highlighting how these advancements are empowering engineers to achieve greater efficiency and innovation.

1. Democratization in simulation-based decision making and the value of human algorithm

According to Bob Tickel, Director, Multidisciplinary Simulation at Cummins, democratization refers to the ongoing effort to enable simulation-based decision making across the enterprise. Key methods to achieve democratization include providing documentation that guides users in applying simulation techniques. Tailored training programs to build skills across various teams, ensuring users gain confidence in using simulation tools. Automation, enabled by software such as modeFRONTIER, plays a crucial role to streamline complex simulation workflows. Additionally, the use of reduced order models (ROM) and machine learning (ML) employs data-driven approaches to approximate high-fidelity simulations, delivering quick and accurate predictions that support real-time decision making. Finally, simplified tools with user-friendly interfaces like VOLTA Runbox apps, make simulation execution accessible to users without deep technical background.

Mark Clapper, Technical Leader in Propulsion and Vehicle NVH at Ford Motor Company, introduced a framework, so called “The Human Algorithm”, for integrating experiential data into their engineering design process. With modeFRONTIER, they run multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) to generate a set of technically efficient designs to assess, for example, NVH, durability and dynamics during wheel impact events. Next comes experience. They take optimized designs and synthesize them into real-time, immersive simulators. Following this, they conduct an evaluation phase, where expert evaluators or customers assess the designs in full context. Then, they use qualitative feedback to make a confident decision or refine the constraints for the next MDO run. This process is not about abandoning data, but about augmenting it. They use MDO to understand what is possible, simulators to show what is preferable, and human insight to make better decisions, faster.

2. Extending the value of digital engineering with agentic systems

ESTECO software solutions helped achieve a 95% reduction in development time along with performance improvements, as explained by Uyiosa Abusomwan, Senior Global Technology Manager, Digital Design & Engineering at Eaton Corporation. Previously, their design process was manual, requiring four subject matter experts working across multiple stages (design, calculations, CAD development, 1D simulation) which took up to six months to complete due to the expertise and time needed at each step. With the modeFRONTIER workflow, the entire design loop is automated and executable through VOLTA Runbox intuitive interface. This allows them to cut what previously took six months down to less than one week with just one engineer involved. He also shared his forward-looking vision of integrating agentic AI systems within product lifecycle management (PLM) and simulation process and data management (SPDM) environments as well as broader simulation automation workflows. By embedding these systems, organizations can expect to outperform human capabilities in short-term activities and further accelerate product development.

3. Digital engineering platform automation for medical device industry

The adoption of numerical modeling and simulation in the medical device industry initially faced challenges due to the stringent and complex regulatory requirements governing medical device development according to Arric E. McLauchlan, Principal Design Automation Engineer at Medtronic PLC. However, this trend has shifted dramatically in recent years. A key driver behind this rapid evolution has been the growing emphasis on in-silico clinical trials (ISCT) which are an innovative modeling and simulation approach to reduce the number of human patients required to collect meaningful data. This is transforming both the way medical devices are developed and the culture within development teams. Data retention and recollection are now as important as the methods of its creation and Digital Engineering platforms play a crucial role in this transformation. In this context, Medtronic has developed a collaborative digital architecture that links its requirement management system, model-based systems engineering tool, product lifecycle management system and product data management system. This also includes modeFRONTIER software for process integration and design optimization, and VOLTA platform for SPDM and seamless simulation execution. This interconnected ecosystem enables efficient information flow and collaboration between subject matter experts like clinical and regulatory agents, program managers, systems engineers, product design engineers, modeling and simulation engineers and design automation engineers.

4. ESTECO software updates: democratization, data-centric platform for MDO, scalable simulations and streamlined AI data-driven modeling

The future of the VOLTA digital engineering platform is built on three strategic pillars: democratization of simulation, digital thread integration, and a future-proof architecture. Marco Turchetto, VOLTA Product Manager, explained that democratization means granting access to simulation expert knowledge to bring simulation earlier in the V-cycle of product development. As a result, a wider audience of potential users like designers and systems engineers get access to high-quality simulation. Then, digital thread integration with a PLM/SPDM/MDO federated approach. Making VOLTA a seamless and connected part of your entire digital engineering ecosystem, breaking down the silos between simulation and other systems. Lastly, the future-proof architecture is designed to handle the explosion of data, users, and the need for flexible computing power.

modeFRONTIER offers a powerful solution to enhance the efficiency of AI/ML models by integrating simulation workflows with design of experiments (DOE), response surface models (RSM) and reduced order models (ROM). Danilo Di Stefano, modeFRONTIER Product Manager, highlighted how this approach helps engineers harness the full potential of AI data-driven design exploration and optimization. In this context, interpretability of the trained model is crucial. modeFRONTIER’s proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) techniques allows you to understand why when you use a trained model in the prediction phase it gives you a certain kind of results.

Together, these updates illustrate ESTECO’s vision of a completely connected digital engineering ecosystem: open, data-centric, and prepared for AI-driven design.

Connecting people, processes, and platforms for faster engineering design processes

With over 100 simulation engineers, technical managers and decision-makers, the recent ESTECO Users' Meeting North America was a success. Whether in automotive, energy, or medical devices, each presentation underscored the shared drive to connect people, processes, and platforms for faster, more intelligent engineering. Our colleagues from the ESTECO North America office also delivered engaging hands-on workshops covering key topics such as Reduced Order Models (ROM), the Python ecosystem, and uncertainty quantification within modeFRONTIER. Also, attendees explored advanced capabilities in digital thread integration and business process modeling using the VOLTA platform.

In conclusion, Nader Fateh, the Vice President of ESTECO North America, thanked the attendees for their contributions. He reaffirmed the company's commitment to advancing artificial intelligence, reduced order models (ROM), and cloud-based collaboration. This initiative paves the way for the next International Users’ Meeting, which is scheduled to take place in Trieste, Italy in 2026. Fateh also expressed his anticipation of seeing everyone again at the 2027 Users’ Meeting in North America.