Andy Fine has been in the design and engineering software world for quite some time. He has learned a lot. Now, he wants to impart that knowledge to startups. He’s no VC shark, looking for a chunk of equity and taking up a board seat forever. Startups can retain Andy for as long as they wish. On retainer, Andy will take the time to study the startup and their business plan and, among other things, suggest a go-to-market strategy. Perhaps most importantly, he can also help startups get funding, which he has done on two occasions.
The wide world of “Software for Hardware” is Andy’s backyard. He has worked for several of the companies above, dealt with many more and appears to be familiar with them all.
Born in the UK and now outside Denver, Andy is the founder of Fine Physics. He has an extensive background in FEA and CFD, using it early on while earning a Masters in Aeronautical Engineering from Cranfield University in the UK and logo on top of a bachelor’s in aerospace engineering from the University of the West of England.
After a stint as a hardcore user, Andy quickly got into sales. His resume reads like a Who’s Who of simulation, including Ansy and Altair – and we’re only on the A’s.
Andy now seeks to apply what he has learned to help young companies, some with founders who may need to learn how to spell FEA or CFD, into how they can do more with simulation software and get to a better-finished product with fewer prototypes and testing.
With the surge of AI, there could be no better time to use simulation without knowing its intricacies. For those who insist on learning how, Andy is confident he can demystify the usually very daunting software.
I asked about what the AI role should be in simulation. To the two items on my AI-for-simulation wishlist (A, converging quickly to a solution and B, smart refinement of a mesh), Andy added another:
AI should be able to suggest shapes based on the stated design intent. The shapes would have been predetermined to be valid. Then, the simulation can analyze those shapes in all the details necessary and at the time available. A few good shapes are better than thousands of shapes, such as generated by generative design programs.
What does Andy think about CAD companies trying to pass off every design tool as AI?
He laughs. “A lot of stuff is being placed under the AI umbrella.”
Also, Altair and SImScale are making smarter meshes, finer where they should be and coarse elsewhere.
Andy is working with a company that is using AI to create 2D drawings from 3D models. Its ability to infer tolerances may put it ahead of established CAD companies that are also making an attempt at automating dimensioning.
His other company on retainer is Key Ward in Berlin, which he helped secure €1 million. Key Ward specializes in extracting valuable insights from massive datasets, such as those created by simulation programs. Using low-code instead of SQL queries of programming, they hope to develop systems that allow more engineers to use simulation intelligently – as opposed to the perception of CAD companies just dumbing down the interface and giving it to untrained designers.
You can find out more about Andy Fine and connect with him on LinkedIn.
