General Session Presentations
COE Welcome and Conference Introduction
Keith Horton, COE President
The Nordam Group
COE President, Keith Horton, kicks off the COE 2012 Annual PLM Conference & TechniFair by introducing the conference highlights and discussing COE's strategic direction.
Keynote Session: Developing the Transition Roadable Aircraft: A Vehicle Engineer's Perspective
Ben Zelnick
Terrafugia, Inc. 
Terrafugia has been developing the Transition Roadable Aircraft in Massachusetts since early 2006. The company’s unique approach to improving the accessibility to general aviation has continued to gain traction since that time. They've gone from a small group of five founders to building and flying their Proof-of-Concept Vehicle in 2009, to currently testing two production prototypes. Production and deliveries will begin in late 2012 for their growing list of approximately one hundred depositors. Terrafugia chose to implement Dassault Systèmes (DS) CATIA software with the composites design workbench (CPD), advanced fiber modeler plug-in and integrated mesher and static solver (FAX) to direct structural design changes between the Proof-of-Concept and the Production Prototypes. Creating both a certified Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) and a street legal car, Terrafugia faces the challenge of adhering to the low gross weight that the FAA requires of a LSA, as well as meeting the Federal automobile crash and safety guidelines. This presentation will discusses how the company utilized these DS tools to establish an initial light-weight carbon fiber laminate scheme for the passenger cabin of the Transition Roadable Aircraft to meet the Federal frontal crash standards.
About the speaker
Benjamin Zelnick is a Vehicle Design Engineer at Terrafugia, Inc. located in Woburn, MA, since joining the company in June of 2006. His current responsibilities include designing and fabricating / assembling vehicle structures and subsystems for the Transition Roadable Light Sport Aircraft. In addition, he heads the design of flight control systems, including a dual-use folding flight stick and the ground propulsion system that incorporates a custom-designed gear box. He also worked on the design and optimization of composite structures for the prototype vehicles. Ben works in collaboration with other team members and does individual project management to bring systems from concept to prototype for use in the Proof of Concept and Production Prototype Vehicles.
Dassault Systèmes: Opening the Era of 3DExperience
Al Bunshaft, Manager Director
Dassault Systèmes North America
This presentation will feature the vision, strategy, and contribution possible to COE Member companies when engaging the current Dassault Systèmes Product offerings and Solutions. This session will also introduce selected V6 implementations that have significantly increasing value with product lifecycle management throughout those organizations.
About the speaker
Al Bunshaft is the managing director of Dassault Systèmes’ North America organization. He brings to Dassault Systèmes more than 25 years of developing and delivering innovative enterprise solutions to customers. He has held numerous leadership positions in technology, R&D, sales, and product development. In his new role at Dassault Systèmes, Bunshaft is responsible for the structure, management and evolution of the 3000-person business operations in the United States, including the sales and development facilities of the five PLM brands residing in the geography.
Prior to joining Dassault Systèmes, Bunshaft served as global vice president of IBM PLM and led the company’s strategic partnership with Dassault Systèmes. He played a critical role in leading a number of major automotive manufacturers and aerospace companies to transition from physical to digital design, and was instrumental in the development of the first automobile designed through an all-digital process.
Executive Technology Update
Etienne Droit, CEO, CATIA
Dassault Systèmes
In today's world, sustainable development is longer an option. This compelling necessity is driving companies around the globe to create a constant stream of innovative and inspiring smart products that meet the societal shift we are experiencing. Discover why and how combining the digital mock-up approaches within the Digital Product Experience is setting a new level of performance for you, as users, to transform and increase your capacity to deliver innovation in a sustainable way. This session will explore how early customers are already implementing these new product development processes through selected use cases. Demonstrating CATIA's leadership for smart, intuitive and attractive product creation, it will delve into how CATIA leverages the 3D Experience platform to deliver unique, high value brand user experiences.
About the speaker
Etienne Droit was appointed CATIA CEO in April 2011. In this position, he is responsible for the development of the CATIA brand. Etienne Droit also acts as an executive sponsor for several strategic customer accounts and is a member of the Executive Committee. He was formerly Executive Vice President, PLM Value Selling, responsible for the development of Dassault Systèmes’ global PLM indirect sales and distribution channel, from 2007 to April 2011.
After joining Dassault Systèmes in 1985 as a development engineer, Etienne Droit took the lead of the Development Strategy in 1988 and was then named Director of CATIA Application Products in 1991. Starting in 1995, he later served as Executive Vice President of Sales and Services to Large Enterprises, a responsibility which was extended to Global Sales and Distribution in 1997. He is also General Manager of the Dassault Systèmes subsidiary located in Japan.
Why Move to V6?
Jim Strawn
Cessna Aircraft
Given the current stability and functionality of CATIA V5, why would a company want to move to V6? The underlying business structure of multiple PDM systems, CAD Management Systems, Document Management Systems and multiple disconnected systems leads to inefficiencies, multiple data entry and inflexibility when attempting to implement new business models. This presentation will discuss the business drivers that lead to the necessity of implementing V6.
Back to the Future: From Ancient Archives to 3D Virtual Experience
Al Bunshaft, Manager Director
Dassault Systèmes North America
Today, you can digitally model almost anything with lifelike realism – test it, try it, optimize it – all before it exists physically. From sitting in a virtual car to planning traffic flows, from choreographing maintenance operations to planning and enhancing the retail store experience, digital online 3D is transforming the virtual world into a lifelike experience. The Giza Archives project is a partnership between Dassault Systèmes and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which utilizes historic archaeological data to create real-time, 3D computer models of this information including tombs, temples, and pyramids, complete with animated avatars. This revolutionary combination of old and new technologies is forming a 21st century interface for new avenues of archaeological research, teaching, and even “edu-tourism.” Al Bunshaft will discuss “The Giza Archives Project”, an international collaboration to create a fully immersive, real-time 3D virtual environment of the archaeology of the Giza Plateau, just west of modern Cairo, leveraging technologies from Dassault Systèmes.
Closing Session: Top Gun Competition Results, Academic Poster Session Scholarship Winners
Join COE to close out the conference together! The Top Gun and Poster Session winners will be announced at this time.