OpenCFD Ltd acquired by ESI

gocarts · September 12, 2012, 14:50

ESI also takes ownership of the OpenFOAM trademark.

For more details see the press release at http://www.esi-group.com/corporate/f...fluid-dynamics

mediode · September 13, 2012, 07:58

Is this good or bad news?
I am not sure ....

BR
m*

elvis · September 13, 2012, 09:21

Hi,

I hope(/believe) this is good news. ESI Group had a booth at the "7th OpenFOAM workshop" in Darmstadt, so ESI Group recognised that there is the "OpenFOAM-Extend" Project that developed nice features like Block Coupled Matrix Solver, GGI, RBF just to name a few.

A statement from an Volkswagen employee (i think it was Mr Sundermeier) at "Open Source CFD International Conference 2011" hosted by ICON, was that VW would love one OpenFOAM distribution with Extend features included into OF.

ESI Group currently works on a (commercial) OpenFOAM (GUI) environment called "OpenSIM"

stawrogin · September 13, 2012, 10:24

Hi Elvis,

we can only hope so. I’m a little bit skeptical because the user interests often are not aligned with the interest of software vendors having their market shares and profit in mind. In any case I had a better feeling with SGI. If a software vendor acquires another software vendor (or developer) usually one of the solutions will be absorbed.
I think OpenFOAM is a competitive product for ESI’s Pamflow in particular for external aerodynamics for automotive application. This is an area where a lot of money can be lost due to the high amount of licenses for transient LES. So from ESI’s point of view it can make sense to keep an eye on the development of OpenFOAM…

Best regards
Stawrogin

elvis · September 13, 2012, 11:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by stawrogin

I think OpenFOAM is a competitive product for ESI’s Pamflow in particular for external aerodynamics for automotive application.

You made a good point, they have to be wise business people!
Volkswagen and Ford have the opportunity to hire consultancy companies (ICON, Engys, Wikki)

m9819348 · September 17, 2012, 10:10

@elvis: you are spot on. ESI is indeed more interested in uniting both parties instead of causing more splintering.

@tawrogin: I believe the big advantage of ESI is that it has been in the software development business for 40 years. ESI understands QA and how to bring complex software to the end user. At the same time, ESI acknowledges that the industry is looking more and more towards open source solutions. I think the combination is a very strong one.

Of course, ESI holds 3 other CFD codes in house (ACE+, CFD-FASTRAN and PAM-FLOW). At the moment, we see no conflict there due to different fields of applications and markets.

If you would like to learn more about ESIs plans, keep an eye on our website. We'll soon organise webinars and seminars in your neighbourhood where we hopefully can answer all your questions live.

Or simply contact me with further questions.

elvis · September 17, 2012, 11:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by m9819348

If you would like to learn more about ESIs plans, keep an eye on our website. We'll soon organise webinars and seminars in your neighbourhood where we hopefully can answer all your questions live.

Or simply contact me with further questions.

Dear Ries will you have a seat in the OpenFOAM Foundation (board)?
In the past there were attempts by the Extend Project to contact OpenFOAM Foundation and no feedback was given to them.
Would be a great news to hear of communication between Foundation and Extend Project.

m9819348 · September 17, 2012, 14:01

Elvis,

please read additional information on ESIs plans here:
http://www.openfoam.com/faq/

ESI has already talked to some key members of the OpenFOAM-extend community and will do so in the future.

And no, I am no member of the board of the OpenFOAM foundation. Merely a foot souldier! ;-)

Linse · April 10, 2013, 11:42

If I look at the response character within this forum, it seems the change of owner was for the better. At least I did see several answers from opencfd (and other ESI-people?) answering real user questions in here already.

I hope that character of open cooperation with the users' community grows on like it has so far! In the meantime let me say: Nice start!

September 12, 2012, 14:50	OpenCFD Ltd acquired by ESI	#1
gocarts Senior Member Richard Smith Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Enfield, NH, USA Posts: 138 Blog Entries: 4 Rep Power: 17	ESI also takes ownership of the OpenFOAM trademark. For more details see the press release at http://www.esi-group.com/corporate/f...fluid-dynamics __________________ Symscape, Computational Fluid Dynamics for all

September 13, 2012, 09:21		#3
elvis Senior Member Elvis Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Sindelfingen, Germany Posts: 620 Blog Entries: 6 Rep Power: 24	Hi, I hope(/believe) this is good news. ESI Group had a booth at the "7th OpenFOAM workshop" in Darmstadt, so ESI Group recognised that there is the "OpenFOAM-Extend" Project that developed nice features like Block Coupled Matrix Solver, GGI, RBF just to name a few. A statement from an Volkswagen employee (i think it was Mr Sundermeier) at "Open Source CFD International Conference 2011" hosted by ICON, was that VW would love one OpenFOAM distribution with Extend features included into OF. ESI Group currently works on a (commercial) OpenFOAM (GUI) environment called "OpenSIM" m9819348 likes this.

September 17, 2012, 10:10		#6
m9819348 New Member Ries Bouwman Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Graz, Austria Posts: 28 Rep Power: 17	@elvis: you are spot on. ESI is indeed more interested in uniting both parties instead of causing more splintering. @tawrogin: I believe the big advantage of ESI is that it has been in the software development business for 40 years. ESI understands QA and how to bring complex software to the end user. At the same time, ESI acknowledges that the industry is looking more and more towards open source solutions. I think the combination is a very strong one. Of course, ESI holds 3 other CFD codes in house (ACE+, CFD-FASTRAN and PAM-FLOW). At the moment, we see no conflict there due to different fields of applications and markets. If you would like to learn more about ESIs plans, keep an eye on our website. We'll soon organise webinars and seminars in your neighbourhood where we hopefully can answer all your questions live. Or simply contact me with further questions. __________________ Dr. Ries Bouwman Business Development ESI Group 004369917171525 @riesbouwman

September 17, 2012, 14:01		#8
m9819348 New Member Ries Bouwman Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Graz, Austria Posts: 28 Rep Power: 17	Elvis, please read additional information on ESIs plans here: http://www.openfoam.com/faq/ ESI has already talked to some key members of the OpenFOAM-extend community and will do so in the future. And no, I am no member of the board of the OpenFOAM foundation. Merely a foot souldier! ;-) __________________ Dr. Ries Bouwman Business Development ESI Group 004369917171525 @riesbouwman

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September 13, 2012, 07:58		#2
mediode New Member mediode Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 27 Rep Power: 17	Is this good or bad news? I am not sure .... BR m*

September 13, 2012, 10:24		#4
stawrogin Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 36 Rep Power: 16	Hi Elvis, we can only hope so. I’m a little bit skeptical because the user interests often are not aligned with the interest of software vendors having their market shares and profit in mind. In any case I had a better feeling with SGI. If a software vendor acquires another software vendor (or developer) usually one of the solutions will be absorbed. I think OpenFOAM is a competitive product for ESI’s Pamflow in particular for external aerodynamics for automotive application. This is an area where a lot of money can be lost due to the high amount of licenses for transient LES. So from ESI’s point of view it can make sense to keep an eye on the development of OpenFOAM… Best regards Stawrogin

April 10, 2013, 11:42		#9
Linse Senior Member Bernhard Linseisen Join Date: May 2010 Location: Heilbronn Posts: 183 Blog Entries: 1 Rep Power: 16	If I look at the response character within this forum, it seems the change of owner was for the better. At least I did see several answers from opencfd (and other ESI-people?) answering real user questions in here already. I hope that character of open cooperation with the users' community grows on like it has so far! In the meantime let me say: Nice start!