2024

Europa Clipper Technical Resources Modeling Team

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Areas: Aerospace, Computational Physics, Data Analysis, Data Analytics, Engineering, System Modeling, Systems Engineering

David Wagner, Andres Rivera, Emma Dodd, Narek Shougarian, David Coren and Reidar Larsen, members of the Europa Clipper project system engineering team at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (California Institute of Technology), used Wolfram Language and System Modeler as part of a large multiphysics simulation system used to validate requirements against performance of the design of the spacecraft intended to probe subsurface water on Jupiter’s moon Europa. Analysis provided by these models enabled the project to zero in on a workable design for an extremely complex mission and validate that it could achieve the mission’s aggressive requirements. The models continue to be used to validate mission plan updates into operations.

2023

Alexandre Leite

Engineering Director & Mechatronics, Austral Dynamics

Areas: Control Engineering, Engineering, System Modeling

Alexandre Leite is a case of a PhD who became an entrepreneur. He currently holds a master’s and PhD in engineering and space technologies from Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais and a degree in technology in automation from Instituto Federal Fluminense. He is experienced in the design of feasible mechatronic systems for several industry sectors and proportional–integral–derivative (PID) controllers.

He is a cofounder of Austral Dynamics, which started in 2017 as a spinoff of MWF Services. Austral developed its own hardware-in-the-loop platform called ASTURIAN. This technology allows engineers to use Functional Mock-up Unit (FMU) models generated by Wolfram System Modeler as real-time simulation mock-ups. Some applications are in agriculture machinery and commercial/heavy-duty vehicles. Currently, Austral is developing many business and technological initiatives in the field of electric powertrains for heavy vehicles.

2022

Daniel Sze

Research Fellow, Georgia Pacific Innovation Center

Areas: Engineering, Modeling Dynamical Systems with Mathematica, System Modeling, Systems Engineering

Daniel Sze is a research fellow at the Georgia Pacific Innovation Center, working with dynamic system modeling to realize a new way to conduct research, tests and exploration in a much more cost-effective and timely way.

Sze’s work focuses on quickly building interactive design tools and dynamic system modeling of some of Georgia Pacific’s largest papermaking systems. Dan is currently supporting an initiative to model large papermaking machines using Wolfram System Modeler, producing a GUI to easily change parameters related to friction, torque, speed and other variables to better understand the way large papermaking machines function under those circumstances.

2022

Paul R. Garvey

Distinguished Chief Engineer/Scientist, The MITRE Corporation

Areas: Authoring and Publishing, Data Analysis, Data Analytics, Economic Research and Analysis, Modeling Dynamical Systems with Mathematica, Risk Analysis, Risk Management, System Modeling

Paul R. Garvey is a distinguished chief engineer/scientist at The MITRE Corporation, a not-for-profit organization operating federally funded research and development centers for the US government. He has decades of experience in systems operations research, network modeling, mission systems risk analyses, and the application of risk-decision analytics across a variety of problems in the federal government. His current work involves modeling the network structure of the US food supply chain, which is being done in collaboration with datasets and published studies by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) research team led by Professor Megan Konar.

Garvey has authored several textbooks, written numerous papers, holds a US patent, and continues to contribute his expertise and extensive Wolfram Language abilities to tackle big problems. One example is his work “US Food Supply Chain Security: A Network Analysis,” in conjunction with UIUC.

Utilizing Mathematica’s network modeling technologies, they identified critical US counties and links associated with the meat supply chain, which is characterized by 2,817 US counties (nodes) and 30,670 origin-to-destination links (edges) that exist between them.

2020

Gustavo Restrepo

Exergétika Bogotá

Areas: Chemical Engineering, Energy Engineering, Fluid Dynamics, Industrial Engineering Economics, System Modeling, Systems Engineering

Gustavo Restrepo is a chemical engineer and entrepreneur who has used Wolfram technology extensively in the energy industry. During his PhD studies in industrial thermal engineering, he used Mathematica to model a thermochemical heat recuperation system to optimize energy efficiency. Working as a process engineer, he used Mathematica for many optimization problems involving separation vessels, heat transfer systems and heavy oil transport. In 2017, he cofounded Exergétika, where he is developing a Wolfram System Modeler package with hydrodynamic components for modeling networks and associated control loops, among other applications, to implement computational thinking in engineering.

2019

Mihai Vidrighin

R&D Lead, PsiQuantum

Areas: Electrical Engineering, Image Processing, Physics, System Modeling

Mihai Vidrighin is a researcher in photonics who has used Mathematica extensively throughout his career. During his PhD thesis, he used Mathematica to run simulations and data analytics involving quantum thermodynamics, and he continues to recommend the system to colleagues. He currently leads a team developing a photonics component for generating single photon pairs with new accuracy and scale. In this project, he has used the Wolfram Language to build an extremely comprehensive model for nonlinear and quantum optics to describe photon-pair generation and quantum optics circuits. Vidrighin has also written several Wolfram Language packages for quantum optics simulation and electron microscope image processing.

2019

Dr. Yehuda Ben-Shimol

Senior Lecturer, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Communications Systems Engineering Department)

Areas: Education, Engineering, System Modeling, Systems Engineering

Yehuda Ben-Shimol has taught courses in graph theory, queueing theory, information theory and more using Wolfram technologies. Using Mathematica and Wolfram SystemModeler, he developed a series of “virtual labs” that allow hands-on exploration of complex engineering models. Through his published work and ongoing community engagement, Ben-Shimol has exposed thousands of students and faculty members to the benefits of using Wolfram technology in coursework and research.

2018

Neil Singer

President, AC Kinetics, Inc.

Areas: Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, System Modeling

Dr. Singer is a mechanical engineer and entrepreneur who used Mathematica Version 1 in research to reduce vibrations in electric machines. Since then, he has heavily encouraged innovative uses of Wolfram technology within the engineering community. In 2013 he founded AC Kinetics, a company that uses the Wolfram Language and Wolfram SystemModeler to simulate and verify models for digital motor controller designs. The Wolfram workflow has provided the team with significant savings on development and computation time, and their resulting prototypes have reduced energy consumption by nearly 50% in some cases. Licensees of AC Kinetics products include many high-profile companies, such as NASA, Westinghouse and HP. In the future, Dr. Singer and his team hope to create interactive digital twins for real-time analysis and updating of models.

2018

Nicholas Mecholsky

Research Scientist, Vitreous State Laboratory
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Catholic University of America

Areas: Authoring and Publishing, Image Processing, Machine Learning, Nuclear Engineering, Optimization, Physics, System Modeling

Nicholas Mecholsky is a research scientist and professor focusing on optimization and physical modeling. In addition to demonstrating high-level math and physics concepts to his students with the Wolfram Language, he has utilized it in research publications on subjects ranging from animal flocks to autonomous cars to thermoelectric transfer. He is currently involved in a joint project with the US Department of Energy and Vitreous State Laboratory using Wolfram Language image processing and machine learning to model, analyze and predict crystallization phenomena in nuclear tank waste. The project has significantly improved the efficiency of vitrification (transformation into glass), helping to make safer nuclear waste storage a reality.

2018

David Creech

Manager of Engineering Analysis and Development, McDermott (formerly CB&I)

Areas: Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Risk Analysis, Software Development, System Modeling

David Creech is the manager of engineering analysis and development at McDermott (formerly CB&I) and a longtime user of the Wolfram Language. In his undergraduate and graduate programs, Creech used the Wolfram Language for mechanical engineering work, including the development of a Wolfram Language package for automating calculations to produce consumer ratings diagrams. At McDermott, he uses Wolfram technology in the development and management of leak detection and repair (LDAR) programs for industrial facilities. In 2012, he started an initiative at McDermott to replace hundreds of FORTRAN and Excel programs with Wolfram Language packages, modernizing their engineering workflow to provide easier access and customization for engineers. Creech’s colleagues are now using the Wolfram Language for their own computations and connecting them to these centralized packages to create more efficient tools for engineering their products.

2018

Bruce Colletti

Operations Researcher, Cox Automotive Inc
Adjunct Professor, Northern Virginia Community College

Areas: Authoring and Publishing, Defense Analysis, Education, Industrial Engineering, Mathematics, Operations Research, System Modeling

Dr. Colletti is an operations researcher and former Air Force major who has used Wolfram technologies extensively for research in defense and homeland security analysis. He used Mathematica to finish his dissertation on group theory, as well as for a number of subsequent publications over the following two decades. Consulting for many classified government projects, he utilizes the Wolfram Language and Wolfram SystemModeler to develop large-scale analytic models for personnel, logistics and program evaluation. Dr. Colletti has guided the research of eight master’s and doctoral students at several universities, and he has won awards for his work instructing mathematics courses with the Wolfram Language at Northern Virginia Community College.

2014

John Michopoulos

Naval Research Laboratory

Areas: Control, Control Engineering, Materials Science, Modeling Dynamical Systems with Mathematica, Physics, System Modeling

John Michopoulos uses Mathematica in his professional research with composite materials and has been published in the International Journal for Multiscale Computational Engineering, Composite Structures, and the Journal of Computing and Information Science in Engineering. He applies the global optimization capabilities of Mathematica to solve inverse problems and better understand the physics of materials and composite material designs.

2013

Charles Macal

Director, Center for Complex Adaptive Agent Systems Simulation, Argonne National Laboratory

Areas: Engineering, System Modeling

As Director of the Center for Complex Adaptive Agent Systems Simulation at Argonne National Lab, Charles Macal uses Mathematica to develop models for studying behavioral factors that contribute to the spread of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and to study how human reactions to political and military action can be quantified and used to simulate when and if conflicts will arise. Macal has been asked to work with the Federal Highway Administration on an innovative new project to develop models for understanding driver behavior for route planning and improving vehicular safety.