Blue Ridge Numerics · CFdesign

Time Period

2008-2011

Disciplines

UX, Interaction Design, Visual Design, User Research, Testing, Support

CFdesign was the sole product offering of Blue Ridge Numerics Inc which was acquired by Autodesk (March 2011). This software package enabled engineers to simulate fluid flow, heat transfer, and electronics cooling. At the time, Blue Ridge Numerics was one of the 500 fastest growing companies in North America and the fastest growing CFD software company in the world.

Simulation visualization of fluid flow through a valve using CFdesign
Simulation visualization of fluid flow through a valve generated with CFdesign

I held roles as Technical Support Engineer, Quality Assurance Engineer, and Product Designer.

I designed features for CFdesign 2010 and 2011 major versions, and various improvements to quarterly minor releases including:

  • Contextual, “model-centric” workflows
  • Rules engine for automating setup and model import
  • Features for simplifying complex, fully-detailed designs to be simulation ready
  • Tools for comparing performance results between different designs & operating conditions
Mockup of
Mockup of "model centric" interactions in the results environment, January 2010; previously interactions were all via a top menubar or side panel list/tree views

CFdesign was further developed as Autodesk CFD after being acquired and I transitioned over as a UX Designer.