David Short
Engineer
David is an engineering simulation enthusiast who gets excited about applying numerical modelling approaches to practical applications within the offshore renewables sector.
About David Short
David has recently transitioned to working in the offshore wind industry after 6 years within the engineering software sector.
Education and early career
David completed a bachelors in Naval Architecture at Newcastle University, UK, and a MSc in Marine Technology at NTNU, Norway, with a focus on offshore renewables.
During his time at university he fell in love with engineering simulation including both FEA and CFD analysis. His final dissertation involved a combination of both, looking at fluid-structure-interaction assessment of wave energy convertor buoys.
Professional Experience
After graduating from NTNU he found himself as a landlocked naval architect in Munich, Germany, and concentrated on his passion for FEA and CFD, leaving his interest in offshore renewables on hold for the time being.
He worked as an application engineer and technical support specialist for Autodesk’s FEA and CFD products, enjoying the opportunity to solve engineering problems across a broad range of industries. He then joined SimScale to contribute to their mission of make high fidelity simulation accessible to any engineer through a cloud-native, web-browser based platform.
Why offshore wind?
“Offshore wind turbine foundation development is a super exciting field of engineering for me as it is a hotpot of different fields, combining naval architecture, mechanical and civil engineering.
Being a simulation nerd, I love that accurate engineering simulation is fundamental to the design and installation of turbine foundations due to the challenge of creating prototypes and replicating operating conditions during physical tests.
Regarding the industry itself, I believe offshore wind plays a huge part in ensuring a sustainable future and at the same time provides many high-quality jobs that people can be proud of.”
Specialist Areas
Finite element analysis with a focus on nonlinear static, random vibration and dynamic shock assessments, computational fluid dynamics, SAAS software product management, bouldering and tag rugby.
