Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1181966
20 SMT007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2019 Feature Interview by Nolan Johnson and Happy Holden I-CONNECT007 With over 30+ years in the industry, David Meyers recently took on a new role at Sie- mens as a global solutions director in the Electronics Industry team of Siemens Digi- tal Industries Software, working on improv- ing communications between CMs and their OEM partners. In a conversation with Nolan Johnson and Happy Holden, David speaks on the digital twin and virtual environment soft - ware that should help establish that commu- nication early in the process. Nolan Johnson: David, can you start with a bit of background on yourself and your role in Siemens? David Meyers: I've been in product development for about 35 years. I started at the end of 1981 while going to school. After working at the Department of Defense as a drafter, I learned CAD and worked at several companies, includ- ing Westinghouse, Motorola, Panasonic, and Dell. I spent the past 17 years with Dell, and then I had an opportunity to come on board with the industries group at Siemens because of my extensive background in product devel- opment and mechanical engineering. I led a team in the chief technology office at Dell for the last five years. I have a lot of familiarity with the OEM/ODM contract manufacturing model. At Siemens, I focus on the realization side, which is from engineering to manufactur- ing and developing the product from a hard- ware/software perspective. Happy Holden: How do you see the industry landscape from your perspective? Meyers: I've been around for a long time. I started my career doing drafting on the board, so pencils, paper, and lots of eraser shavings. We moved on over the years through using CAD systems, which have developed from wireframes to full-surface and solid models. Today, we have the capability to design prod- ucts and have full simulation packages that demonstrate user environments and/or use case or safety reliability. You can do all of that, so that's a significant change. And I think that momentum is continuing. David Meyers on Digital Twin and 'Cobots'