Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1359517
22 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2021 Feature Interview by the I-Connect007 Editorial Team Todd Westerhoff of Siemens EDA recently spoke with the I-Connect007 Editorial Team about the divide between users of high-pow- ered enterprise simulation tools and those who need a more practical tool for everyday use, and how Siemens is working to bridge the gap. Todd also shared his views on why so many engineers do not use simulation, as well as advice for engineers just getting started with simulation tools. Andy Shaughnessy: Hi, Todd. is is our simu- lation issue, and we want to get your thoughts on some of the challenges in this area. What do you see right now? What's the biggest problem in simulation? Todd Westerhoff: I think the biggest challenge is that there just aren't enough people simulat- ing. ere are a lot of people who are design- ing to rules of thumb, manufacturer guidelines, or getting somebody else to run analysis for them—but there aren't that many simulating Bridging the Simulation Tool Divide themselves. I usually break simulation users into two broad groups: SI experts, who run simulations full time; and everyone else, who run simulations intermittently, if at all. e SI experts have the most advanced requirements and are also the smaller of the two groups. e general assumption about simulation seems to be that it starts at the top—if we meet the analysis needs of the experts, knowledge and technology will trickle down over time to the broader audience. e problem is that, as an industry, we have too many designs in prog- ress with too few experts to support all that activity. Simulation has two main purposes: 1. Providing a basis for making informed decisions about design trade-offs. 2. Validating a design before manufacture to reduce the risk of prototype spins. How do we expect the majority of system designers to make decisions and reduce risk if they don't have data to back up those deci- sions? Most of the simulation that we need to make design decisions and detect issues during lay- out doesn't require expert-level attention to