The following is the text of an interview with Svante Littmarck, who is a founder and CEO of the COMSOL Group, and President and CEO of COMSOL, Inc.
What exactly is multiphysics?The real world consists of multiphysics. Physics is never present in a single form. For example if you put electric current through a conductor you get heat, and heat affects the resistance and brings down the current, and then the heat generation changes. It is a coupled system that interacts. If you have a light bulb, it gives light and also generates heat. Because of that there is tension in the bulb and the filament itself. There are chemical reactions and plasma reactions. In the past all these different phenomena needed to be checked through experiments which were costly and time consuming. Using multiphysics simulation tools, one can simulate various situations and models to see the effects. For a fast and accurate solution we need multiphysics simulation. I see the requirement of multiphysics simulation growing in all directions.
When was COMSOL founded, and what is the current spread?
We developed our first multiphysics modeling and simulation product PDE (Partial Differential Equation) tool box in 1994 in Sweden. In 1999 the United States office was set up to market the product world wide. We have 3 offices in the US now, one each in Boston, Los Angeles, and Palo Alto, and 16 offices worldwide. Considering the market potential in India, we started our Indian office in Bangalore last year.
What are the most recent developments at COMSOL?
COMSOL offers a broad range of physics in a single interface, making it easy for users to solve a variety of new problems. In COMSOL version 4 which is to be launched shortly, we will have a new graphical user interface and an easy to use Application Programming interface. It will have three bi-directional interfaces with Pro E, Solidworks and Inventor. The new version and the current version supports file-based import and export to a many other CAD packages. We display the laws - the complicated equations - on the lower side of the screen, for mathematically oriented users.
What are your future plans?
Regarding the future of multiphysics simulation, the way I see it, we need to integrate analysis tools with CAD packages. We need to make the software easier to use and create a graphical user environment which is close to the CAD environment. We are developing applications for CAD engineers to run analysis software, from within the CAD application.
What, in your opinion, is the potential of the Indian software market?
The Indian software market is as big as the US, French or German markets. Traditionally the industry has not been that big in India. With the GDP growth of India in the last few years, the Indian industry has grown too. So I am sure the software market here is going to become one of the largest in the world. It has the potential. It is only a question of time. Everybody is growing here.
Do you have any reservations on selling to strategic sectors such as Nuclear, Space and Defence in India?
No. We are a Swedish company, and we have no restrictions in supplying our products to these sectors.
What is the proposed modality for offering COMSOL multiphysics services in India?
We don’t directly offer software services using our tools. We partner with consulting companies that specialize in offering services using our tools, and we certify and recommend them to prospective customers. In India we are working on developing such certified consultants. We are looking for partners to work with.
What can we expect from the upcoming COMSOL user conference in Bangalore?
We are planning the first international COMSOL user conference outside of US and Europe, in Bangalore in November 2009. Attendees will benefit a lot from this conference. The training opportunities are not COMSOL-specific alone. One could use them while doing simulations. We have scheduled key notes from the Industry, paper presentations by users, and multiple training opportunities, for people to get a feel of using the products for various applications. There will be poster sessions, and I will be presenting the COMSOL road map for growth in the coming years. We are all quite excited about it. We expect important research people doing cutting edge research, people who would like to use simulation tools, as well as students who are interested in simulations, to participate in the conference.
