In early 2020, we launched the SIMULIA Champions program. The 2020 SIMULIA Champions are the inaugural team of brand ambassadors, whose expertise and passion position them to advance the future of simulation technology. In this series of blogs, we introduce some of our individual SIMULIA Champions, finding out more about their history – and future – with the technology.
John Vandeventer is an Associate Technical Fellow in the Boeing Commercial Airplanes Structures Engineering Design and Analysis Solutions team. He has been employed for 31 years at Boeing, which is a world leader in the aerospace industry, known for commercial airplane, defense, and space products. Vandeventer’s responsibilities include ensuring technical excellence in the use of finite element analysis, particularly with the use of SIMULIA products. He has been using Dassault Systèmes software for the entirety of his career, beginning with CATIA Elfini Versions 3 and 4, CATIA Version 5, Abaqus, and the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform.
Vandeventer’s interest in engineering goes back to childhood.
“I always liked building things,” he says. “I look back at pictures my parents took of me and I had built these structures out of plastic straws and plastic connectors, and when I looked back at them after I had become an engineer I realized I had been building finite element models.”
While a senior at the University of Washington, Vandeventer took a class in finite element analysis, which he enjoyed greatly, and when he graduated later that year Boeing was an obvious career choice as it was nearby and offered many opportunities. Once he began working there, beginning in landing gear stress analysis, he quickly realized that he could put his FEA education to use. He was instrumental in replacing physical landing gear developmental testing with simulation using CATIA and Abaqus.
When he is not at Boeing, Vandeventer spends a great deal of time outdoors. He owns some land east of Seattle where he works to clean up the forests, keeping them healthy and preventing the kinds of wildfires that have so severely affected the Pacific Northwest this year.
“I would call it industrial scale gardening,” he says. “I get fresh air, I get lots of exercise and I get to see a lot of wildlife.”
He works on the forests about once a month, staying for a few days at a time at a cabin that he built on the land. So far, he has cleaned up and thinned out more than 100 acres.
Vandeventer also enjoys spending time with his two grandchildren, and he remarks that he is happiest when he sees others becoming successful and happy.
In November, Vandeventer will participate in the 3DEXPERIENCE Modeling and Simulation Conference as a keynote speaker. Learn more about this year’s virtual event and register here.
SIMULIA is pleased to welcome John Vandeventer into the 2020 SIMULIA Champions program and excited to continue working with him in the future. Stay tuned to the blog to learn more about our other 2020 SIMULIA Champions.
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