Meet SIMULIA Champion Simon Duraffourg

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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.

Simon Duraffourg  is an R&D engineer at Decathlon, a well-known sporting goods company based in France. What sets Decathlon apart from other sporting goods shops is that everything is done in-house–all products are designed, engineered and produced by the company’s own employees. Decathlon is known for some especially innovative products such as a scuba diving mask for which Duraffourg is currently working on the next generation.

Duraffourg works in Decathlon’s body and research division and is responsible for the numerical biomechanical simulation of body and product interaction.

“We have a big lab focusing on body and product interaction,” he explains. “I am responsible for the biomechanical simulation reproducing the interaction between body, product and environment.”

For his simulations, Duraffourg uses a great deal of Abaqus software. He also used SIMULIA products before coming to Decathlon, while working in energy and transportation product design.

“Numerical simulation can be a very useful tool in order to increase quality and decrease time to market,” he adds.

Duraffourg received a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Technology of Compiègne in France. After graduating, he earned a Ph.D. from Paris East University in cooperation with Renault Car Company, during which time he focused on the life prediction of car structures. According to Duraffourg, earning his Ph.D. was his greatest challenge, and also what he is most proud of.

His current job brings him joys and challenges as well. Duraffourg enjoys the company spirit at Decathlon, and is happy to go to work each day and interact with his teammates. The job gives him a great deal of freedom and presents interesting things to work on. For example, a particular challenge involves developing cushioning for sports footwear, finding the right balance between comfort, stability and protection for sports such as running and tennis.

Duraffourg enjoys sports outside of work as well, and he loves to travel – although, like many people, he is avoiding airplane travel currently in order to decrease his carbon footprint. He finds that simple moments with family and friends are highly important to him as well. He is skilled with a sewing machine and likes to make clothing as gifts for family, friends and colleagues.

SIMULIA is pleased to welcome Simon Duraffourg 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.

SIMULIA offers an advanced simulation product portfolio, including Abaqus, Isight, fe-safe, Tosca, Simpoe-Mold, SIMPACK, CST Studio Suite, XFlow, PowerFLOW and more. The SIMULIA Community is the place to find the latest resources for SIMULIA software and to collaborate with other users. The key that unlocks the door of innovative thinking and knowledge building, the SIMULIA Community provides you with the tools you need to expand your knowledge, whenever and wherever.

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Clare Scott

Clare Scott is a SIMULIA Creative Content Advocacy Specialist at Dassault Systèmes. Prior to her work here, she wrote about the additive manufacturing industry for 3DPrint.com. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Hiram College and a Master of Arts from University College Dublin. Clare works out of Dassault Systèmes’ Cleveland, Ohio office and enjoys reading, acting in local theatre and spending time outdoors.