Efficient Thermo-Mechanical Simulations Using Superelements
Date: Tuesday, October 27, 2026
Time: 2:00–3:30 PM PT
Room: Rio Vista Salon G/H
Tutorial Leader: Tamara Bechtold, Professor of Mechatronic Systems (aided by Patrick Kohaus, MsC)
Heat is a key limiting factor in many modern technologies. From highly integrated electronics and microelectronic packaging to batteries and electrical machines, thermal and thermo-mechanical effects strongly influence performance, reliability, and lifetime.
High-fidelity finite element simulations can capture these effects accurately, but today’s models are often too large and computationally expensive for fast design studies, optimization, control, or system-level simulation. Compact surrogate models offer an attractive solution: they retain the essential physics while drastically reducing computational cost.
In this tutorial, industry-relevant examples are used to demonstrate how compact thermo-mechanical models can accelerate digital product development, enable efficient optimization and control, and support IP-protected model exchange along the supply chain. The tutorial introduces the underlying principles of model order reduction in an accessible way and shows how these methods can be integrated into practical engineering workflows.
Particular emphasis is placed on superelement-based approaches for thermal and thermo-mechanical applications. Participants will gain an overview of current modeling strategies, state-of-the-art software tools, and practical implementation aspects, including model generation, coupling, and reuse in system-level simulations.
Prof. Dr.-Ing Tamara Bechtold
Professor of Mechatronic Systems
Jade University of Applied Sciences
Biography: Tamara Bechtold received her PhD in microsystem simulation from the University of Freiburg, Germany, in 2005. From 2006 to 2010, she worked as a research engineer at Philips Research Laboratories and NXP Semiconductors in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Her work focused on enhancing standard IC design flows through model order reduction and optimization methods.
From 2011 to 2014, she served as interim Professor of Microsystems Simulation at the University of Freiburg. She subsequently joined the University of Rostock, Germany, where she worked as a lecturer and research group leader. Since 2017, she has been a full Professor of Mechatronic Systems at Jade University of Applied Sciences in Wilhelmshaven, Germany. Since 2022, she has also served as Managing Director of a Steinbeis Transfer Center.
Dr. Bechtold is the author or co-author of more than 150 scientific and technical publications in the field of modeling and simulation of micro- and mechatronic systems. She is the lead author of the Springer textbook Fast Simulations of Electro-Thermal Microsystems: Efficient Dynamic Compact Models and the main editor of System-Level Modeling of MEMS, published by Wiley-VCH within the Advanced Micro and Nanosystems series.
Her research interests include advanced methods of model order reduction, topology optimization, and multi-physics modeling at both device and system level. A particular focus of her work is the development of efficient compact models for engineering applications, enabling simulation, optimization, control, and model exchange in industrial design processes.
STM and 3D Reduced Order Models
Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Time: 2:00–3:30 PM PT
Room: Rio Vista Salon G/H
Tutorial Leaders: Dr. Vishal Talari, Senior Application Engineer, Synopsys & Kiran Gavini, Senior Staff R&D Engineer, Synopsys
Dr. Vishal Talari
Senior Application Engineer
Synopsys
Biography: Vishal Talari supports the Ansys Icepak product line, focusing on electronics cooling, CFD, and advanced thermal-management architectures. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Houston and completed postdoctoral research at the University of Texas at Arlington.
Kiran Gavini
Senior Staff R&D Engineer
Synopsys
Biography: Kiran Gavini leads software development for Icepak. His work includes performance optimization, surrogate modeling, GPU-based solver development, and simulation agents. He holds an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Missouri–Kansas City.
AI, Machine Learning and Industry Trends
Date: Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Time: 3:45–5:15 PM PT
Room: Rio Vista Salon G/H
Tutorial Leader: Dr. Remco van Erp, Co-Founder and CEO
Remco van Erp
Co-Founder and CEO
Corintis
Biography: Dr. Remco van Erp is co-founder and CEO of Corintis, a Swiss company developing liquid-cooling solutions for data-center applications. He earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Eindhoven University of Technology and a Ph.D. in Microsystems and Microelectronics from EPFL.
ECAM Additive Manufacturing
Date: Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Time: 5:15–6:30 PM PT
Room: Rio Vista Salon G/H
Tutorial Leader: TBD
Optical Connectivity in ML Fabrics: CPO, LPO and NPO — Trade-offs and Opportunities
Date: Thursday, October 29, 2026
Time: 2:00–3:30 PM PT
Room: Rio Vista Salon G/H
Tutorial Leader: Amr Helmy, University of Toronto