Structural Intelligence Podcast
Structural Intelligence Podcast
Podcast Description
Welcome to the Structural Intelligence Podcast — where engineering meets innovation. Hosted by Owen Keenan, this show dives into how AI, automation, and digital tools are transforming engineering. Each episode features real stories from leading professionals, practical insights, and bold ideas shaping the future of the built environment. If you're passionate about smarter workflows, powerful tools, and the next evolution of engineering, you're in the right place.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
This podcast focuses on themes such as AI in engineering, automation advancements, and digital tools' impact on workflow efficiency, with episodes like Behind the Boorloo Bridges discussing real-world projects and the nuanced role of automation in overcoming design challenges.
Welcome to the Structural Intelligence Podcast — where engineering meets innovation. Hosted by Owen Keenan, this show dives into how AI, automation, and digital tools are transforming engineering. Each episode features real stories from leading professionals, practical insights, and bold ideas shaping the future of the built environment. If you’re passionate about smarter workflows, powerful tools, and the next evolution of engineering, you’re in the right place.
Engineering Reality – The Power of Simulation & Digital Prototyping
with Derik Cloete, Senior Engineering Solutions Manager at LEAP Australia
What if simulation wasn’t just about reducing prototypes, but about expanding how we think as engineers?
In this episode of The Structural Intelligence Podcast, Owen Keenan is joined byDerik Cloete to explore the creative and technical frontier of simulation. From digital twins to fluid-structure interaction, from CFD and FEA to the flow of blood through a virtual heart, this is a conversation about how physics, curiosity, and compute are changing the way we model, design, and decide.
You’ll hear how Derik and his team atLEAP Australia use multiphysics tools to support sectors from mining and defence to biomedical and optics, and how simulation is helping engineers ask better questions before anything gets built.
🔍 Topics include:
Why systems thinking is central to modern engineering
How simulation enables virtual testing at scale
The role of tools like CFD, DEM, and digital mission engineering
The shift from gut-feel to data-driven design intuition
What it means to “prototype reality”
📍 Chapters
00:00 Introduction to the Podcast and Guest
00:57 Derek Cloete’s Early Career and Passion for Engineering
03:28 Transition to a Soft Technical Role
04:23 Role at LEAP Australia and Customer Interactions
05:47 Exploring Simulation Technologies
06:32 Diving into Physics and Simulation Applications
10:48 Three-Letter Acronyms in Engineering
11:24 Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
14:04 Discrete Element Modeling (DEM) and Digital Mission Engineering (DME)
18:28 Electromagnetics and Real-World Applications
21:30 Simulation Technology Development and Industry Applications
23:07 Empirical Standards in Engineering
23:46 The Role of Communication in Engineering
24:03 Engineering Morality and Standards
26:07 Exploring Simulation in Engineering
28:50 Practical Applications of Simulation
34:21 Parameter Studies and Design Optimization
39:15 The Future of Simulation and AI
39:47 Building a Community of Engineers
45:16 Final Thoughts and Summary
🎧 Follow the podcast to get new episodes as they drop
👤 Connect with Derik Cloete: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derikcloete/
🏢 Learn more about LEAP Australia: https://www.leapaust.com.au
#simulation #digitalengineering #FEA #CFD #designoptimisation #engineeringmindset #virtualtesting #prototyping #systemsengineering #multiphysics
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