Numerical Simulation, An Art of Prediction, Volume 2

ConclusionA Digital World

Digital modeling changes technical practices and develops scientific knowledge: the many testimonies of researchers and engineers gathered in this volume provide an eloquent illustration of this. While the physical sciences, and mechanics in particular, were among the first to resort to numerical modeling and simulation, we have outlined how this trend has developed in many other disciplines. In summary, let us retain from our presentation the following lines of emphasis, complementing those presented at the end of the first volume.

A global technique: In order to be developed as a technique in its own right by a country, numerical simulation requires high-level skills. These are held by mathematicians, physicists, computer scientists, engineers and researchers. A broad scientific community contributing to:

• – developing physical or mathematical models of a phenomenon or set of phenomena of interest for a given discipline or application;
• – developing and validating computational algorithms to produce the data, used for design, production or marketing purposes;
• – operating the computer resources that carry out the simulation algorithms (software and computing machines, with their associated infrastructures, from personal computers to supercomputers);
• – imagining the most varied applications because of their scientific or economic interest.

Countries that now master the entire technique, including the United States, China, Japan, and some European countries ...