How to Engineer Your Best Life

Living longer, healthier and happier thanks to simulation.

Siemens has submitted this post.

Written by: Stephen Ferguson, Marketing Director, Siemens.

(Image courtesy of Siemens.)

(Image courtesy of Siemens.)

We all want to live longer, healthier, happier lives. It’s a natural part of being human. But how can we do that? Eating well, regular exercise, access to medical care are all crucial elements in the absence of a real holy grail.

But what about engineering simulation?

It’s probably not something that automatically springs to mind when considering extending your life. But give me a few minutes of your time and I’ll show you a few ways in which it will make a huge difference.

Better Pandemic Resilience and Response

Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be another long article about COVID-19. While it’s claimed many lives, and is continuing to do so, it’s just the latest in a long line of pandemics that have struck civilization.

(Source: VisualCapitalist.)

(Source: VisualCapitalist.)

Unfortunately, COVID-19 won’t be the last outbreak of a new disease with the potential to spread rapidly across the world.

However, engineering simulation can play a vital role in minimizing the impact of the next pandemic, reducing both direct deaths from the disease and indirect deaths caused by disruption to day-to-day services.

With an airborne infection, understanding airflow and ventilation is key to reducing transmission. CFD simulation can show how different mitigation strategies such as opening windows or erecting plastic shields can protect individuals in different situations.

And remember how the vaccines were such a game-changer? Simulation not only helps manufacturers scale up production, but also helps improve injection technology that will radically reduce the amount of vaccine required in each dose, and the number of medical professionals needed to administer them.

Read more about how simulation can combat a pandemic here.

Precision Medicine

Humans may all be the same species, but identical we are not. Modern medicine has managed to be widely effective as we share the same basic physiology. But there are significant differences in medical care based on factors such as gender, age and race. And this is only the tip of the iceberg.

The future is personalized medicine. Customized healthcare based on your precise physiology, genetics and unique conditions. But how can we do that for everyone? With digital twins of personal anatomy, of course.

Find out here how simulation can make healthcare really personal.

Bionic Bodies

If you’re one of the 15 percent of the world’s population that lives with a physical disability, you may already be benefitting from engineering simulation. Prosthetics have been steadily improving with engineering technology, allowing more people to live fuller lives, be it thanks to new hips or entire limb replacements. And glasses are a form of prosthetic, too.

We’ve been using engineering technology to complement the human body for hundreds of years, so why wouldn’t we continue to evolve with it?

Engineering is close to building prosthetic limbs that can perform better than fully functioning organic ones. It’s only a matter of time before people with no disabilities will have the option to improve the standard exoskeletons they are born with.

These developments don’t come cheap, however. And that is where simulation can make a real difference in both reducing the cost and improving the overall effectiveness of these new prosthetics.

Discover the future of prosthetic replacement and augmentation here.

In silico Medical Trials

Any new medical device must undergo extensive trials before it can be used on the population.

And rightly so. After all, the most important rule of medicine is “first do no harm.” If people were to regularly suffer negative effects from new procedures, then the general public would quickly lose faith in the benefits of such advances. So, new medical devices are tested through heavily regulated in situ, in vitro, and ex vivo experiments to ensure that no harm is caused.

But this takes time—a long time—and a lot of money.

As a result, the medical industry is understandably risk-averse, choosing to focus on devices that may not be the most ground-breaking, but which can get to market much sooner.

If only there was an alternative way to test the most complex new devices.

Of course – what if the experiments could be simulated instead? In silico trials do just that. And they’re not constrained by regulation, as nobody can be harmed during a simulation. Not only can simulation allow for the exploration of more advanced medical devices, but it can also drastically reduce development costs and produce finished products much faster.

Find out how here.

Exercise Better

Yes, I started by saying exercise was one of the keys to a longer, healthier life. But it’s important that it’s the right kind of exercise.

With people living longer, governments and insurance companies are struggling to support an increasingly elderly population. So, it’s crucial that individuals can continue to be economically productive for longer, as well as happier and healthier.

But the human body is more prone to injury as it gets older. And each injury takes longer to recover from. Sports science already helps top athletes improve their performance and maintain peak physical fitness, so why not extend this to the general population?

Take a look at how simulation can help us all be fitter and stronger, whatever our age.

Don’t Forget About the Planet

Of course, it won’t be much use extending our lives if we don’t have a home that keeps us safe. If we’re to avoid an ecological crisis and ensure our planet can continue to sustain the lives of ourselves and future generations, we need to act now.

That’s why engineering simulation is also being used to protect us from climate change.

Simcenter is helping to reduce 51 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions by improving the way we make things, grow things, travel and how we heat, cool and power buildings.

Discover our sustainable world here.

Get Started with Simcenter

So, as you can see, engineering simulation will have a big part to play in maintaining and improving the quality of our lives over the coming decades.

Click here to discover how you can use Simcenter to engineer better lives for everyone.