Don Tolle, Dr. Keith Meintjes & Frank Popielas

Donald Tolle, Director, Simulation-Driven Systems Development Practice, CIMdata

Don Tolle is Director, Simulation-Driven Systems Development Practice, for CIMdata. Don brings to CIMdata and his clients more than 30 years of PLM industry experience in the disciplines of new product development and virtual product development working with global manufacturing companies in the automotive, aerospace & defense, industrial equipment, marine, consumer products, medical products, and high-tech electronics industries.

Don has held various management positions in the CAE and the broader PLM software and services industry involved in strategic planning and M&A, product management, software product development, product and services marketing, engineering services consulting, technology R&D, best practices development, and strategic business development. He has worked with both emerging Simulation and CAE startups as well as existing PLM mindshare leaders to evangelize their technology platforms and solutions from early adoption through market acceptance and maturity. Don holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from the University of Cincinnati.

Keith Meintjes, Ph.D., Executive Consultant, CIMdata

Dr. Keith Meintjes has over 30 years of experience in the development and application of simulation tools to transform product development. His achievements include novel methods for combustion simulation, patents for engine design, and strategic planning for the world’s largest commercial HPC facility.

Keith joined CIMdata when they acquired CPDA, where he was Research Director for CAE and managed CPDA’s Design/Simulation Council. Previously, he spent nearly 30 years at General Motors.

At GM he was responsible for the engineering requirements for GM’s Global CAE IT infrastructure and was named Senior Technical Fellow. At GM Powertrain he held strategic, planning, and management positions, to embed simulation tools in the powertrain product development process. Earlier, at the GM Research Laboratories, he developed thermodynamic and CFD simulation models for engine performance and combustion, and was instrumental in GM’s acquisition of a Cray supercomputer.

Keith holds BSc and MSc degrees in Mechanical Engineering, with a specialty in Aeronautics, from the University of the Witwatersrand, and an MA and Ph.D. from Princeton University.

Frank Popielas, Executive Consultant, CIMdata

Frank Popielas is an Executive Consultant for CIMdata in the Simulation-Driven Systems Development (SDSD) Practice, focusing on the integration of physics-based behavior modeling and simulation technologies and processes with systems level engineering methodologies and tools— commonly referred to today as Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE).

Mr. Popielas brings to CIMdata over 20 years of global experience in product engineering, R&D, and IP management, as well as testing and materials development, with a specific focus on the development and application of multi-physics and multi-domain modeling and simulation tools. This included the definition and implementation of the required supporting IT infrastructure for simulation data and process management at Dana Holding Corporation. His expertise includes technology exchange and transfer, business assessments in engineering, and manufacturing, focusing on virtual product engineering, as well as process development and democratization of software applications in this area.

Mr. Popielas has been a member of the NAFEMS Americas Steering Committee since 2011 and founding chairman of the joint System Modeling and Simulation Working Group (SMSWG) between NAFEMS and INCOSE since 2013. His activities and achievements include over 35 granted patents on the areas of sealing, shielding, and fuel cells; over 30 publications covering all the mentioned areas with a focus on virtual product engineering, its tools and practices; numerous presentations and speaking engagements at industry conferences and various companies; interviews, case studies, and teaching engagements at high schools and community colleges.

Mr. Popielas was born in Germany, and received his MSc degree in Engineering, majoring in Theoretical Physics, from the Technological University (MIS&A – Institute for Steels and Alloys) in Moscow, Russia. Frank is fluent in English, German, and Russian.