Adaptive Corporation has announced the acquisition of Heavyside Corporation, specialists in electromagnetics within design-realization workflows powered by CST Studio Suite software. 

CST Studio Suite (CST), part of the SIMULIA brand owned by Dassault Systèmes, is a high-performance, 3D electromagnetics (EM) analysis software tool for designing, analyzing and optimizing EM components and systems. Both Adaptive and Heavyside are partners in Dassault Systèmes reseller network; CST allows EM simulation to be integrated into all other aspects of product development from the earliest stages of design.

“The need for electromagnetic simulation is rapidly increasing,” says Heavyside president Jeremy Fejfar. “It’s essential to take EM into account when designing and optimizing ‘smart products’ these days. We’re seeing EM simulation being applied across a broad range of industries, from consumer to industrial, automotive to aerospace and defense—in the form of sensors, antennas, filters, tablets, EVs [electric vehicles] and more.” 

Fejfar’s company name gives a nod to British electrical engineer Oliver Heaviside (Americanized with a ‘y’). “Our software is essentially a numerical solution to Maxwell’s equations, which state the fundamentals of electricity and magnetism,” says Fejfar. “Heaviside made Maxwell’s equations much easier for people to work with. Our present-day focus is similar to his, providing our customers with an easy-to-use, powerful CST software tool that incorporates 3D simulation into EM design.” 

Simulation of EM enables prediction of product behavior, Fejfar says. “If you take a device, say a tire-pressure sensor, and install it in the real-world environment of a car, it’s very difficult to measure how well the link between the infotainment system and that device works. But by using CST software as you design these components, you can create a virtual prototype of that behavior and fine-tune the connection to optimize their interaction in the real world.” 

With the acquisition by Adaptive, Heavyside’s CST customers will be able to access a broader range of resources and capabilities. From the Adaptive side, says Wayne Tanner, chief operations officer, “The addition of Jeremy and his team will enable us to increase support for all our customers working in the field of EM with more focused, dedicated resources. Incorporating electromagnetics into products requires powerful, integrated digital tools—ones that Adaptive can offer alongside CST software to help them achieve their most challenging product-design goals.”