My 38-year professional journey began after finishing my doctoral work at the University of Minnesota, when I joined a small computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software development team at an engineering consulting company. I worked my way through numerous positions, ranging from consulting and customer support to business development. These experiences gave me skills and insights that equipped me to play a leadership role as the chief technology officer at Fluent Inc. as it evolved from a small startup to the world’s most successful CFD company. In 2006, I joined the Ansys family through the acquisition of Fluent. Since then, I’ve advanced through different leadership roles, such as chief technologist, vice president of product strategy, and vice president of research, before being appointed as an Ansys fellow and academic program lead.
My Experience as an Ansys Fellow
The title of Ansys fellow is the greatest accomplishment that our technologists can achieve. It is awarded to someone widely considered a thought leader in departments across a function. From a high-level perspective, a few responsibilities of my role include incubating and promoting innovative projects, providing expert counsel to the company on strategic decisions, and representing Ansys both internally and externally as an industrywide authority. While it’s a great honor to be recognized for my contributions — and I deeply appreciate the recognition — I feel that there is a significant responsibility that comes with the position to inspire, enable, encourage, mentor, and (when needed) lead other talent in the journey to keep Ansys at the top of the pyramid in its space and as the engineering simulation partner of choice on campus.
An early career headshot
How I’d Explain My Job to a Kindergartener
I help create and apply computer software programs that help people design superior products, improving the quality of life for all.
What I Actually Do
As a senior member of our research and development organization and a leader for Ansys’ academic program, I promote technology advancement at Ansys, strengthen our links to the external technical community, and grow Ansys’ presence in industry, at science labs, and on campuses. I mentor junior Ansys technical staff through knowledge sharing that promotes innovation and incubation of initiatives in cutting-edge areas like computational methods and high-performance computing.
My family
Why I Choose Ansys
Ansys represents the gold standard for engineering simulation solutions. The technology and people are the best of the best. The teamwork and synergy behind the scenes of our success, as well as the intriguing nature of our business, are why I stay at Ansys.
Our “One Ansys” Culture
Ansys fosters a compelling sense of purpose that’s reinforced by our shared values and underlying drive for excellence. It is strengthened by our multiculturalism, diversity, and respect for each other.
Our Shared Values
Although each Ansys value is meaningful and impactful, my favorite would have to be “Be generous.” At the end of the day, we are a people-based business. It’s a team sport centered around working together to optimize our goals and achieve them. This happens when we “share, listen, and serve” with an authentic sense of community and humility.
My wife and I attending an event
My Best Advice
Advice is easy to dispense but hard to put into practice. Having said that, I’m inspired by a quote attributed to Albert Einstein: “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” Success tends to breed conservativeness, limit growth, and make one feel like a small cog in a big production machine. But if we behave as if we are still at a small organization, perhaps even a startup, and we push ourselves and people around us to adhere to a work ethic and have an appetite for risk while trying something new, we will be noticed. And in this process, we should retain a sense of appreciation for creative work being done outside Ansys so we can bring this back to our workplace.
My wife and two children on vacation
Getting Involved
Aside from work-related groups like technology centers of excellence and external professional societies like the American Society of Engineering Education, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, I belong to book groups and, more recently, a beginner French language group.
Riding our bikes
What You Might Not Know
I love riding my bicycles whenever possible. I used to have seven bikes, but my family — my wife and two children — has since intervened, and I have downsized to three. I explain to others that aside from the pleasure of spending time outdoors, riding allows me to indulge in my other passion, which is to enjoy good food. I also enjoy reading more leisurely as opposed to my former habit of consuming denser literature. I’ve traded my philosophy books for thrillers and science fiction novels. Strangely enough, I find this surprisingly liberating!
Just for you. We have some additional resources you may enjoy.
“Ansys represents the gold standard for engineering simulation solutions. The technology and people are the best of the best.”
— Dipankar Choudhury, Ansys fellow, Ansys
