TROY, Mich., May 1, 2024 – Altair, a global leader in computational intelligence, has announced its acquisition of Research in Flight, the maker of FlightStream. FlightStream is a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software with a significant presence in the aerospace and defense sector, and a growing footprint in marine, energy, turbomachinery, and automotive applications.
FlightStream is a user-friendly yet powerful flow solver that bridges the gap between high-fidelity CFD simulations and the needs of engineers and designers. It offers fast computational speeds, a low hardware footprint, and a streamlined user interface, making it an invaluable tool for early-stage rapid design iterations and in-depth aerodynamic studies.
“Our growth in the aerospace, defense, and surrounding industries has accelerated in recent years through our best-in-class computational intelligence solutions,” said James R. Scapa, founder and chief executive officer, Altair. “The integration of FlightStream into our portfolio will enhance our offering with its specialized, modern, and efficient approach to meet the increasingly complex customer demands in these industries, including the urban air mobility and eVTOL sectors.”
FlightStream allows for the rapid analysis of unconventional aircraft using a unique surface vorticity, flow-separation, and viscous analysis capability for both powered and unpowered configurations. “We are proud to be a standard tool in the aircraft designer’s toolbox,” said Vivek Ahuja, co-founder, Research in Flight. “Joining Altair will allow us to scale and reach countless engineers seeking best-in-class, powerful, and specialized tools for faster design iterations.”
In addition to Ahuja, Research in Flight was co-founded by Roy Hartfield, an aerospace engineering professor at the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering at Auburn University, who has dedicated more than 30 years to the study of aerodynamics, propulsion, statistical analysis of air vehicles, and aircraft research.
FlightStream is a United States Air Force network-approved software and is also used at NASA Ames and Langley Research Centers, as well as by the U.S. Army. It will be integrated into the Altair HyperWorks design and simulation platform and be available via Altair Units.
Altair is a global leader in computational intelligence that provides software and cloud solutions in simulation, high-performance computing (HPC), data analytics, and AI. Altair enables organizations across all industries to compete more effectively and drive smarter decisions in an increasingly connected world – all while creating a greener, more sustainable future.
