Recorded at CDFAM Computational Design Symposium, NYC, October 29-30, 2025
https://cdfam.com/nyc-2025/
nTop
Bradley Rothenberg
From 3 Configurations to 300: Rapid Trades for Advanced Aircraft Design
Presentation Abstract
Aircraft development timelines have collapsed from 7 years to 18 months, but design tools still assume you have years to iterate. The result: teams freeze architecture in week 2, before they understand the design space, and spend the rest of the program managing the consequences.
The core problem is going from requirements-to-design is just too slow. Serial design evaluations, manual CAD updates that fail to parametrize correctly, and expensive simulation cycles create weeks-long iteration loops.
nTop solves this through three architectural principles: Parametric models that remain robust under any design change. No geometry failures, no manual repairs; integrated notebooks capturing engineering knowledge in executable form; and GPU-native solvers enabling interactive design-analysis cycles with performance feedback in minutes.
What’s the alternative? Exploring 3-4 hand-crafted configurations slowly or quickly committing to a single concept. Neither is likely to win. nTop enables systematic exploration of hundreds of variants in the time that traditional approaches evaluate three.
This presentation demonstrates real examples: Group 1-3 UAS configurations generated and flight-tested in weeks, hypersonic vehicle trade studies evaluating hundreds of variants, and rapid weapons platform sizing with integrated CFD.
The result: teams explore more, fail fast, and learn faster—improving win rates through comprehensive trade studies and defensible performance predictions.
About CDFAM:
CDFAM is a global symposium series at the forefront of computational design, advanced manufacturing, and performance-driven engineering. With a strong emphasis on innovation, CDFAM highlights how leading companies and researchers are leveraging AI, machine learning, and simulation technologies to drive the next generation of design tools, workflows, and digital fabrication methods.
The symposium fosters cross-disciplinary collaboration and knowledge exchange between designers, engineers, and technologists exploring the cutting edge of digital design — from generative workflows.
Past presenters and partners include companies such as NVIDIA, NASA, New Balance, BMW, ARUP, Foster +, Partners, BIG, Autodesk, Dassault Systèmes, nTopology, PyhicsX, Neural Concept, Siemens and more, showcasing how computation and AI are transforming everything from aerospace to footwear.
Learn more at
https://cdfam.com
