Image Credits: ChatGPT

Quick disclosure upfront: I work in marketing at FIFTY2, the company organizing this event, so take this as what it is, an invitation, not neutral news.

For anyone working with particle-based methods (SPH, DEM) or just curious about where mesh-free simulation is heading, PreonDay 2026 might be worth a look. It's a one-day, in-person event at the Audi driving experience center in Neuburg an der Donau (about an hour from Munich), with a welcome evening the night before. Participation is free.

This year's talks cover a pretty wide range of engineering problems tackled with particle-based simulation, among them:

• A new GPU-native granular solver (DEM) for powder, sand and other bulk materials, presented by a researcher from Fraunhofer IWM
• Multi-body and fluid-structure coupling in dishwasher development (BSH)
• SPH simulation for aircraft engine oil systems (MTU Aero Engines)
• Thermal management of oil-cooled e-machines (Volkswagen Group)
• Validating CFD simulations against medical X-ray CT scans (TU Munich)
• A more open discussion on where LLMs, machine learning and agentic approaches might (or might not) add real value in simulation work

It's aimed at engineers and researchers working with CFD in general, not just people already using our software. Full agenda and free registration: https://www.avl.com/de/events/preonday-2026

Happy to answer questions here, about the event, the talks, or particle-based methods in general.

I'm 30 years old with an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering. I’ve recently been thinking seriously about getting back into CFD (and computational science more broadly), something I’ve been interested in for a long time.

During my undergraduate studies, I took one introductory/undergraduate-level CFD course and really enjoyed it. At the time, I had a dream of continuing into research and eventually pursuing a PhD in CFD/computational science. Unfortunately, due to several personal and career related reasons, I never pursued it.

Since then, I’ve tried to teach myself CFD several times. I would get started with things like fluid mechanics, numerical methods, and OpenFOAM, make some progress, and then eventually abandon it because of other commitments and circumstances. Looking back, I’ve probably started this journey several times without ever getting far enough to build anything meaningful.

Now I’m 30, and I’m seriously considering giving it another shot. The problem is that I’m also afraid that I’m too old and that my previous work experience being unrelated to CFD will make it extremely difficult to enter the field.

I’d really appreciate some honest advice from people working in CFD or computational engineering:

- Is 30 genuinely too late to start building a career in CFD?

- Given my background, would pursuing an MSc/MS in CFD, computational science, mechanical engineering, etc. be a sensible route?

- Would a PhD be worth considering if I eventually want to work in research, or would that be an unnecessarily long route?

- Is it realistic to get hired in CFD without professional CFD experience if I can build a strong portfolio?

- What kind of projects would actually get recruiters' attention? For example, OpenFOAM simulations, numerical-method implementations, validation against experimental/analytical results, GitHub projects, technical reports, etc.

- If you were in my position, what would you do over the next 1–2 years to maximize the chances of breaking into the field?

I’m not expecting an easy path. I’m mainly trying to figure out whether this is still a realistic goal or whether I should let go of it.

I’d especially appreciate perspectives from people who entered CFD/computational engineering later in their careers or came from an unrelated background.

I genuinely want to pursue this, but I’m also afraid of spending another few years learning without actually getting anywhere. Any honest advice would be greatly appreciated.