Celebrating 20 years of Engineering, Simulation, and Intelligence.
It all started when the company I worked for in 2001 was acquired by a relatively new company whose goal was to become a major supplier to the aerospace industry in Montréal. Several months later, September 11th happened, and my new employer suffered like all the other aerospace companies.
In the summer of 2002, I decided to take a chance on my own and founded Optimec Consultants to continue using and eventually promoting engineering simulation technologies.
In reality, the idea emerged two years earlier, in 1999, when I began working for the acquired company, C&C Technologies. It was an SDRC reseller (Structural Dynamics Research Corporation for the younger ones), where I worked as an FEA specialist responsible for consulting services and pre-post sales activities of I-DEAS software. At that time, I realized the benefits of the offering, side-by-side, consulting services, and software reselling.
The first seven years at Optimec consisted of finding and executing work by myself, starting a family while supporting my wife’s career, and finishing a part-time MBA. In 2009, Optimec became the first Canadian reseller for MSC Software and Simufact. It started our software reselling activities in parallel with our consulting services, and Optimec’s first employee. During that period, our expertise on MSC Software tools and Simufact (Metal Forming simulation) were developed.
In 2013, we got the opportunity to become partners with Dassault Systèmes for the SIMULIA brand, significantly enlarging our simulation tools offering. More advanced technology to learn and to propose to our customers.
The team grew slowly but surely to four engineers when in early 2019 Max Lucchesi joined me as partner and VP of Business Development. Max and I had worked together at C&C Technologies where he was responsible for sales, and we knew that our combined experience complemented each other well, making us a great combo. The addition of Max, indeed, allowed to fill the gap on sales and initiated the growth path we’re currently on.
Today Optimec has seventeen employees combining their expertise and drive to help customers in their innovation journey. I couldn’t be prouder of our team; with no exception, they are first and foremost great individuals. I strongly believe in selecting people of great quality first, then training on skills rather than the opposite. So far so good.
It’s an incredible feeling to go from working and pushing a passion alone, to working with a great team sharing the same vision. Daily, I’m honored and humbled at the fact that this group of individuals gives their time and talent to fulfill the mission of the business.
In that sense, I’m especially grateful for the first employees who decided to bet on me several years ago, namely; Amer El-Rez, the first employee that gave about 3 years to Optimec, Vijay Rajendran the expert who helped me a lot on SIMULIA in a short time, and finally Benjamin Beckelynck who is still with Optimec as a senior simulation specialist. I worked one-on-one with these three engineers at different times and learned so much from them. Thank you for your contribution and most importantly your trust at times when there was little tangible to rely on.
Adding to our great employees, the success of Optimec also relies on great partnerships that evolved over the years. We’re lucky to have Dassault Systèmes, Wolsfstar technologies, Endurica, MSC Software, and DELL as technology solutions partners. We also have a network of professional service partners that complement our offering, allowing us to serve better our customers. Thank you to all of you for your contribution, you know who you are. We’re glad to have you on our side to help drive innovations with our customers.
For myself, the success of Optimec relies on the work of a great team succeeding at satisfying and even overachieving the customers’ expectations. We’re evidently passionate about technology and using/implementing advanced technology with our customers is thrilling for us. We always search to influence positively the new product development processes to accelerate innovations. Over the years, we did great projects for great customers both in industries already familiar and new to simulation technologies.
Some of my personal highlights certainly include
– Highly scientific projects like the James Webb Space Telescope recently put in operation and other satellite projects.
– Environmental-friendly projects like our work on several electric vehicle developments and R&D projects in the packaging industry.
Optimec wouldn’t exist without its clients. I want to thank all of them for the trust they put in our team, and the longevity of our relations. This is precious to us.
Looking ahead, I wish that our team can continue to influence positively innovations in all industries, aiming for a better and more sustainable world. As for myself, I’m humbly learning my way every day to lead Optimec as a people-first organization.
The last acknowledgments for these 20 years must go to my family, thank you Linda, Gabrielle, and Alexandre for your support, it’s incredibly important.
Cheers!
