Altair today announced the most significant software update release in the company’s history. All of Altair’s software products have been updated with advancements in user experience and countless new features, including intuitive workflows that empower users to streamline product development, allowing customers to get to market faster.

The software update release expands on the number of solutions available for designers, engineers, data analysts, IT and HPC professionals, facility managers, and more to drive better decisions and accelerate the pace of innovation. It broadens the scope of the new user experience, enables access to more physics, data analytics, and machine learning, and makes the Altair software delivery method more flexible and accessible.

“Our teams are always driven to develop and provide access to a range of different technologies that enable our customers to break through complex problems, and explore and discover on their own terms. This software update release is the largest collection of our applications for design, simulation, and data analytics,” said James Scapa, Chairman, Founder and chief executive officer of Altair.

Some of the most notable highlights enhance and bring new capabilities to the needs aligned to the following applications:

·   Structures

o   Altair HyperWorks™ – new interface to Altair’s solution for high-fidelity computer-aided engineering (CAE) modeling and visualization, making learning easy and productivity high

o   New subsystem entity for modular model configuration

o   Altair SimLab™ – fatigue optimization

o   Altair OptiStruct™ ­– includes the addition of new explicit solution and expanded implicit non-linear solutions including 2D axisymmetry

o   Altair SimSolid™ – includes advanced 3D seam weld connections to further improve speed

o   Altair Radioss™ – employs a dramatic reduction in runtimes for virtual drop testing of electronics devices
 

·   Fluids and Thermal

o   HyperWorks CFD – provides engineers and experienced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) specialists with the most productive CFD pre- and post-processing capabilities to-date

o   Altair AcuSolve™ – GPU acceleration yields 3-4 times increased speed while also supporting nucleate boiling, radiation, condensation/evaporation and multiphase fluid-structure interaction (FSI)

o   Altair ultraFluidX™ – includes a new, more accurate wall model and overset grid technique

o   Altair nanoFluidX™ – is three times faster than the previous version
 

·   Industrial Design and Structures

o   Altair Inspire™ integration of Altair SimSolid™ solver includes support and connector reaction forces, instantaneous reaction time modeling large PolyNURBS models, and improved geometry generation from optimization

o   Inspire Studio – advanced morphing of any geometry type
 

·   Manufacturing

o   3D printing simulation available in Inspire with new unit cell lattice generation

·   Electromagnetics and Multiphysics

o   SimLab – electric motor modeling and coupling with AcuSolve and Altair Flux™; accommodates ECAD file import (ODB++)

o   Altair Feko™ – provides a component library tightly integrated with CADFEKO

o   Altair FluxMotor™ now includes thermal and acoustics evaluation

o   Flux includes several enhancements including those for modeling iron losses and skew type motors
 

·   Systems Modeling

o   Altair Activate™ – performs multi-physics system modeling with hardware-in-the-loop and Internet of Things (IoT) for digital twin development

o   Integration of EDEM bulk material modeling with multibody dynamics simulation and hydraulics ideal for heavy equipment and agricultural applications

o   Altair MotionView™ – has a two-wheeler vehicle dynamics library for motorcycles and scooters

o   Altair Compose™ – OpenMatrix Language available in Jupyter Notebook

o   Altair Embed™ – supports three additional target and two additional target families from ST Micro, VRTOS code modifications for MISRA compliance, and OpenCV DNN (Deep Neural Network) module integration

 

·   Data Analytics

o   Recent release of Altair Panopticon™ – platform for user-driven monitoring of real-time data – includes major update of cloud-based deployment, enabling users to build, modify, and share custom-designed functions and content easily via standard web browsers; hotfix to enable deployment at Nomura

o   Altair Knowledge Hub™ – improved messages for troubleshooting and robustness; security hardening; more flexible Windows deployment; deployment on Azure; transformations including continuous binning and lookup join (refactoring for performance) and more 

o   Altair Monarch™ – complex Excel input support – "Excel Trapping"; PDF extraction improvements; user experience and UI improvements; enhanced column list and more

o   Altair Knowledge Studio™ – new features including Keras model, model stacking, and pivot table; variable transformations node improvements with dataset and variable preview and re-ordering 

·        Smart Product Development

o   Altair SmartWorks™ – major re-architecture of the edge orchestration and augmentation; ability to validate the edge application in real-time environments and deploy at scale 

·        HPC and Cloud

o   Altair Access™ – updated “work from home” features; more responsive 3D remote visualization; internationalization; better job resource charts; two-factor authentication and single sign-on; share support on mobile 

o   Altair Accelerator™ – EDA workload support on AWS (with Rapid Scaling), Microsoft Azure, and GCP; 10x faster for dynamic workloads; container improvements; REST query API; IPv6

o   Altair PBS Professional® – scalability improvements towards exascale; Cray Shasta support; container enhancements for converged AI+HPC workloads; better system maintenance support. (MT)

Bengaluru-headquartered ER&D company L&T Technology Services (LTTS) has announced a multi-year engagement within its mobility segment from an automotive manufacturer. The agreement involves software, connectivity and digital engineering services across vehicle technology domains. This win follows the company’s investments in R&D labs and mobility infrastructure designed for programs with global manufacturers.

The engagement covers mobility engineering capabilities, including embedded systems, digital platforms, verification and validation, cloud integration and cybersecurity. LTTS intends to use its engineering expertise and delivery frameworks to support the customer's technology roadmap. 

At present, LTTS operates 22 design centres and 100 innovation labs globally.

The agreement strengthens the partnership between LTTS and the automotive manufacturer in the area of mobility engineering. The company provides design, development, and testing services across the mobility, sustainability, and tech segments. 

Alind Saxena, Executive Director and President, Mobility and Tech at L&T Technology Services, said, “We are proud to deepen our partnership with the valued customer through this strategic engagement. LTTS brings together domain-led engineering, secure development practices and excellence in global delivery to accelerate the future of premium mobility. The win reflects the trust placed in our teams and our commitment to delivering world-class engineering at scale”.

French technology company Valeo and NATIX Network have announced a partnership to develop a multi-camera World Foundation Model (WFM). The project combines Valeo’s research in artificial intelligence and generative modelling with NATIX’s decentralised physical infrastructure network (DePIN) to create an open-source platform for autonomous driving and robotics.

The initiative aims to move beyond perception-based models by creating a system capable of predicting future states and reasoning about physical interactions in a four-dimensional environment. The model will be trained using NATIX’s data network, which has collected 600,000 hours of video data across the US, Europe and Asia over seven months. This data provides the multi-camera inputs necessary for the spatial perception required by autonomous vehicles and robots.

The partnership builds upon Valeo’s existing open-source frameworks, VaViM (Video Autoregressive Model) and VaVAM (Video-Action Model). While these frameworks were previously trained primarily on front-camera datasets, the integration of NATIX’s multi-camera network expands the AI’s field of vision to 360 degrees.

Under the open-source framework, the partners will release models, datasets and training tools. This approach is intended to allow the research community to fine-tune models and benchmark physical AI across various driving conditions and geographic regions. The collaboration seeks to accelerate the deployment of end-to-end AI models by learning from real-world edge cases captured by vehicles in operation.

Marc Vrecko, Chief Executive Officer, Valeo’s Brain Division, said, “Since our creation in 2018, Valeo’s AI research center has been at the forefront of AI research in the automotive industry, especially in the fields of assisted and autonomous driving. Our goal has always been to advance mobility intelligence safely and responsibly. By combining Valeo’s generative world modeling research expertise with NATIX’s global multi-camera data, we are accelerating both the quality and the accessibility of next-generation end-to-end AI models, enabling the research community to build upon strong open models.”

Alireza Ghods, CEO and Co-Founder, NATIX, added, “WFMs are a once-in-a-generation opportunity — similar to the rise of LLMs in 2017–2020. The teams that build the first scalable world models will define the foundation of the next AI wave: Physical AIs. With our distributed multi-camera network, NATIX has a clear advantage of being able to move faster than large OEMs.”

Tata Technologies has announced the completion of the 3^rd edition of its innovation hackathon, InnoVent 2026, supported by Amazon Web Services (AWS). The initiative invited engineering students to develop solutions for mobility challenges in the automotive and manufacturing sectors. The programme received participation from 10,247 students across 404 colleges in India, resulting in 2,822 projects.

The competition focused on the theme of intelligence-driven mobility for the year 2030. Participants received over 650 hours of mentoring and training from subject matter experts to convert their concepts into prototypes. The top 10 teams presented their work at the company's Hinjewadi campus in Pune before a jury of industry leaders from Jaguar Land Rover, Air India and ES-Tec Group.

Team Drushti from CMR College of Engineering & Technology, Hyderabad, secured the first prize of INR 300,000 for a system that customises vehicle infotainment for visually impaired drivers. Second place went to Team The T-Factor from Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai, for an AI-based breakdown prevention system. Team SwarmSync from the International Institute of Information Technology (I²IT), Pune, took third place for an intelligent fleet management solution using V2X communication.

Tata Technologies offered career opportunities to all 42 finalists involved in the top projects. Furthermore, all participants were granted one-year access to the iGETIT learning platform to study emerging technologies. The finalist projects covered areas such as blockchain for vehicle security, wireless charging for electric vehicles, and AI-led battery monitoring.

The event featured a humanoid robot that performed roles such as coordinating panel discussions and interacting with attendees. A panel of industry experts discussed the global demand for engineering talent and the impact of technology on future mobility.

Warren Harris, MD & CEO, Tata Technologies, said, "InnoVent at Tata Technologies represents our conviction that the future is shaped by those who combine engineering excellence with human purpose to engineer a better world".

Kia India has announced the re-launch of its Kia Inspiring Drive (K.I.D) Program, debuting alongside the New Kia Seltos. The initiative is a driving score system designed to monitor real-time behaviour and provide insights into habits. Accessed via the Kia Connect app, the programme will be rolled out across the company’s connected vehicle portfolio in phases.

The K.I.D score is calculated using a three-month rolling average based on parameters including rapid acceleration, rapid deceleration and sudden starts. To ensure data accuracy, the system applies a weighted value based on the specific vehicle. This methodology aims to reflect long-term driving patterns rather than isolated incidents.

The programme incorporates community-based leaderboards, allowing owners to compare scores and track their standing within the Kia community. By turning road safety into an interactive experience, the manufacturer intends to encourage responsible driving through recognition and competition.

The behaviour-based scoring system provides data to help users understand the impact of their habits on road safety. Kia is supporting the re-launch with a digital and press campaign to increase awareness among its customer base.

Atul Sood, Senior Vice-President – Marketing & Sales, Kia India, said, “Safety remains at the core of Kia’s philosophy, and with the re-launch of the Kia Inspiring Drive program alongside the New Seltos, we are taking another meaningful step towards encouraging responsible driving behaviour. By offering customers clear, data-driven insights into their driving patterns, the KID program empowers them to make safer choices on the road, while also enhancing their overall ownership experience.”