The extraordinary developments in simulation offer enormous potential for acceleration of technologies that have been developed with conventional heuristic approaches, but are essential to society's future needs.

Three examples of the application of advanced carbon fibre composites in different industries will be examined to reveal the challenges and opportunities for simulation in accelerating technological development:

1. Aerospace and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner
2. Leisure products and the Americas Cup
3. Automotive and the BMW i3 and i8

The roles of simulation in developing the virtual twin in performance and manufacturing will be explored through the "Composites Virtual Factory" where thirteen Work Flow Applications that utilize Dassault Systemes 3D Experience, and both CATIA and ABAQUS, are employed to develop end-to-end virtual twins of composites manufacturing processes.

Validation of simulations will be presented for composites extrusion deposition additive manufacturing. Further, the development of "manufacturing informed performance" will be demonstrated, wherein product performance predictions reflect the influence of changes in manufacturing process without the need for conventional empirical testing.

Finally, barriers to achieving the goal of pervasive simulation in future product development, such as simulation tool Accessibility, Adaptability, Interoperability, Traceability and User friendliness, as concluded by NASA's "Vision 2040: A Roadmap for Integrated, Multiscale Modeling and Simulation of Materials and Systems," will be discussed.

Byron Pipes received the honorary degree of Doctor honoris causa from the University on Wednesday 4th July.

• R Byron Pipes, John L Bray Distinguished Professor of Engineering, Purdue University
• Dr R Byron Pipes, Wikipedia