Driving Innovation and Connecting Our Digital World

Applied Dynamics International was founded in 1957 by Bob Howe and three other University of Michigan professors in the Aerospace Department. Howe was a pioneer in the early development of system simulation and the computational tools for generating solutions to simulation models. His curiosity around identifying error sources and reducing or eliminating them led to his study of electronic analog computers and how they dealt with issues such as multiplying two simulation variables.

This research led to his book “Design Fundamentals of Analog Computer Components,” published in 1961.

ADI expanded as technology became available, releasing a new AD 4 solid-state analog computer system in 1966.

In 1968, NASA Ames Research Center chose ADI to develop a special computer system to help solve problems of testing new aircraft designs without endangering the lives of pilots and losing aircraft. The system was used to help simulate the flight of the movable wing Supersonic Transport (SST) and other advanced aircraft and spacecraft.

In 1975, the company switched to digital, developing its first high-speed, special-purpose, digital simulation product, the AD 10, in 1977.

The company released the AD 100 in 1985, a new digital computer package that was faster than any other dynamic simulation on the market – AD-100 could solve 120,000 equations per second.

Since that time ADI has worked with a variety of customers from Rolls-Royce, where its products help develop the next-generation FADEC Test System in 2001, to helping Gulfstream build a state-of-the-art simulation and test facility to support the development of the manufacturer’s G500 and G600 aircraft programs.

In 2008, ADI began developing ADEPT, which it released in 2018 as the most advanced real-time, industrial Internet of Things (IoT) model-based systems engineering software platform available. The platform provides an agile, open architecture, feature-rich environment for the complete product lifecycle from development through integration, verification, validation, certification, deployment, and sustainment.

ADI collaborated with the Digital Manufacturing Institute (MxD), The Dow Chemical Company, and the University of Michigan’s Barton Research Group in the Collaborative Ecosystems category. Their project, Digital Twins for Process Manufacturing: Open Architecture Industrial IoT Framework, was recognized for its excellence by the Manufacturing Leadership Council.