Steve Walters guides SIMCenter as EAB Honda representative

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Steve Walters

Steve Walters sits on the SIMCenter’s External Advisory Board, the group of volunteers from various industries that meets bi-annually to help guide SIMCenter initiatives. Walters is the EAB board member representing Honda R&D Americas, where he works as a Principal Engineer and group leader of the Engine CAE Team at the Honda R&D Ohio office. Since taking the role of the Honda R&D EAB representative, Walters has taken pride in representing Honda and continuing Honda’s partnership with the SIMCenter.  

Walters credits his love of cars and desire to pursue a career in the automotive industry to his father. He spent his childhood taking apart his toys to see how they worked and grew up fixing cars, four-wheelers, tractors, and more alongside his dad. After graduating from Cedarville University, Walters started working for Honda R&D in the engine design department, where he led teams and designed internal components for Honda’s V6 engine. From his experience working in engine design, Walters realized the importance of CAE for checking and validating designs prior to physical testing and has since established an Engine CAE team at the Honda R&D Ohio office. Over the past five years, Walters’ team has been expanding its simulation capabilities.  

When Walters isn’t spending time with his two children, he works with his CAE team on 1D/3D CFD, 1D/3D structural, 1D engine performance, and 1D engine transient and real-time modeling. “We are continuously working to increase our capability through methods development as well as support active development projects with our CAE methods,” Walters said. As a SIMCenter EAB member, Walters enjoys comparing various modeling and simulation struggles across the diverse industries represented on the board and collaborating with SIMCenter researchers and students.  

Walters said he appreciates the SIMCenter’s vision for advancing simulation technology and its unique position as part of an academic institution. “The organization creates value for industry partners, both in the short term through solving technical challenges and in the long term by developing students to have simulation skill sets that can enter the workforce,” Walters said. “I also appreciate the academic approach to solving simulation problems as opposed to trying to promote specific software/ tools. The focus is on advancing engineering.”