CDadapco

CD-adapco is a software company specializing in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and multiphysics simulation. It is best known for its CFD codes STAR-CCM+ and STAR-CD, which are used to model fluid flow, heat transfer, chemical reactions, and related phenomena across a wide range of industries, including automotive, aerospace, energy, and consumer products.

History and technology development describe a company rooted in CFD research and engineering simulation. CD-adapco released STAR-CD in the 1990s and later expanded STAR-CCM+ into a unified multiphysics platform. The software suite provides integrated pre-processing, solving, and post-processing capabilities, along with multiphysics couplings and parallel computing to tackle large-scale simulations. The company maintained a global customer base and a network of partners, service organizations, and training resources to support its software.

Acquisition by Siemens: In 2016, Siemens AG acquired CD-adapco, incorporating its technology into the Siemens Simcenter portfolio. The move expanded Siemens’ computational engineering capabilities and extended the distribution, support, and development ecosystem for STAR-CCM+ and related products through Siemens channels and programs.

Current status and usage: As part of Siemens, CD-adapco’s products are maintained and evolved within a larger CAE ecosystem. They continue to be used by engineers across industries for design exploration, optimization, and validation, enabling multi-physics analysis, design refinement, and performance evaluation in complex engineering problems.