Originally a Belgian company, GDTech has established itself as a specialist in advanced engineering, numerical simulation, and industrial project management. Structured around three complementary divisions – GDTech Engineering, GDTech Software, and GDTech Projects – the company operates across the entire product development cycle. With a presence in Belgium, France, Canada (Calgary), and the United States (Houston), GDTech relies on more than 200 highly qualified employees. Meeting with Guy Janssen, Director of GDTech.
Since the company’s creation, GDTech’s expertise has been primarily focused on the aerospace and defense sectors, both in Belgium and in France. In Canada and the United States, engineering activities are more oriented toward the energy sector.
“This approach encourages us to develop synergies between Europe and the American continent to promote the sharing of experience gained, on the one hand, in aerospace and, on the other hand, in energy. To carry out our activities, we use common IT tools that are fully managed internally by GDTech’s teams.”
Since its inception, GDTech has supported innovative companies developing high value-added products by providing its expertise in numerical simulation.
“The use of simulation helps reduce development cycles, accelerate time to market, and optimize costs and performance. Although GDTech has been active in this field for many years, we remain forward-looking. In particular, we are integrating artificial intelligence by developing reduced-order numerical models based on experimental data and simulation results. To achieve this, we use specialized software such as the one developed by Adagos, a company based in Toulouse.”
In a highly competitive sector, what truly sets GDTech apart?
“It is certainly the level of expertise of our engineers and the experience accumulated over time. We have been operating in this field for more than 30 years, with in-depth mastery of complex industrial challenges.”
GDTech selected for the European GARUDA project
Supported by the European Defense Fund, the GARUDA project aims to develop the foundational architecture of a new generation of autonomous collaborative combat drones (U-CCA). The objective? Create a modular and scalable platform capable of adapting to the future operational needs of European defense forces.
Coordinated by ONERA, the project brings together 8 European partners engaged in a dynamic of strategic cooperation. It covers the key initial phases of development, including conceptual design in order to identify the most promising concepts, as well as the preliminary design of the selected concept.
A strategic technological role for GDTech
While participation in a European Defense Fund project is not a first for GDTech, this project has a unique character for the company due to its key role and the importance of its contribution.
Recognized for its expertise in advanced numerical simulation, GDTech is responsible both for the development of reduced virtual models enabling the rapid evaluation of the aerodynamic and structural performance of the different concepts studied, as well as for the preliminary sizing of the selected solution.
“We will study different drone geometries by evaluating their aerodynamic behavior through fluid mechanics simulations in order to characterize the flows around the structures. At the same time, we will also analyze the impact of the stresses generated during flight. This coupled approach – combining aerodynamics and structural analysis – makes it possible to optimize overall performance from the very early stages of design.”
What does the GARUDA project represent for GDTech?
“It is a wonderful recognition of GDTech’s expertise by ONERA, one of France’s leading research institutions! We naturally hope that this major European project will enable us to access new opportunities in the defense sector, a field in which GDTech has been active since its creation.”
Article by Frédérique Jacobs for ©️Gate.31
