Bertrand Braunschweig has left CO-LaN to pursue other career directions after eleven years of involvement with the open simulation movement. He first became involved with CAPE-OPEN as project manager and IFP representative in 1996 at a critical time in its short history.
The first attempt to get CAPE-OPEN accepted as an EU Framework IV project had just failed and it was not clear if the participants could be kept together for another try. Neither was it clear how well this cheerful, informal Frenchman would be able to deal with the Brussels bureaucracy and the many tensions, agendas, objectives and personalities involved in a multi-national, multi-company project of this kind. However, it soon became clear that he understood Brussels very well and his light touch, good humour and patience were exactly the right blend of skills for the unique challenges thrown up by projects of this nature. The next submission succeeded and the EU CAPE-OPEN project started in January 1997 with Bertrand as its leader. This was followed in mid-1999 by Global CAPE-OPEN, which was also funded by the EU and supported by IMS, and which ran until 2002 again under Bertrand’s leadership. During this time CO-LaN was formed to look after the CAPE-OPEN standards and promote the cause of process simulation software interoperability in the process industry, once EU funding had stopped. Bertrand was CO-LaN President from its inception until 2004, when he began to wind down his involvement, although he stayed a member of the Management Board until this year.
On behalf of the CAPE-OPEN community, we would like to express our sincere thanks to Bertrand for the pivotal role that he has played in leading the diverse team of experts involved in CAPE-OPEN to the successful position they occupy today. It has been a pleasure to have worked with him and we wish him every success in the future.
