ESTECO is an independent global leader in Multidisciplinary Design Analysis & Optimization (MDAO), Simulation Process Data Management (SPDM), and Business Process Management (BPM) software solutions. Our technology helps companies streamline their engineering simulation processes by integrating and automating third-party physics-based modeling tools, conducting system-level design optimization and trade studies, and providing data analytics and traceability for informed decision making. The openness of our software allows for easy integration in the overall digital thread.
Our technology has become increasingly important to unlock innovation in aerospace and defense (A&D), in which we’ve been strongly rooted since the foundation of our company in 1999.
2025 marks our third year as an AIAA Corporate Member. Before that, we consistently exhibited at both AIAA SciTech Forum and AIAA AVIATION Forum for almost 10 years. As a small business, we benefit significantly from the networking and business development opportunities that our membership with AIAA provides.
Securing New Clients
We have a bottom-up sales model — we want to reach engineers and their leadership — technical teams who work in conceptual and preliminary design of air vehicles are our prime targets. Our participation as an AIAA forum exhibitor was important in securing several key customers. Striking up a conversation with other attendees led to demonstrations, visits, and trial evaluations. Today, A&D is our fastest growing domain.
Consistent Engagement Is Key
Networking at AIAA events is very important to us. We’ve learned over the years that the aerospace community is an industry where you need to be patient; it is slow to change (“we’ve always done it this way”) and slow to adopt new technologies (“not invented here”). With this community, we need to stay engaged and continue to show our face and build credibility. We really want to be long-term partners for those who are interested in working with us.
Often, we’re able to engage the engineering community in dialogue about the larger industry trends and issues shaping our industry.
On the civil aviation side, we’re seeing increasing pressure from governments to reduce fuel burn emissions — that means rethinking materials and aircraft shape for light-weighting and drag reduction. The general aircraft shape hasn’t changed all that much over the past five or six decades, but with tools like ours you can come up with superior configurations that balance competing objectives.
On the military side, there is a push from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to do things faster and cheaper, recognizing that a 20-year design cycle from prototype to fielded operational capability is not feasible in today’s geopolitical environment. Also, the cost has exploded exponentially from early generation aircraft to current systems. If you extrapolate that trend, no one can afford a gen-six or gen-seven aircraft. The DoD is trying to do things in a more revolutionary than evolutionary way and to do it faster and cheaper. You need to challenge some of your conventional design methods and embrace more modern computer-based technologies, where smart algorithms can do the heavy lifting for you.
Driving Growth
By leveraging AIAA’s industry-leading events, ESTECO has successfully engaged with aerospace experts, engineers, and decision makers. AIAA forums provide an ideal platform for ESTECO to showcase its digital engineering solutions to a highly technical audience. The expert interactions at these events have provided valuable feedback and exposure, helping us to refine our offerings and drive adoption from the ground up.
I attribute some of our 27% revenue growth in A&D (2024) to the leads generated at AIAA events. In addition, our ability to introduce our modern web-based technology to a wider audience of younger engineers from the smartphone generation has facilitated the democratization of MDAO, allowing more engineers to incorporate optimization tools into their workflows.
Finally, AIAA events provide excellent opportunities for us to connect with students. Some have become customers, some employees, and others have continued using our software in academia, strengthening brand recognition and long-term adoption. Our biggest differentiator is our server-based digital engineering framework, VOLTA, that lets people collaborate on optimization workflows in real time, no matter where they are located. Most of our competitors offer desktop clients, which have inherent limitations when it comes to geographic distributed collaboration and execution.
A Strategic Advantage
The partnership between ESTECO and AIAA has proven to be a strategic advantage, enabling us to expand our reach within the A&D industry. Small businesses considering AIAA membership will find good value for the investment.
My advice? Be persistent. Don’t try it once or twice and be deterred. You have to build that rapport and network. It can’t happen overnight. You must show real tangible results from people who use your software, demonstrating that it works for them in their environment. Ultimately, it’s a tool that needs to deliver—customers want to see the cost savings, the reduction in development time, and the capability to collaborate.
By consistently engaging with experts and future engineers at AIAA venues, we’re continuing to drive innovation and adoption of our solutions, ensuring that the next generation of aerospace professionals is equipped with the best optimization and data management tools available.
