LANS Seminar

Seminar Title: OpenMDAO: An Open-Source Framework for Advanced Engineering Optimization

Speakers: Rob Falck Aerospace Engineer, NASA Glenn Research Center, working with the Mission Architecture and Analysis Branch (and its predecessors) since 1999

Ken Moore Aerospace Engineering Support Contractor with Lentech Inc., NASA Glenn Research Centerr, Propulsion Systems Analysis Branch since 2007

Date: Thursday, July 16, 2026

Time: 2:30 PM-3:30 PM (Virtual)

Location: Hybrid, Bldg. 240, Conference Room 1404

Host: Marco Mangano

Zoom Link: https://argonne.zoomgov.com/j/1610638068?pwd=qgBLqN7qt6X22wHkmUqd6qS516wUaA.1

Meeting ID: 161 063 8068

Passcode: 473237

Abstract: We will discuss the past, present, and future of NASA’s OpenMDAO software for multidisciplinary design, analysis, and optimization. We willdiscuss the genesis of OpenMDAO as an open-source model coupling framework, and how its capability evolved. OpenMDAO 2 incorporated the theoretical underpinnings from the unified derivatives equations, allowing OpenMDAO to compute total derivatives for optimization of heterogeneous computational models with arbitrary complexity. OpenMDAO 3 brought further workflow optimizations that enable the solving of large optimization problems involving large systems of PDEs, particularly the usage of graphbased relevance, simultaneous total derivative evaluation for sparse jacobian matrices, and auto-ordering methods. Looking at the future, we will discuss OpenMDAO’s role in a world increasingly driven by AI-based workflows. We will also discuss some of the tools around the OpenMDAO ecosystem. Dymos, in particular, provides a consistent interface to a variety of trajectory optimization transcriptions, allowing for the optimization of complex dynamic multidisciplinary systems.

Bios: Rob Falck is an aerospace engineer at NASA Glenn Research Center, working with the Mission Architecture and Analysis Branch (and its predecessors) since 1999. He holds an MS in aerospace engineering from Purdue University. Rob’s background is in spacecraft mission analysis for the development of power and propulsion systems. Prior to working on OpenMDAO and Dymos, he was a developer of NASA’s “Optimal Trajectories by Implicit Simulation” (OTIS) software.

Bio: Ken Moore is an aerospace engineering support contractor with Lentech Inc., working at NASA Glenn Research Center in the Propulsion Systems Analysis Branch since 2007. He holds a PhD in aerospace engineering from the University of Cincinnati in 1998. He has been part of the OpenMDAO team since its inception, and is a developer of Aviary, which is an aircraft design, analysis, and optimization tool built on OpenMDAO and Dymos. 

See all upcoming talks at https://www.anl.gov/mcs/lans-seminars