George Laird, Phd, PE, is Founder and Partner at Applied CAx. Dr. Laird is the author of 40+ publications on wear, fracture mechanics and finite element analysis, and the “Abrasion-Resistant Cast Iron Handbook.”

Dr. Laird has 16+ years of industrial LS-DYNA/Femap/CFD experience, with his doctorate in engineering mechanics (fracture and fatigue). His scientific research focused on structure property relationships for composite materials, ceramics and ferrous/non-ferrous materials.

Other FEA specializations include seismic analysis of large vessels per ASCE 4-98 and ASME Section VIII, Div. 2 requirements, turbine burst containment, drop-test analysis, composite analysis (stress and thermal) and transient-dynamic stress analysis, elastic-plastic analysis of plastics, elastomers and foam materials and general analysis of a wide range of consumer, automotive, aviation and medical products. His expertise in LS-DYNA has led to several publications and his short annual course “LS-DYNA Analysis for Structural Mechanics.” Case studies on LS-DYNA, FEA and CFD service can be found at www. PredictiveEngineering.com.

Since the acquisition of CD-adapco by Siemens PLM Software in early 2016, Dr. Laird has added STAR-CCM to his arsenal of CFD tools.

His team of engineers at Predictive Engineering bring together expertise on materials and mechanics, and a deep understanding of structures whether under fluid or thermal loading (CFD consulting services) or due to impact or crash (LS-DYNA consulting services) or general FEA for vibration, seismic or stress (FEA consulting services) to help clients build better structures.

Taylor Saul is the CEO and Managing Partner of Applied CAx, one of the most technically advanced Siemens Digital Industries Software partners in North America. With over a decade of experience in engineering, PLM strategy, and digital transformation, Taylor has helped establish Applied CAx as a go-to partner for companies operating in highly regulated, high-performance industries such as aerospace, defense, nuclear energy, and advanced manufacturing. Under Taylor’s leadership, Applied CAx has grown into a nationally recognized consultancy and software provider, known for delivering robust Teamcenter implementations, NX design and manufacturing solutions, model-based systems engineering, and cutting-edge CAE simulation services. His focus on technical excellence and strategic partnerships has shaped the company’s reputation for rescuing complex projects and turning underperforming PLM systems into scalable engineering platforms.  

Applied CAx has also become a trusted partner to many of the most promising and well-funded nuclear energy startups in the world. These organizations, often led by former aerospace engineers, operate with similar engineering rigor, regulatory constraints, and program-driven urgency. Leveraging deep experience in digital thread development, configuration control, and multidisciplinary simulation, Taylor and his team help these companies accelerate reactor development while building compliant, scalable digital infrastructures. 

Taylor began his career as a Technical Sales Engineer supporting Fortune 500 aerospace programs, where he built a deep understanding of the day-to-day challenges engineering teams face. This experience fuels his hands-on, client-first approach to digital engineering strategy.  

Today, Taylor remains actively involved in high-stakes customer engagements, often serving as the executive lead on mission-critical programs and long-term transformation initiatives.   

Jamie Griffis is Executive Director, Partner, Digital Innovation Services at Applied CAx. A seasoned Teamcenter Architect with a history of working in the mechanical and industrial engineering and aerospace industry, her speciality is Teamcenter implementations and upgrades, data migrations and CAD Integrations (mainly SolidEdge but also SolidWorks). She is deeply familiar with infrastructure architecture for new Teamcenter implementations and CAD integrations. She was CAD manager for 8+ years, implementing and managing 2D/3D CAD and Teamcenter in multiple international sites and migrating all legacy engineering data to a Teamcenter database.

Additionally, she implemented upgrades and updates of Teamcenter, Solid Edge and AutoCAD Mechanical while providing user support and troubleshooting, writing procedures and establishing workflows. She also led processes and conventions for design, drafting and data management. She oversaw the training of engineering, document control, project management and production control departments on Teamcenter and Solid Edge, control of standard part creation and documentation and control of CAD operation manuals and documentation.

Dale Goulding is our Executive Director for Aerospace & Defense. His primary focus is on serving our A&D customers with the tools and services they need to compress product development schedules and optimize their design.​

With more than 25 years in the industry and an additional 8 years in automotive, Dale knows what it takes to execute highly-complex, heavily-integrated design programs and leverage the full power of the digital toolbox.