UPSTREAM CFD GMBH

Their core work

Upstream CFD GmbH is a Berlin-based engineering SME specialising in Computational Fluid Dynamics simulation, with applied expertise in aircraft aeroacoustics and high-performance computing. In the INVENTOR project they contributed physics-based modelling of airframe noise sources — landing gears, high-lift devices, and installation effects — to support quieter aircraft design. In the exaFOAM project they worked on scaling the open-source OpenFOAM solver to exascale HPC systems, enabling mainstream industrial users to run large-scale CFD simulations at previously inaccessible computational scales. Their value lies in translating advanced simulation methods into practical engineering outcomes for the transport and broader industrial sectors.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their first project, INVENTOR (2020), was grounded in classical aeroacoustics — modelling the physics of noise from specific structural components such as landing gears and high-lift devices on aircraft. By 2021, with exaFOAM, their focus shifted upstream to the simulation infrastructure itself: developing the algorithms and parallel-IO capabilities that allow open-source CFD solvers to run on exascale supercomputers. This trajectory suggests a deliberate move from domain-specific noise simulation toward enabling the broader industrial CFD community to access extreme-scale computing resources.

They are moving from niche aeroacoustics toward enabling scalable industrial CFD, positioning themselves as HPC-capable partners for any sector requiring large-scale fluid simulation beyond aviation.

How they like to work

Upstream CFD consistently joins projects as a specialist participant rather than taking a coordinating role, contributing targeted CFD expertise to larger research consortia. Their involvement in projects with 30 unique partners across 12 countries indicates comfort operating inside complex, multi-country networks. This profile marks them as a focused technical contributor — the partner to seek when you need credible CFD modelling capacity inside a bigger consortium without the overhead of a large organisation.

With 30 unique consortium partners spanning 12 countries across just two projects, their network is wide relative to their size — likely including major European aerospace research institutes, HPC centres, and industrial OEMs. No geographic concentration is visible from the data.

What sets them apart

As a small Berlin SME, Upstream CFD sits at the intersection of aeroacoustic physics and exascale computing — a combination rarely found in a single company of their scale. Their simultaneous presence in an aircraft noise reduction project and an open-source HPC scaling initiative gives them a foot in both the aerospace domain and the industrial simulation infrastructure world. For consortium builders, they offer credible, focused CFD modelling capacity that a large research institute would price out of reach for smaller consortia.

Highlights from their portfolio

• INVENTOR
  Their largest funded project (EUR 120,000) and a directly applied aeronautics challenge — reducing noise from specific airframe components — with clear relevance to aircraft manufacturers and certification bodies.
• exaFOAM
  Places Upstream CFD at the frontier of open-source HPC software development, connecting them to the exascale computing ecosystem that will underpin industrial CFD for the coming decade.