Secondmind expands into US automotive market with Detroit-based strategic hire to accelerate growth

Engineering simulation leader Nick Appleyard to lead Secondmind sales and business development in North America and Europe 

CAMBRIDGE, England, July 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Secondmind today announces the appointment of Nick Appleyard as Country Manager, USA, and Vice President of Sales & Business Development for North America and Europe. This appointment also marks the establishment of Secondmind's first United States operational presence in Detroit, Michigan - a move catalyzed by the recent signing of a major Tier 1 supplier as a licensee of the company's cloud-native model-based engineering software and an expanding pipeline of OEM and Tier 1 customers and partners.

Appleyard is a recognized expert in advanced physics modeling and engineering who brings more than 30 years of domain knowledge and leadership experience to Secondmind in the areas of Model-Based design optimization and exploration, Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), digital thread enablement, digital twins, simulation-led design, and enterprise toolchain deployment. In his role at Secondmind, Appleyard will lead a multi-region team focused on scaling Secondmind software adoption across the commercial and passenger vehicle markets in North America and Europe. His deep technical foundation and commercial track record will bode well for aligning customer goals with Secondmind product value - unlocking new high-value use cases, informing product strategy and increasing customer impact.

"Establishing our presence in Detroit is a major milestone for Secondmind, and Nick is the ideal leader to help us strengthen our partnerships with global OEMs and Tier 1s, accelerate innovation, and unify our Western sales efforts under a single, focused strategy," said Gary Brotman, Chief Executive Officer of Secondmind. "Nick's deep domain expertise and successful track record of scaling simulation and modeling technologies across global engineering enterprises will be instrumental in supporting our expanding US and European customer bases."

Prior to joining Secondmind, Appleyeard served as Vice President at Siemens Digital Industries Software in the Americas Division, where he led Simulation and Test business operations and helped establish engineering simulation as a pillar of Siemens' digital transformation strategy. His earlier leadership roles at CD-adapco, Ricardo, General Dynamics, Ansys, and Exa Corporation further illustrate his breadth of experience and influence in shaping modern simulation workflow that Secondmind has begun to augment and transform in the automotive sector.

"I'm excited to join Secondmind to help increase the company's momentum delivering powerful AI and machine learning software for design space exploration and calibration." said Nick Appleyard, Country Manager, USA, and Vice President of Sales & Business Development for North America and Europe. "I was drawn by the company's vision, technology, and culture and I look forward to helping automotive customers accelerate vehicle design and development with Secondmind across the US and Europe."

Based in Michigan, Appleyard also serves as Executive Director of the NAFEMS-ASSESS Initiative, a global thought-leadership community focused on advancing the future of engineering simulation.  His extensive knowledge of the automotive, aerospace, and defense sectors makes him a valuable addition to Secondmind and his appointment reflects the company's continued investment in technical leadership, and customer-centric product growth as it further expands its global reach and impact.

To find out more about Secondmind, visit www.secondmind.ai

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SOURCE Secondmind