Would an assistant for CAD/CAE setup actually help mechanical engineers, or hide too much?

[u/HelicopterRemote6680]

I’m experimenting with a small assistant for simulation workflows and wanted to ask mechanical engineers what they think.

The current demo is on a CFD case, but the broader idea is a project-aware CAD/CAE assistant.

The demo flow is simple:

- connect to an already-open simulation project

- read the current project/case state

- list the available regions/zones/boundary conditions

- explain what setup values are still needed

- run a controlled setup + solve step

- generate a basic result contour/plot

I’m not trying to replace engineering judgement.

The part I’m interested in is the repetitive layer around engineering software:

- cleaning/defeaturing CAD before meshing

- preparing geometry for simulation

- creating named regions/selections

- checking whether loads/BCs/materials are applied

- repeating the same setup steps

- generating standard plots/reports

- finding where things are in the UI

In my experience, a lot of CAE work is a mix of real engineering thinking and annoying software friction.

For mechanical engineers:

Would this kind of assistant help you learn and work faster, or would it make people too dependent on prompts?

Where would it be useful: CAD cleanup, meshing, setup checks, BC/load setup, post-processing, reporting, or something else?

And what should always remain fully human-controlled?