The bramble Story
Built from engineering. Designed for engineers.
bramble was created with a simple idea: CFD software should make engineering easier, not get in the way of it.
Our team has more than 25 years of experience in CFD, aerodynamics and software development, working across Formula 1, motorsport, automotive and other high-performance engineering applications.
That experience has shaped bramble from the ground up. We understand the challenges of running CFD at scale, from managing simulations and large datasets to making sure engineers can spend their time on the work that really matters.
Our goal is simple - make CFD faster, more efficient and easier to use.
It started with CFD engineering
Our story goes back to 1997, when a team of CFD engineers founded Advantage CFD and ran simulations Reynard Motorsport.
As the business grew, so did the team and the range of projects. By 2002, Advantage CFD had 25 people working across consultancy, Formula 1 and software development, including teams supporting the BAR Honda F1 programme.
Alongside running simulations, the team was developing its own software to automate and improve the CFD process.
That combination of CFD expertise and software development has been at the heart of what we do ever since.
The Advantage CFD team →
← The TotalSim family on a day out in 2017
From Advantage CFD to TotalSim
In 2007, following the end of the external consultancy model at Honda F1, members of the Advantage CFD team founded TotalSim Ltd.
TotalSim went on to become a global CFD consultancy, working with organisations across automotive, motorsport and other demanding engineering environments.
But the team continued to see the same challenge:
As CFD becomes more capable, managing the process and the data behind it can become increasingly complex.
There was an opportunity to do things differently, to build software around the way engineers actually work.
← The TotalSim family on a day out in 2017
The idea behind bramble
In 2015, TotalSim began developing a new approach to CFD: a database-driven process that could make it easier to create, run and manage large numbers of simulations and the datasets they generate.
The project grew over several years, with Ivor Annetts taking responsibility for its development and management.
What started as an internal solution became something much bigger.
In 2022, Bramble CFD was launched as a standalone company.
Today, bramble combines CFD software, analysis tools and data management in one platform, helping engineering teams automate repetitive tasks, manage simulation data and get more from their CFD.
Team building day with the whole TotalSim family, including the Bramble CFD team →
Meet the people behind bramble
Rob Lewis
Managing Director of the TotalSim Group
Rob has a PhD from the University of Leeds and is a Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineering and the Institution of Engineering and Technology.
Rob was at the forefront of CFD use within Formula 1 during 1990s and early 21st century at British American Racing and Honda F1. His company, AdvantageCFD succeeded in setting the standard in motorsport CFD from inception to its closure in 2007.
In late 1997, Rob left FLUENT to start AdvantageCFD with Adrian Reynard at Reynard Motorsports. Here they supported all of Reynard Motorsports designs from Champ Car to the BAR F1 cars. By 2006, the organisation had become an essential part of Honda F1 aerodynamics department and employed 25 people.
The Honda F1 Racing Team then moved away from any outside consulting. This gave Rob and some of the team at A-CFD the chance to continue working with their clients by creating TotalSim Ltd, the parent company of bramble CFD.
In the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2017 Rob was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. In October 2017 Rob received his award from HRH The Princess Royal at Buckingham Palace.
The OBE has been awarded for services to science applied to sport in recognition of Rob’s contribution to the performance of British athletes’ over the last 3 Olympic campaigns.
Rob has been a guest speaker at numerous international conferences and symposiums.
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Ivor Annetts
Bramble CFD Managing Director
Ivor has a Masters (MSc) in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Manchester. As well as 19 years of experience in aerodynamics, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and software development.
Ivor started his career as a CFD Engineer at BAR Honda F1 Team in 2004 before leaving to join TotalSim as its first employee in 2007.
TotalSim are a world renowned CFD consultancy specialising in automotive and motorsport projects. Ivor worked as a CFD Engineer and then Project Lead on a range of applications including different tiers of motorsport from classic F1 to Le Mans prototypes and WRC.
In 2015, TotalSim started the development of database driven CFD process that would allow our engineers to create and run simulations quickly and easily and also manage the large datasets that are generated. This project became known as bramble. Ivor took over the development and management of bramble in 2017 and continues in this role today.
In 2022, Bramble CFD was spun out from TotalSim as a separate company providing bramble not only to the TotalSim Group, but external customers including famous OEM automotive companies, a range of motorsport teams and elite cycling squads. The team has grown to 10 people including developers, HPC and CFD specialists.
Part of the TotalSim Family
Bramble CFD is part of the TotalSim Group, alongside five other specialist companies.
Our close relationship with TotalSim gives bramble access to a wealth of practical engineering experience, while allowing us to focus on developing software that makes CFD workflows faster, simpler and more effective.
