Got questions?
Let’s talk.
After nearly four decades of business leadership, product management, marketing communications, and software development, I’ve learned what’s most important is asking the right questions. I’m happy to help you ask yours.
Gibberish? Really? Doesn’t that play into the consulting stereotype? Indeed it does. After all, don’t many consultants offer advice that barely rises above the level of gibberish? “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vestibulum ante justo, mollis eget feugiat at, tincidunt eget turpis. Donec efficitur, augue non maximus cursus, ipsum lacus fringilla turpis, ac rhoncus purus quam vel odio.” It’s by wanting to sound intelligent that they create babble. What you need is someone with direct experience to guide you through the gibberish with simple, direct, and actionable advice. That’s my role.
On the other hand, I want to own the gibberish. After all, it was philosopher Alan Watts who said “But it seems that only in moments of unusual insight and illumination that we get the point of this, and find that thus the true meaning of life is no meaning, that its purpose is no purpose, and that its sense is non-sense. But still, we want to use about it the word ‘significant.’ Significant nonsense? Yes! Nonsense that is not just chaos, that is not just blathering balderdash [gibberish], but that has in it rhythm, fascinating complexity, a kind of artistry. It is in this kind of meaninglessness that we come to the profoundest meaning.”
How can I help you?
“Every time I talk to John Chawner, I learn yet another thing from his decades of experience in a challenging industry. He’s one of those people who effortlessly expresses profound insights in simple ways.”
~Joshua Strodtbeck, PhD., CFD and HPC Professional
"There are many software engineers in CAE who believe they can be successful in starting up their own venture. Why not -- they understand the technology. John Chawner is one of those rare individuals that easily moves between the technological realms and the business world. This ability is crucial for building and sustaining viable CAE products and therefore organizations."
~Bob Haimes, Co-founder Geocentric Technologies, LLC
“John Chawner identified knowledge of the customer's needs, knowledge of the underlying technology, and great business practices as keys to producing quality products that the customers wanted. His careful balance of these helped him create a highly successful CAE vendor.”
~John Dannenhoffer, CFD researcher at Syracuse University
“I've known and interacted with John in and around the mesh generation field for over 20 years. He's one of those rare individuals who can understand both the forest and the trees, a polymath able to talk intelligently at both the technology and application levels. It is at these interfaces that many crucial details appear, and John is a person that will spot them.”
~Tim Tautges, PhD
My name is John Chawner. After co-founding a software company in the field of computational fluid dynamics (CFD), growing it, and leading it for over 26 years, I negotiated its successful acquisition by a large, publicly-traded company.
For nearly a decade I benefited from membership in Vistage, “the world’s largest CEO coaching and peer advisory organization for small and midsize business leaders.” I learned a lot about best practices for leading a business to success. As proof of that, my company was recognized as Small Business of the Year in Fort Worth, the 13th most populous city in the U.S. at the time.
I was a pioneer (an OG as the kids would say) in the use of social media and inbound marketing in the CFD business and wrote what was the most widely-read CFD blog on the planet.
For over a decade I’ve had the opportunity to serve on the Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering advisory board at my alma mater to invest in the next generation of engineers. I was also appointed to the Dean’s Leadership Council in the College of Engineering and Computer Science.
I’m an engineer by education with an undergraduate degree in mechanical/aerospace engineering and a master’s degree in aerospace engineering. I wrote software from the mid 1980s into the 2000s. CFD for aerospace applications has been at the heart of my entire technical career. I am a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and a charter member and former leader of the CFD Vision 2030 integration committee.
I’m on LinkedIn - look me up and connect.
Maybe some of these experiences would be useful to you.