Mike Nicolai

Digital Platform & Product Leader | AI-enabled Engineering Systems

Leuven, Flemish Region, Belgium

About

Digital platform and product leader with 20+ years of experience transforming complex engineering systems through AI-enabled platforms, customer-centric product innovation, and cross-functional leadership.

Experience

  • Siemens Digital Industries Software (Leuven, Belgium)
    • Head of Product - Simcenter MBSE
      Oct 2021 - Present · 4 yrs 9 mos

      Leading the adoption and evolution of Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) within Simcenter. • Harmonized two MBSE products - creating synergies across a large global team. • Led MBSE transformations with customers (auto, aero, medical, others). • Introduced AI-driven capabilities (RL, Reasoning) for MBSE. • Transitioned Simcenter Studio from an incubation initiative into a product embedded in the global organization. • Built organizational MBSE expertise through enablement and mentoring of technical leads.

    • Product Line Manager Senior Manager - Simcenter Studio
      Jul 2020 - Sep 2021 · 1 yr 3 mos

      Transformed an research innovation into the commercial incubation offering Simcenter Studio. • Built and led a incubation organization spanning Systems Engineering, Product Management, Research, and Development. • Generated sufficient product and services revenue before the first official release. • Ensured business and regulatory compliance across licensing, pricing, export control, and global support processes.

    • Senior Research Manager
      Jan 2018 - Jul 2020 · 2 yrs 7 mos

      Product discovery in Systems Engineering to unlock new market opportunities for Simcenter. • Scaled the Systems Engineering research team from 10 to 18 FTEs. • Developed a novel Systems Engineering methodology integrating model-based approaches, simulation and AI-assisted design exploration to improve early-phase concept development. • Created an AI-driven architecture generation demonstrator that attracted executive sponsorship from the Simcenter CEO and CTO. • Secured acceptance into Siemens’ incubator program (Next47 Accelerator) following internal nomination and endorsement by senior leadership.

  • Head of Group at JARA HPC
    Feb 2011 - Oct 2014 · 3 yrs 9 mos

    Founded and led HPC simulation lab; established multi-partner industry collaborations. • Led an simulation laboratory (5 FTEs) which helped scaling & architecting of engineering codes. • Collaborated with industry partners on HPC and algorithm development. • Organized scalability workshops

  • Scientist at Forschungszentrum Jülich
    Jan 2011 - Oct 2014 · 3 yrs 10 mos

    Worked on computational methods for HPC and scientific computing

  • Scientific Co-Worker at RWTH Aachen University
    May 2005 - Dec 2010 · 5 yrs 8 mos

    Doctorate in Computational Science and Engineering Architected, implemented and published novel computational methods.

  • Engineer at Goetting KG
    May 2004 - Mar 2005 · 11 mos

    Advanced control engineering for automated driving Executed projects in the automotive and off-highway sectors, focusing on control sensor fusion, signal processing, and model identification for automated driving technologies.