IBM and Dallara to Advance AI and Quantum-Powered Design for High-Performance Vehicles

IBM and The Dallara Group said they are collaborating on physics-based AI foundation models aimed at vehicle aerodynamic design and optimization. The effort is focused on speeding up aerodynamic evaluation steps that rely on computational fluid dynamics.

The companies said the work uses Dallara’s proprietary, validated aerodynamic data tied to a high-performance vehicle. Dallara described its engineering basis for simulation validation through its racing programs and the use of computational fluid dynamics to predict aerodynamic forces across vehicle components including body geometry, underfloor, wings, and wheels.

In one early example, IBM and Dallara compared CFD analyses with a physics-based AI method for multiple configurations of the rear diffuser on a conceptual Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2)-like race car. The companies said the traditional approach took a few hours to calculate all configurations, while the AI model completed the same evaluations in about 10 seconds and identified the same optimal design with roughly the same error margins as CFD.

IBM said it has been developing domain-specific foundation models with Dallara, using Dallara’s high-fidelity aerodynamic simulation data. The teams planned a future step to integrate validated measurements of real vehicles in wind tunnels and on the track, and they also began exploring how quantum and hybrid quantum-classical approaches could complement traditional simulation workflows.

“Racing has taught Dallara that there are two possible outcomes: you either win or are forced to learn. IBM's close collaboration on this innovative project is a testament of Dallara's willingness to continuously push its boundaries and never stop learning,” said Andrea Pontremoli, Dallara CEO.

“Some of the hardest engineering challenges come down to accurately simulating the physical world,” said Alessandro Curioni, IBM Fellow and VP, Algorithms and Applications, IBM Research. “With Dallara, IBM is applying AI to speed up aerodynamic design today while advancing quantum computing in parallel to push simulation farther. Together, these technologies can help engineers move faster, explore more possibilities, and ultimately design better-performing vehicles.”