OpenFOAM v13 Training 2026

OpenFOAM Training Autumn (Fall) 2025/Spring 2026

CFD Direct has released their schedule for OpenFOAM Training in Spring 2026.  Our training covers OpenFOAM from The OpenFOAM Foundation, fully updated for OpenFOAM v13 which is the best version of OpenFOAM.  CFD Direct manages, develops and produces OpenFOAM, so we know not only what it contains but also how it works and why it works the way it does.  We have the most comprehensive OpenFOAM Course Catalogue with 5 courses spanning 11 days and 900 pages of course manuals: Essential CFD, Applied CFD, Productive CFD (1 & 2) and Programming CFD.  Courses can be booked via the OpenFOAM Training Schedule page, which includes discounts for booking multiple courses.  The current schedule is shown below.

Why OpenFOAM Training?

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is challenging, which we address with our training courses, as explained below.

• CFD involves complex scientific software which is difficult to operate despite the useful tools (and more) we provide to make CFD easier to do.  The operation of OpenFOAM is covered mainly on our Essential CFD and Applied CFD courses. 
• CFD is just a modern calculation method used to analyse challenging fluid dynamics problems.  Our Productive CFD courses teaches how to go from a “real world” problem to a CFD simulation, and extract the right data to deliver a reliable, correct analysis. 
• CFD can involve fluid motion, forces, heat, thermodynamics, chemistry and solids, across a very broad range of applications.  Consequently, there is a common need for customised coding in C++ in OpenFOAM, which our Programming CFD course teaches.

Teaching In Person

We provide both in-person (classroom) training and virtual (instructor-led) online training.  Our Productive CFD courses, released in 2024, are delivered exclusively in the classroom.  In 2026, we are also moving Programming CFD to the classroom, with courses scheduled in Cologne, Germany and Houston, USA.  We also provide in-person training on-site at academic organisations (e.g. Oak Ridge National Laboratory) and to industry (e.g. NASA).

The general consensus is that virtual training is good, but in-person is better.  In-person is more engaging, with participants able to ask more questions, including during breaks.  Participants leave with better understanding and greater confidence, and enjoy sharing experiences with one another.  The prevalence of virtual training is simply an after-effect of a forced change due to Covid-19.  But from the beginning in 2008, we delivered OpenFOAM training in person.  It is better.

Internet Search is Not Good Enough

Training has become increasingly important as the quality of Internet Search steadily declines.  The Internet has always been a fairly unreliable source of information about OpenFOAM, due to a high proportion of misleading, incorrect and outdated content from online forums, wikis, presentations, publications and social media.  Furthermore, AI summaries are now commonplace, which aggregate phrases and sentences from websites.  They suffer from further drawbacks: 1) it is no longer possible to judge the quality of information from the authenticity of its source when the source is obscured; 2) learning is considerably enhanced by narrative which may exist in original sources, but is generally lost in summaries generated by AI.

Our OpenFOAM Training Team

While “big tech” competes in a race to the bottom, CFD Direct upholds standards in CFD with OpenFOAM.  Our team has the experience to fill the knowledge gap between what users need and what Internet Search provides.

• Chris Greenshields, presenter for 850 days of OpenFOAM Training since 2008 and author of Notes on CFD: General Principles.
• Aidan Wimshurst, creator of the Fluid Mechanics 101 YouTube channel.
• Jenya Collings, manager of 1100 days of OpenFOAM Training since 2008.