Over the past twenty years I’ve seen many cycles in the marketplace (especially automotive).  Our current downturn/recession/depression (pick your term) has been particular stark.  What I have noticed in the past is that capital investment is often preceded by the need to simulate and make sure the investment is justified.  We have started to see an uptick in simulation requests in the past few months.  Hopefully the trend continues.  Usually there is a 6-12 month lag between the pickup in simulation and the economy in general.  I don’t have any historical documentation on this but I’m thinking that Spring of ‘09 (for those of us in the northern hemisphere) will hopefully bring better times for the economy.  I would be curious if any of you have seen similar trends and whether or not things are picking up for you……