diff --git a/src/SIM/NonLinSIM.C b/src/SIM/NonLinSIM.C
index b47b4e60..052f22e1 100644
--- a/src/SIM/NonLinSIM.C
+++ b/src/SIM/NonLinSIM.C
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ bool NonLinSIM::parse (char* keyWord, std::istream& is)
 }
 
 
-void NonLinSIM::init (SolvePrm& param)
+void NonLinSIM::init (SolvePrm& param, const Vector& initVal)
 {
   param.startTime = startTime;
   param.stopTime = stopTime;
@@ -103,12 +103,15 @@ void NonLinSIM::init (SolvePrm& param)
   param.divgLim = divgLim;
   param.eta     = eta;
 
-  // TODO perhaps set initial conditions for time-dependent problems here
   size_t nSols = model->getNoSolutions();
   if (nSols < 2) nSols = 2;
   solution.resize(nSols);
   for (size_t n = 0; n < nSols; n++)
     solution[n].resize(model->getNoDOFs(),true);
+
+  // Set initial conditions for time-dependent problems
+  if (initVal.size() == model->getNoDOFs())
+    solution.front() = initVal;
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/SIM/NonLinSIM.h b/src/SIM/NonLinSIM.h
index 6b71f4dc..f102ead8 100644
--- a/src/SIM/NonLinSIM.h
+++ b/src/SIM/NonLinSIM.h
@@ -55,7 +55,9 @@ public:
   };
 
   //! \brief Initializes the solution parameters with values read from file.
-  virtual void init(SolvePrm& param);
+  //! \param param Solution algorithm parameters
+  //! \param[in] initVal Initial values of the primary solution
+  virtual void init(SolvePrm& param, const Vector& initVal = Vector());
   //! \brief Advances the time/load step one step forward.
   virtual bool advanceStep(SolvePrm& param);
 
@@ -65,6 +67,10 @@ public:
   //! \param[in] nViz Number of visualization points over a knot-span
   bool saveModel(char* fileName, int format, int* nViz);
 
+  //! \brief Sets the initial guess in the Newton-Raphson iterations.
+  //! \param value The initial guess to use
+  void setInitialGuess(const Vector& value) { solution.front() = value; }
+
   //! \brief Solves the nonlinear equations by Newton-Raphson iterations.
   //! \param param Solution algorithm parameters
   //! \param[in] mode Solution mode to use for this step
@@ -98,6 +104,9 @@ public:
   void dumpStep(int iStep, double time, std::ostream& os,
 		bool withID = true) const;
 
+  //! \brief Returns a const reference to current solution vector.
+  const Vector& getSolution() const { return solution.front(); }
+
 protected:
   //! \brief Convergence status enum.
   enum ConvStatus { NONE, CONVERGED, DIVERGED };
diff --git a/src/SIM/SIMbase.C b/src/SIM/SIMbase.C
index dfd40866..b3c65c1c 100644
--- a/src/SIM/SIMbase.C
+++ b/src/SIM/SIMbase.C
@@ -602,7 +602,9 @@ bool SIMbase::solutionNorms (const TimeDomain& time, const Vectors& psol,
   NormBase* norm = myProblem->getNormIntegrand(mySol);
   if (!norm)
   {
+#ifdef SP_DEBUG
     std::cerr <<" *** SIMbase::solutionNorms: No integrand."<< std::endl;
+#endif
     return false;
   }