A numerical process to simulate SiO2 dry etching with inductively coupled C2F6 plasmas has been constructed using a commercial CFD code as a first step to design a run-to-run control system. The simulator was found to reasonably predict the reactive ion etching behavior of C2F6 plasmas and used to investigate the effects of plasma operating variables on the etch rate and uniformity. The relationship between the operating variables and the etching characteristics was mathematically modeled through linear regression for future run-to-run control system design.