Paris, July 3rd, 2007 – ESI Group (ESIN FR0004110310), a world-leading supplier and a pioneer of digital simulation software for prototyping and manufacturing processes, announces the launch of a new series of Expert Courses on advanced simulation topics. Thanks to a team of carefully selected international experts, participants learn to overcome industrial challenges and acquire the best practices in that discipline.

In the field of sheet metal forming, ESI Group chose to cover the springback phenomenon, in response to industry demands. The Springback Seminar, a three-day expert course, will take place October 22 to 25, 2007 in Les Diablerets, .

The Springback Seminar spans a wide range of topics from understanding springback, die compensation, geometry update, material modeling, to solver implementation. Dr. Henk Vegter of Corus RD&T (The Netherlands) – one of the industry professionals teaching the course – explains: "From the basic principles of shell element modeling and material modeling, the Springback Seminar will present methods for high quality springback prediction in virtual forming simulation. Through consideration of various forming cases, participants will gain insight on the influence of material behavior and processing on forming and springback. Attendees will have the unique opportunity to use guidelines for a better control of springback and to practice through several examples of industrial forming process simulation."

A team of industrial and academic experts coming from Europe and Asia will contribute to this advanced training course and will share their broad experience in springback prediction and compensation. Among the University professors and prominent research authorities, Professor Michel Brunet (National Institute of Applied Sciences, INSA, France), Professor Fusahito Yoshida (Hiroshima University, Japan), Professor Pavel Hora (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH, Switzerland), Professor Koichi Ito (Emeritus Professor at Tohoku University, Japan), Professor François Rondé-Oustau (School of Mines in Albi, France) will speak. Courses and exercises will be presented also by experts from the industry, such as Alain Col, internal consultant at Arcelor, France; Dr. Marian Gutiérrez from Labein, Spain; Daniel Pyzak from Dassault Systèmes, France; and Joëlle Garabed from Peugeot-Citroën (PCA), France – to name a few.

“Thanks to the Springback Seminar, participants will gain a deep understanding of the factors influencing springback, and learn to accurately predict, control, and correct it in sheet metal stamping,” says Dave Ling, Product Manager at ESI Group. “Effectively controlling springback represents a real challenge in the metal forming industry today; it allows forming engineers to enhance the quality of the die and body parts, speed up the design process and thus reduce die engineering lead times.”

The Springback Seminar is an expert course designed for CAE engineers, model designers or experienced tooling engineers in the forming industry wishing to benefit from the best practice in springback prediction and compensation. Participants should ideally possess a university degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Aero, Marine, Civil, Materials, etc).

The Springback Seminar will also be an opportunity for networking and sharing experiences with other fellow metal forming experts during the three-day course.

For the detailed agenda, practical information, and to register please visit:

www.esi-group.com/seminars/springback.html or send an email to

 training@esi-group.com.

We recommend that you register soon: participation is limited to the first 35 registrations to ensure that this remains an intimate learning experience. The seminar will be conducted in English.

ESI Group also offers an extensive training program and another expert seminar for the casting industry: the Solidification Course, which has been conducted yearly for the past sixteen years.

Learn more at: www.esi-group.com/Consulting_services/Training.html