InterNoise 2005 Rio de Janeiro, Paris, August 8^th, 2005 – ESI Group (ISIN FR0004110310) an innovative company committed to delivering state-of-the-art predictive vibro-acoustic solutions announced today the official launch of PAM-VA One at InterNoise 2005, the International Congress and Exposition on Noise Control Engineering. PAM-VA One is the world’s first fully integrated environment for simulating the response of vibro-acoustic systems across the entire frequency spectrum. This major product launch represents the latest ESI Group’s innovative solution for vibro-acoustic simulation, analysis and design.

PAM-VA One incorporates Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Statistical Energy Analysis (SEA) within One easy to use modelling environment. In addition, the software implements a state-of-the-art method for creating and solving fully coupled FEA/SEA models. This major theoretical breakthrough significantly extends the types of vibro-acoustic problems that can now be addressed with simulation. Since 2004, leading OEM’s in the automotive, aerospace, and rail industries have participated in ESI Group’s “Structure Borne Noise Consortium” and contributed to the development and validation of PAM-VA One.

PAM-VA One offers a comprehensive range of internal solvers to meet analysis needs; in addition, the software includes interfaces to external solvers to ensure compatibility with existing vibro-acoustic analysis and design processes. The flexibility of PAM-VA One lets the user choose the optimal simulation strategy based on cost, time and computational resources. The software also includes powerful model management tools for quick and easy creation of models from existing CAD and FEA data. PAM-VA One also has an extensive library of add-on modules to ensure that the software can be easily integrated into existing CAE and design processes.

”This software is the result of a long-term research and development effort by ESI Group and we’re proud to announce its release. We’ve worked closely with our key customers and research partners to ensure that the software is validated and meets the needs of our worldwide user-base” says Dr. Phil Shorter, Lead Acoustic Scientist, ESI Group.

"The theory underpinning the FE/SEA coupling part of PAM-VA One is the most important breakthrough in vibro-acoustics in the past 20 years.” says Prof Ken Heron FREng, QinetiQ Senior Fellow. “This is a vital step towards predicting structure-borne noise at mid and high frequencies."

PAM-VA One, the One simulation environment for full frequency vibro-acoustic analysis will be available for first customer shipment in October 2005.

ESI Group’s Vibro-Acoustic Solutions

Virtual prototyping solutions reduce reliance on costly and time-consuming physical testing, speed up the product development process, and optimize the use of noise and vibration control materials. ESI Group’s vibro-acoustic software portfolio now includes PAM-VA One: the first fully integrated software environment for full frequency spectrum vibro-acoustic analysis; RAYON : low-frequency software for characterization of complex noise sources and the prediction of the low frequency vibro-acoustic performance of fully trimmed structures; AutoSEA2: the industry standard for high frequency noise and vibration, analysis and design software ; Nova: a software package dedicated to the design of multi-layered acoustic components, and Foam-X : a data acquisition and post-processing software for identifying the acoustic properties of poro-elastic materials from impedance tube measurements.

About ESI Group

ESI Group is a world-leading supplier, and a pioneer of digital simulation software for prototyping and manufacturing processes that take into account the physics of materials. ESI Group has developed an extensive suite of coherent, industry oriented applications to realistically simulate a product’s behaviour during testing, to fine-tune manufacturing processes in accordance with desired product performance, and evaluate the environment’s impact on product performance. ESI Group’s products, which have a proven track record in manufacturing and have been combined in multi-trade value chains, represent a unique collaborative and open virtual engineering solution known as the Virtual Try-Out Space (VTOS), enabling virtual prototypes to be improved in a continuous and collaborative manner. This integrated protocol allows all the company’s solutions to work with each other and with applications developed by independent software vendors. By significantly reducing costs and development lead times and enabling product/process synergies, VTOS solutions offer major competitive advantage by progressively eliminating the need for physical prototypes during product development. The company generated sales of circa €60m in 2004, employs almost 500 high-level specialists worldwide covering more than 30 countries. ESI Group is listed in Eurolist compartment C of Euronext Paris. For further information, visit www.esi-group.com.

ESI GROUP has been qualified as “an innovative company” since January 20 2000 by the ANVAR and is eligible for inclusion in “FCPI” (venture capital trusts dedicated to innovation).

Virtual Try-Out Space® and VTOS® are registered trademarks of ESI Group. All other products, names or companies are the brands or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

ESI Group - Press Relations                                            
Nathalie David-Franc                                               
nathalie.david-franc@esi-group.com                                
Phone : + 33 (0)1 41 73 58 35