EuroPAM Toulouse, Paris, October 10, 2006 - ESI Group (ESIN FR0004110310), pioneer and world leading provider of digital simulation software, based on the physics of materials, releases Visual Environment a proven virtual product design solution articulated around openess and extended interoperability with tier simulation solutions.

The major evolution from traditional CAE message (pre-processor/solver/post-processor) to the simulation based design is powered by the integration of Visual Environment around one single data model which extends the range of discipline. Visual Environment integrated solution portfolio bridges low to high-end requirements, knowledge processes and data, and engineering workflows that can be managed in a structured way. It is the unique hub providing a full transport and control of the compute model that allows customers to reduce their lead-times and costs through virtual product development.

Visual Environment matches the requested physics with the appropriate solvers such as ESI Group solvers, PAM-CRASH, PAM-MEDYSA, PAM-SHOCK, PAM-CEM, SYSTUS but also NASTRAN, RADIOSS, LS-DYNA or MADYMO as examples to deliver industries specific simulation solutions. It also provides a development toolkit for the users to develop their own applications, or integrate their existing ones to take complete benefits of a simulation platform.

Within the all-in-one framework, Visual Environment allows users to address multiple applications in different physics related fields. The great flexibility of Visual Environment, combined with the wide range of applications, fully answer customer’s needs. Within this platform, the different simulation domains can be addressed and chained manually or automatically, while Visual Composer keeps track and offers inter-operability between Product Data Management system and  Compute Models. In addition, Visual-Process, as part of Visual Environment, provides important productivity gains as it helps engineers to capture, automate and customize CAE processes and engineering best practices in process templates to be reused.

Thanks to the Intel Xeon® Processor 5100 Series and the availability of Windows 64-bit, engineers can work interactively with huge models, of over 4.5 million finite elements, which require more than 3 to 4 Gigabits of memory.

“We are pleased that Visual Environment, the latest ESI product, optimized for our new Intel® Xeon® Processors 5100 Series, helps ESI’s customers to reach new levels of performance on their simulation environment. The Intel® Xeon® Processors 5100 Series with its Intel® 64 instruction set and Dual Core technology provides the necessary bandwidth and performance for handling large simulation models while keeping the thermal envelope to reasonable levels” says Gordon Graylish, Vice President, Sales and marketing, EMEA.

“Visual Environment has been timely delivered to allow customers to implement Virtual Product Engineering. Supporting 64-bit Windows, Visual Environment will allow them to address large projects at a single click.”  declares Vincent Chaillou, President and Chief Operating Officer, Product Operations ESI Group.

The vision behind Visual Environment improves effectiveness of business productivity and innovation for Virtual Engineering Enterprise Solutions.

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 behavior 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 €62.2m in 2005, employs over 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.

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.

About Intel Corporation

Intel, the world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies, products, and initiatives to continually advance how people work and live. Funded in 1968 to build semiconductor memory products, Intel introduced the world's first microprocessor in 1971. Today Intel the world's largest chip maker is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking, and communications products.
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ESI Group - Press Relations
Nathalie David-Franc
nathalie.david-franc@esi-group.com
Phone : + 33 (0)1 41 73 58 35