Rungis, France - June 3, 2008 – ESI Group (ESIN FR0004110310), world-leading supplier and pioneer of Simulation-Based Design solutions for prototyping and manufacturing processes, announced today the success of their first Fracture Seminar, a two-day expert training program on Fracture Mechanics, held March 31 to April 1, 2008 in Lyon, France.

This expert course offered attendees twelve lectures on metallic and non-metallic fracture, from prominent research authorities such as Professor Frank McClintock (Retired, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA), Professor Jean-Baptiste Leblond (Member of the Académie des Sciences, Professor at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, France), Professor Mark Kachanov (Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Tufts University, USA), Dr. Alastair Johnson (German Aerospace Institute – DLR), Dr. Masahiro Fujii (Ube Industries Ltd., Japan) and Philippe Gilles (AREVA International Expert, France). The intimate setting allowed for much interaction and exchange between the speakers and the 20 delegates who attended the seminar, from more than 18 companies and academic institutions and from 8 different countries.

"I liked very much to hear such well-known people in the area speaking at the seminar and I learnt quite a lot on new developments and modeling approach for fracture", says Carel Ten Horn, principal researcher at Corus RD&T in The Netherlands. "It was not a conference, but quite an informal meeting with much more interaction. I also enjoyed the good balance between people from academia and from industry. Topics covered were varied and are directly applicable in my work."

Learning from the latest advances in fracture mechanics allows CAE engineers and model designers to solve their engineering challenges using FEA technology by accurately predicting and controlling the risk of damage and failure. It helps participants better understand the "physics behind the screen" in order to make optimal design decisions and achieve faster production.

Attendees reported great interest for presentation content saying the seminar was a good opportunity to know how other companies are doing and what challenges are addressed in various industrial sectors. In addition to the in-depth overview of on-going research work, participants also appreciated getting better knowledge on the availability of software packages and on new areas not familiar to them.

"We gathered both high class experts and top-level attendees from all over the world," adds Argiris Kamoulakos, ESI Group Scientific Director. "The success is due in part to the subject of the seminar itself, as fracture mechanics is extremely critical for a company’s competitiveness. Our Fracture Seminar is an excellent way for engineers and scientists from industry and research centers to acquire the best practices in that discipline. It seems that participants went away with some ideas on how to overcome their industrial challenges. Most expressed very positive feedback and intend to attend the next event."

This course is part of a series of Expert Courses on advanced simulation topics, from the Springback Seminar held in Switzerland last October for Metal Forming processes to the Solidification Course held next month for Casting processes. Other similar ESI Group events will continue to take place worldwide on such topics as Composites and Vibro-Acoustics.

Learn about other ESI Group training opportunities at: www.esi-group.com/training

About ESI Group

ESI Group is a world-leading supplier and 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 to evaluate the environment’s impact on product performance. ESI Group’s products represent a unique collaborative and open virtual engineering environment known as the Virtual Try-Out Space, enabling virtual prototypes to be improved in a continuous and collaborative manner while eliminating the need for physical prototypes during product development. The company employs over 700 high-level specialists worldwide covering more than 30 countries. ESI Group is listed in compartment C of Euronext Paris. For further information, visit www.esi-group.com.

ESI Group Press Relations

Amy de Rouvray
Amy.de.Rouvray@esi-group.com
Tel. : +33(0)1 41 73 59 01