MSC.Software Corp. (NYSE:MNS), the leading global provider of virtual product development (VPD) products including simulation software and services today announced the release of SimDesigner 2004 r1 for CATIA V5R11. SimDesigner for CATIA V5 is a suite of CATIA V5-embedded simulation tools that allow CATIA users to streamline and automate the task of building and testing virtual prototypes by simulating stress, motion, heat transfer and other physical attributes of components and assemblies. "There is a high market demand for simulation software tools that are fully integrated within the leading CAD environments and MSC.Software is meeting that demand through our partnership with Dassault Systemes," said Frank Perna, chairman and chief executive officer of MSC.Software. "The SimDesigner product line is specifically designed to help manufacturing organizations increase the efficiency of their product development process by increasing the efficiency of communication and data transfer between designers and analysts. We will continue to work closely with our partners at Dassault Systemes to provide engineers around the world with the best simulation products inside of CATIA." "The release of SimDesigner 2004 r1 for CATIA V5 is a new milestone in the strategic alliance between our both companies," said Severin Lanfranchi, R&D Director for Simulation at Dassault Systemes. "By bringing together discipline-based products in a unique V5 environment, MSC.Software reinforces its key role for Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and clearly addresses customer needs for integrated simulation solutions." The SimDesigner product line allows components and mechanisms to be tested before they are built, saving manufacturers time and money during the design and testing process. The SimDesigner for CATIA V5 product family currently includes Generative products, which embed simulation directly into the CATIA V5 CAD environment and Gateway products, which provide smooth, direct access to corporate simulation resources. Currently, MSC offers the following Generative products: SimDesigner Linear (SDL), SimDesigner Thermal (SDT), SimDesigner Nonlinear (SDN), and SimDesigner Motion (SMO), and Gateways for MSC.Nastran, MSC.Marc, ANSYS, and ABAQUS, as well as in-house proprietary systems using the STEP AP209 standard. SimDesigner 2004 r1 for CATIA V5R11 has a number of features specifically designed to increase product development efficiency. Some of these new features include: * SimDesigner Advanced Structures Professional (ASP) is a new module that enables CATIA users to do extended finite-element manipulation for meshing, pre- and post-processing, as well as reuse of NASTRAN legacy data in the CATIA V5 environment. This application is targeted at the professional user and provides features such as node and element creation, iso-meshing, finite element mesh group management, model verification, MPCs, and post-processing. * SimDesigner for CATIA V5 is the first CATIA-based simulation tool that is based upon MSC.Nastran 2004, the industry's leading simulation software tool * SimDesigner Gateway products' enhancements (GWx) provides users with solver-specific output options and choice of units when exporting and importing from and to CATIA V5 * SimDesigner Thermal (SDT) is now enhanced with the ability to vary temperature load over time thereby allowing transient heat transfer analysis. * SimDesigner Nonlinear (SDN) enables advanced thermo-mechanical coupling directly between SDT and SDN * Improved User Interface (SDL and GWx) gives users access to an improved graphical user interface providing an easier reach to additional functionalities. * HP-UX is now supported in addition to SGI-IRIX, IBM AIX, and Microsoft Window 2000 and XP.