INTERCONNECTS

UGS PLM Solutions, the product lifecycle management (PLM) subsidiary of EDS (NYSE:EDS), today announced Parasolid(R), the world's leading geometric modeling kernel, has expanded its industry-leading position in the global computer-aided engineering (CAE) software market. Recent product shipments from two leading CAE companies -- ANSYS, Inc. and the CD adapco Group -- on Parasolid's unparalleled client list, add to the unmatched worldwide install base of Parasolid-based products. Parasolid software provides the geometric modeling foundation for many of the world's leading computer-aided design, manufacturing and engineering analysis (CAD/CAM/CAE) applications. UGS PLM Solutions develops Parasolid, uses it throughout its product development applications and licenses it to independent software vendors (ISVs) and end-user organizations on a "level playing field" policy that ensures all licensees have equal access to Parasolid updates and enhancements. De facto standard for CAE The global CAE software market offers more solid modeling solutions based on Parasolid than any other single geometric modeling kernel. An analysis of market data compiled by Daratech, a leading PLM industry research and analysis firm, yields the following statistics, based on 2002 total sales, relative to the PLM industry's leading Digital Prototyping and Simulation software vendors (Daratech's description of the CAE sector): -- Eight of the top 10 CAE vendors are Parasolid licensees, including the number one, two and three vendors who all offer Parasolid-based products. In fact, Parasolid is the modeling foundation for some of the best known brand names in the CAE software industry including Unigraphics NX and Femap (UGS PLM Solutions), MSC.Patran and MSC.ADAMS (MSC.Software), CFX-5 and DesignModeler (ANSYS,Inc.), COSMOSDesignSTAR (SRAC, a subsidiary of Dassault Systemes S.A.), Comet-Design code and "Star-Design" plug-in for STAR-CD (CD adapco) and SOFY (SOFY Technologies). "Broad acceptance of Parasolid throughout the CAD market as well as its adoption by the number one, two and three suppliers of Digital Prototyping and Simulation software have led Parasolid to become a de facto standard for open, commercially available geometric modeling kernels," said Charles Foundyller, CEO, Daratech, Inc. "We believe that Parasolid's robust modeling functionality along with its large and prestigious installed base in both product design and manufacturing have helped fuel its expansion in the CAE market." New Parasolid-based solutions The most recent additions to UGS PLM Solutions' family of Parasolid-based CAE solutions come from two of the industry's leading suppliers. ANSYS, Inc., global leader of CAE solutions, recently added the ANSYS DesignModeler to the CFX-5 suite of powerful and precise computational fluid dynamics solutions offered by its CFX subsidiary. "ANSYS is in the business of substantially minimizing costs and improving time-to-market for our clients who rely on our world-class design simulation and virtual prototyping solutions," said James E. Cashman III, president and CEO, ANSYS, Inc. "By leveraging the Parasolid standard, we gain its industry- proven functionality and establish a seamless geometry interchange with other Parasolid-based CAD/CAM/CAE products worldwide. Our customers benefit from the value-added solutions we create by maintaining focus on our core expertise as well as the time and cost savings due to our instant compatibility with the client's existing product development environment." In October, the CD adapco Group, the world's second largest supplier of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software and a major player in providing innovative CAE solutions, announced STAR-Design, an easy to use, Parasolid- based design "plug-in" to complement the company's STAR-CD software, the world's most advanced CFD solution. The company also announced Comet-Design, a self-contained Parasolid-enhanced CFD code with a novel solution technology. "In developing STAR-Design, we addressed the need to add state-of-the-art solid modeling capability to our CFD code STAR-CD, enhancing value for engineers needing a dedicated CAD capability," said CD adapco President Steve MacDonald. "Parasolid not only enabled us to meet this objective, but also allowed us to bring an easy-to-use product to market in record time. Now with the combination of STAR-Design and STAR-CD we have achieved the 'Holy Grail' of CFD -- a world-class CFD system that can be effectively used by the beginner as well as the expert analyst. In addition, for the design engineer needing only to model simple flows, we have developed our new Comet-Design product, also enhanced with Parasolid modeling capability." Parasolid standard benefits entire PLM industry In addition to its leadership in the CAE software market, Parasolid's robust functionality and open licensing policy have also created a strong proliferation of Parasolid-based applications in the CAD and CAM markets. Many of the world's best known CAD software products, including Unigraphics NX, Solid Edge, SolidWorks and Bentley(R) MicroStation(R), are all Parasolid- based and the CAM software market is led by Parasolid-based applications including solutions from seven of the top 10 CAM software suppliers (see UGS PLM Solutions press release distributed on December 8th describing Parasolid's leading position in CAM). "Parasolid has created an unmatched global presence enabling the seamless sharing of precise product geometry data throughout the entire PLM industry," said Curt Feldtkeller, president of Partner Programs, UGS PLM Solutions. "With Parasolid being licensed by eight of the top 10 CAE vendors -- including all three of the market leaders -- we are particularly proud of Parasolid's leadership and continued growth in the CAE segment. This type of leadership is consistent with our success throughout all sectors of the CAD/CAM/CAE software market."