Marshalltown, Iowa - Fakespace Systems announced that it has finalized its merger with Mechdyne Corporation. With both companies previously recognized as leaders in advanced visualization, the new entity is uniquely positioned to deliver a broader product offering, more detailed services, and end-to-end user support that, until now, was unavailable on a global scale. Fakespace will continue to focus on markets such as energy, federal government, manufacturing, life sciences and education while exploring opportunities in other areas such as enterprise-wide visualization, including onsite facility management. Moving forward, the company will be known as Fakespace Systems. Chris Clover, previously chief executive officer of Mechdyne Corporation, is CEO and Carol Leaman, previously President of Fakespace Systems, will serve as President. Additionally, the company named five vice presidents to drive future business strategies, drawing on the talent pool of both predecessor organizations. "Advanced visualization applications are proving their value every day across a wide range of industries yielding significant return-on-investment for most of today's leading businesses and institutions,:" said Clover. "The new Fakespace Systems brings together an exceptional combination of technical and management skills and the reputation for customer-oriented service to build on these successes." Headquartered in Marshalltown, Iowa, USA the merged company will operate worldwide with significant presence in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, as well as North and South America. The new management team includes: - Jim Angelillo, Vice President, Advanced Programs & Marketing: a twenty year veteran of the visualization industry who previously served as president of Fakespace, Inc. and president of Pyramid Systems. - John Bethel, Vice President, Sales: has managed the Mechdyne sales team since 2001 and has over fifteen years experience in sales and business management. - Jim Gruening, Vice President, Operations: an Iowa State researcher and software developer at Engineering Animation before joining Mechdyne in 1997 as the Vice President of Worldwide Integration and Technical Services. - Mike Hancock, Vice President, EMEAA (Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia): has managed Mechdynes Marshalltown operations since 1997, and has a background in mechanical engineering. - Kurt Hoffmeister, Vice President, Engineering: a recognized pioneer in immersive environment engineering and design, he is a licensed engineer with more than fifteen years experience in new product development and engineering management. "We have entered 2003 with strong momentum in sales and work-in-progress in both the commercial and government sectors of our business," said Leaman. "Fakespace Systems is committed to developing innovative, useful programs that help our clients take better advantage of the technologies that we deliver."