ACUITIV™ Software Introduces Interactive CFD Visualization Solution

--v4.0 of ACUITIV’s Leading CFD Visualization Software Adds Significant Enhancements--

Batavia, IL, April 19, 2004 – ACUITIV™ Software (www.acuitiv.com), a leading provider of next-generation Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) visualization software, today announced the availability of ACUITIV v4.0. With the significant enhancements contained in this new release, ACUITIV Software now delivers a fully interactive, enterprise-class CFD visualization solution for industries worldwide, including automotive, aerospace & defense, power, and chemical processing.

Built on ACUITIV’s cutting-edge architecture which is based on VR Juggler™ and OpenGL™, ACUITIV v4.0 provides customers with a new suite of interactive tools for transient model visualization, multi-PC visualization sessions, and steady-state model support. ACUITIV v4.0 opens new avenues for engineers, designers, and marketers to assist in their efforts to dramatically reduce time and cost of analysis, as a single solution can now be used enterprise-wide to analyze, communicate and collaborate on a design.

“The University of Maryland uses ACUITIV’s CFD visualization solution to better understand complex flows in our fluid mixing research consortium that comprises some of the largest chemical companies in the industry, including Dow Chemical, DuPont, Merck and Proctor & Gamble,” said Richard V. Calabrese, professor of chemical engineering at the University of Maryland. “We also use it to aid in the design of a biological aerosol sampler. Through use of ACUITIV v4.0, we will be able to capture the transient nature of a high-shear mixer or aerosol sampler to gain further insight into how fluid motions impact process performance. This allows our industrial collaborators to make immediate adjustments and longer term changes to lower costs and increase productivity, thereby gaining competitive advantage.”

About ACUITIV™ v4.0 ACUITIV Software provides a rich feature set in the latest release for interactive CFD visualization. ACUITIV v4.0 is built upon the flexible, open standards used in today’s CFD market to incorporate a simplified and intuitive method for developing, analyzing and examining designs.

v4.0 Key Features/Benefits

• Transient Model Visualization – ACUITIV v4.0 has the ability to read Fluent transient datasets and offers an interactive tool suite for visualizing these complex datasets through the use of contours, isosurfaces, streamlines, pathlines, streaklines, timelines and point queries.

• Global Time Control – By allowing the user to control transient animations, this feature keeps track of the time element inherent in transient analysis.

• Support for Multi-PC Visualization Session – ACUITIV v4.0 supports transient analysis across multiple computers and platforms. In addition, v4.0 offers steady-state model visualization where all of the model’s data can be visualized on a single client.

• Additional features - Timelines connecting animated flow objects, flow animation options, improved color maps and the ability to use an x, y, or z contour plane to automatically generate a streamline box automatically.

“With the latest release of ACUITIV v4.0, we have built an interactive CFD solution that offers real-time design modeling. We are also providing our customers with a transient visualization capability, which is often vital to the design and engineering process,” said Bill Panepinto, general manager of ACUITIV Software. “Our latest version presents a level of sophistication unmatched on the market today. Due to the unique architecture of our products, users of v4.0 will be able to leverage CFD visualization to design, comprehend and distill a design whether on a client PC or within an immersive environment. All of this is accomplished through a user interface that is clear and intuitively easy to use, dramatically reducing time and cost of analysis.”

Pricing and Availability ACUITIV v4.0 is available now. For more information on pricing, please contact ACUITIV Software at 630.845.4500.

About ACUITIV Software ACUITIV™ Software, based in Batavia, IL, is a leading provider of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Visualization Software. As a division of Fuel Tech, Inc., a leading technology company providing proprietary advanced engineering solutions for the optimization of combustion systems for utility and industrial customers, ACUITIV Software has the resources and expertise necessary to offer customers the next-generation visualization software solution that can provide quick and impactful business benefits. As the only visualization software package architected with the state-of-the-art OpenGL™ libraries, developed by SGI and the world renowned VR Juggler™ created at Iowa State University by CAVE® inventor, Carolina Cruz-Niera, the ACUITIV offering can provide customers in many industries, including automotive, aerospace & defense, power, and chemical processing, with a state of the art software tool that facilitates their efforts to uncover new opportunities, improve designs, accelerate decisions, and shorten time to market. For more information, visit www.acuitiv.com.

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