FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Fluent Inc. Named Industrial Partner To the Center of Excellence for Airliner Cabin Environment Research October 6, 2004, Lebanon, NH, USA - Fluent, Inc., the world's leader in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software solutions announced today that it will serve as an industrial partner to the “Air Transportation Center of Excellence for Airliner Cabin Environment Research,” which was recently awarded funding by the U.S Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The purpose of the Center of Excellence (CoE) is to examine cabin air quality and study chemical and biological threats in airliners. The consortium, headed by Auburn University, will research cabin air quality and conduct an assessment of chemical and biological threats. Other participating institutions are the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, Purdue University, Harvard University, Boise State University, Kansas State University, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

Fluent will work with the FAA CoE, providing CFD software which will be used to study cabin air quality and various contaminant dispersion scenarios related to postulated chemical and biological threats. In particular, Fluent will assist in evaluation and development of mathematical airflow models, evaluation and design of air distribution systems, and studies of contaminant transport and dispersion in cabins.

The FAA will supply approximately $1 million into the center the first year and $500,000 in each of the second and third years. Matching funds will be provided by the private sector. William Gale, Alumni Professor in Auburn University's materials engineering program and principal investigator in the consortium, noted that the consortium already has more than $20 million in external research support commitments from private industry. "We already have a number of high profile companies who have agreed to sponsor our research," he said. "Among them are such names as Boeing, Delta Airlines, Honeywell, General Electric Aircraft Engines and many others."

The research will provide the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) a rich opportunity to pursue complex research and technical development for protecting passengers, crew and equipment, revising regulations as well as advancing the next generation of environmental control systems. “We’ve brought together some of the brightest minds science has to offer to focus on cabin air quality and chemical and biological threats to protect passengers and crew members,” said FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey. “This research will be of great benefit to the flying public.”

For more information about the FAA’s Centers of Excellence program visit www.coe.faa.gov.

About Fluent

Fluent is the world's largest provider of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software and consulting services. Fluent's software is used for simulation, visualization, and analysis of fluid flow, heat and mass transfer, and chemical reactions. It is a vital part of the computer-aided engineering (CAE) process for companies around the world and is deployed in nearly every manufacturing industry. Using Fluent's software, product development, design and research engineers build virtual prototypes and simulate the performance of proposed and existing designs, allowing them to improve design quality while reducing cost and speeding time to market. Fluent's corporate headquarters is located in Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA, with offices in Belgium, England, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan and Sweden. Its CFD software is also available around the world through joint ventures, partnerships, and distributors in Korea, Australia, Brazil, China, Taiwan, the Czech Republic, Middle East, and most European countries.

FLUENT® is a registered trademark of Fluent Inc.

For more information, contact: Jennifer Correa Fluent Inc. 10 Cavendish Court Lebanon, NH 03766 (603) 643-2600 Ext. 668 jrc@fluent.com