March 23, 2005 Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA

Fluent Inc., the worldwide leader in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software and services, announces today the release of FlowLab 1.2, its student-friendly fluids laboratory educational software. FlowLab is a unique piece of software that uses the power of flow visualization through classical CFD exercises to teach basic fluid mechanics principles in the engineering classroom. The software runs Fluent's general purpose CFD code, FLUENT 6, and pre-processor, GAMBIT 2, in the background, with a user-friendly, student-specific graphical user interface (GUI) as its front end. Students have been using FlowLab as a complement to traditional laboratory exercises for four years and this release is directed at extending the usability of the software as well as introducing a variety of new features.

In comparison to general purpose CFD software, FlowLab provides a structured interface designed for student learning. This interface greatly reduces the learning curve requirement for a student to become productive with CFD software, which is critically important for professors wishing to augment an existing lecture-based fluids course, or a laboratory course where there is little time available to become familiar with a new software package.

Professor Rajesh Bhaskaran of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department at Cornell University, who was an early adopter of FlowLab, notes, “The streamlined interface of FlowLab 1.2 has enabled us to introduce CFD simulations into the tight timetable of a required laboratory course. Students simulate their heated pipe flow experiment using FlowLab and compare the results with the experiment. They gain an improved physical understanding of the experiment through the contour and vector plotting capabilities of FlowLab.”

Ease-of-use improvements in FlowLab 1.2 target interface functionality, including file management and post-processing features, based upon student observations and field surveys conducted at a number of key academic institutions in 2004. These included Cornell University, Iowa State University, Penn State University, and the University of Iowa in the U.S.

After evaluating a pre-release of FlowLab 1.2, Dr. John Cimbala, professor of Mechanical Engineering at Penn State University, commented, “In comparison to FlowLab 1.1, the new version is more user friendly. Improvements made to the user interface have reduced the amount of effort required for post-processing and the overall quality of graphics in this version is better. These improvements are significant and should enhance the learning experience for students using the software.”

Shane Moeykens, Fluent’s FlowLab Product Manager expanded on the feedback he has been getting: “FlowLab 1.2 is clearly a significant step forward in university fluids education, having been released with a library of 15 well known fluid dynamics exercises. These have been field tested extensively and are able to converge readily across a wide range of operating conditions while providing accurate predictions. Four new exercises of the fifteen available have been developed under U.S. National Science Foundation funding, in collaboration with academia, and are also available for use with FlowLab 1.2.”

For more information visit: http://www.flowlab.fluent.com

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 are located in Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA, with offices in Belgium, England, France, Germany, India, Italy, China, 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.

Graphics Available

Graphic images and accompanying captions to support this release can be found on the web at http://www.fluent.com/about/news/pr/index.htm by following the links to this release. Fluent Inc. grants permission for use of these graphics and their captions in conjunction with any or all of this press release.

Fluent Contact Information

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

FLUENT® is a registered trademark of Fluent Inc.