DELMIA Announces Academic partnership with California State University

Simulation software to play key role in training students for aerospace and automotive career.

Auburn Hills Mich., USA - October, 19, 2004 - Delmia Corp., a Dassault Systèmes company (Nasdaq: DASTY: Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), today announced that it has entered into an academic partnership with California State University, Los Angeles. The university will receive 20 seats of software as part of Delmia’s Workcell Starter Program to be used in the Department of Technology, largely to prepare students for automotive and aerospace careers.

The Workcell Starter Program will be installed in Cal State LA’s Department of Technology where DELMIA’s IGRIP software is already in use in its robotics courses. “The Workcell Starter Program, which includes DELMIA’s V5 DPM Envision Assembly and V5 Human Solutions, greatly extends our simulation capabilities,” says assistant professor Dr. Jai Hong. “It will be the centerpiece of new undergraduate coursework being developed to enhance our students’ abilities to work within the virtual manufacturing environment.”

“Seeing is believing,” says Roy Smolky of Delmia Worldwide Academic Relations, “and when compared to the more mundane world of experimentation and traditional methods of learning, computer simulation gives students a stronger, more intuitive insight into the evaluation of workcells.”

Tradition does play a role in the department’s unique Advanced Manufacturing Lab, a facility that is actually three labs in one. “While the tendency at most institutions is to separate traditional from automated in lab facilities,” continues Dr. Hong, “our approach is to combine them in one area. This gives students a clearer understanding of the transition from traditional manufacturing utilizing manual, mechanical machines to an automated approach that incorporates 3D parametric modeling, CATIA, CNC lathes and robots to a digital manufacturing approach using virtual simulation.”

Dr. Hong points out that our students aren’t the only beneficiaries of Cal State LA’s commitment to simulation technology. From a recruiting standpoint, the university benefits as well since it is able to attract higher quality students from around the world. In addition, local industries are able to hire graduates with hands-on experience, avoiding the time and money involved in training.

In fact, DELMIA software will play a key role in the education partnership between California State University and The Boeing Company. “Actively pursuing a Model Based Environment (MBE), where paperless collaboration throughout the product development process is a key goal, Boeing is looking to train a new type of manufacturing engineer who can perform activities such as assembly simulation, determinate assembly design, 3D tooling assessment and geometry based process planning, “ says Virgil Seaman, chair of Cal State’s Department of Manufacturing Technology. “The Boeing C130 program and Boeing Satellite Systems, for example, are adding new ME’s and the students who graduate with an understanding of MBE and the appropriate DELMIA skills will find employment more readily.”