AEA Technology Engineering Software Releases BDK Version 2.0, An Integrated Batch Process Development and Design Tool.

CALGARY, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 26, 1999--

"Batch Design Kit" Focuses On Process Development

to Deliver Maximum Value to the Batch Processing Industries

AEA Technology Engineering Software today announced the release of BDK (Batch Design Kit) version 2.0 to the BDK Steering Group through its wholly owned subsidiary, Hyprotech Ltd. BDK is an integrated batch process development and design tool that can help the specialty and fine chemical, agrochemical and pharmaceutical industries shorten development cycles, accelerate time-to-market, and reduce development and manufacturing costs.

BDK provides these benefits by enabling chemists and engineers to more easily identify and develop the optimal route for manufacturing earlier in the development process. Additionally, BDK documents the development process and provides chemists and engineers with a common frame of reference, thus enhancing decision-making and improving communication throughout the process lifecycle.

The BDK Steering Group is a committee of leading batch processing companies that provide the technical direction for BDK to ensure that it meets current and future industry needs. According to Dr. John Berrier, Senior Scientist at Rohm and Haas Company, a founding member of the BDK Steering Group, "Due to its focus on process development, BDK is ideally suited to the needs of the process chemist and engineer during all stages of process development. Enhancement of communication is one of the primary reasons Rohm and Haas chose BDK for a corporate-wide implementation, and selected it above other software available on the market."

Bob Sauve, Batch Processing Development Manager at AEA Technology - Hyprotech, added, "This version incorporates substantial feedback from leading companies in the batch industries to further increase its functionality in early process development. It strongly underscores our continuing focus on process development as the area in the product lifecycle that delivers the greatest value to our customers."

The concept behind BDK started at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and was developed by Professor George Stephanopoulos with guidance from the world's largest pharmaceutical, agrochemical, specialty and fine chemicals companies. Hyprotech obtained the exclusive worldwide marketing and development rights to BDK in November 1997, and has since considerably increased its speed, usability and flexibility. "Unlike traditional simulation tools, BDK uses a revolutionary conceptual process model that enables process schemists and engineers to share a common frame of reference, allowing more effective communication, faster process scale-up and more efficient allocation of existing facilities," remarked Professor Stephanopoulos. "Hyprotech has been able to meet deadlines and make many major improvements to BDK in a remarkably short period of time; I am pleased to be working with them."

BDK is a component of the BaSYS system of software and services for the batch processing industry. BaSYS combines advanced software tools, in-depth process development knowledge and a layered modeling approach to help the batch industries enhance their business performance by covering all aspects of the product lifecycle, from chemical synthesis to full-scale production. BaSYS unites the following software and services from AEA Technology Engineering Software, its subsidiary Hyprotech, and strategic alliance partners:

- BDK: Integrated batch process development and design for both

chemists and engineers

- SPS: In-depth software and expertise in separation and related

process technologies

- BioSep: Biological separations, such as chromatography,

adsorption and membranes

- EpSelon: Selection and conceptual design of wastewater treatment

technologies

- WSH: Wet solids handling tools for slurries, pastes, wet and dry

powders and bulk solids

- CFX: Rigorous computational fluid dynamic tool for detailed heat

and mass transfer analyses

- VisiMix Turbulence: Mathematical modeling of turbulent mixing

processes

- VisiMix Laminar: Mathematical modeling of mixing in highly

viscous systems

- Batch Reaction Kinetics and Reactor Modeling Tools

About AEA Technology

AEA Technology Engineering Software is a leading supplier of engineering software for the process and mechanical manufacturing industries. Its wholly owned software companies; Hyprotech, CFX, EA Systems and nCode work from 17 offices in 9 countries, with subsidiaries in Canada, USA, Germany, Spain, France and Japan. Its range of software products include process simulation, separation process design, batch process design, heat transfer, plant design, computational fluid dynamics, plant operator training as well as fatigue and lifetime prediction solutions.

As part of AEA Technology plc, one of the world's leading innovation businesses, it supplies innovative technical, safety and environmental solutions to a broad range of industries worldwide. AEA Technology plc (LSE: AAT) employs nearly 4,500 people in 26 locations around the world, bringing science to the marketplace through consultancy, technical services, hardware and software systems, research and development and technology transfer.

For more information on AEA Technology Engineering Software, visit their website at www.software.aeat.com or contact James McGill at + 403-520-6092 / [e-mail] or Marie Telepneff at [phone] / [e-mail].

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