ASME International and Unicomm Launch R&D Expo as Part of Annual Congress.

Business/Technology Editors

R&D Expo

MILFORD, Conn. and NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 2002

The World's Premier Mechanical Engineering Society Partners with Unicomm to Offer Exposition that Accelerates Invention and Innovation by Combining Ingenuity with Real-World R&D Tools

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME International), the world's leading mechanical engineering society and Unicomm, LLC, a leader in developing and managing world class exhibitions and conferences, today announced a new joint venture to launch the inaugural R&D Expo. The first event focused exclusively on research and development will take place November 18-20, 2002, at the Ernest Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, La., concurrently with ASME's International Mechanical Engineering Congress.

The R&D Expo will provide a forum for ASME's 125,000 members, made up of business, government, and academic leaders, to collaborate and analyze the relationship between discovery and enterprise. In today's market realities, the long-term pay off of discovery is often stifled by existing bottom-line realities that impact R&D initiatives. The R&D Expo provides businesses with the tools to economically accelerate product development within budgetary realities to harvest increased Return on Investment (ROI).

"Innovation and discovery fuels the global economy and is the critical factor in maintaining long-term corporate success in an increasingly competitive business climate," stated John Golicz, CEO of Unicomm, R&D Expo's organizer. "It is clear that commercial viability lies in innovation, time to market, and meeting customer needs. These trends coupled with ever increasing profit pressures have strained the traditional R&D process. R&D Expo provides the only single source for businesses to gain critical product development insight and calibrate their unique business requirements with specialized development, solutions, and services."

Exhibitors are quickly signing up for this uniquely focused event that expects to attract between 3,000-5,000 senior-level decision makers. Exhibit categories include: Analysis Instruments, Instrumentation Products, Automation & Robotics, Basic Lab Equipment, Chemicals, Chromatography, Gas & SFC, HPLC / IC Separation, Computer Hardware & Peripherals, Software, Research Contractors, Education Materials, Testing Equipment, Electronic Components, Filtration Equipment, Mechanical Devices, Meters & Monitors, Microscopes & Imaging Equipment, Lasers and Electro-Optics, Vacuum Equipment, Safety Devices, and many more.

"Leveraging our longstanding tradition as a trusted source of innovation, we believe that the new R&D Expo will deliver a comprehensive forum for an otherwise segmented market. We are extremely pleased to partner with Unicomm to make the R&D Expo an unrivaled success," added Thomas Loughlin, managing director of engineering at ASME International. "The R&D Expo creates a single location so that those charged with creating the innovation for tomorrow can have access to the full spectrum of products and ideas."

According to the National Science Foundation, R&D spending in the USA exceeded $287 billion last year and is growing at a CAGR of more than 10 percent. With both government and industry investing heavily in new discovery, the R&D process is becoming increasingly visible at the enterprise level. As the Association of University Technology Managers reports, invention disclosures are up 59 percent and new patent applications have increased 164 percent during the past eight years.

Attendees will come from the engineering, manufacturing and technology industries as well as government and academia. This multi-discipline attendee base will hold decision-making roles with titles including: senior scientists, research managers, project managers, design engineers, senior technical professionals, university faculty, technology officers, intellectual property managers, corporate management, supply chain managers, CFO's, and many others.

For more information on attending, exhibiting, or sponsoring opportunities, contact [e-mail], go online at http://www.rdexpo.com, or call Daniel W. Babbino, associate show director at 203/878-2577 (email [e-mail]).

About ASME

Founded in 1880 as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, today ASME International is a nonprofit educational and technical organization serving a worldwide membership of 125,000. ASME is a premier organization for promoting the art, science and practice of mechanical engineering throughout the world. ASME conducts one of the world's largest technical publishing operations, holds some 30 technical conferences and 200 professional development courses each year, and sets many industrial and manufacturing standards.

About Unicomm, LLC

Unicomm, LLC is a boutique, independent business-to-business Communications Company specializing in originating and managing world-class trade shows and conferences in underserved and nascent markets. Located in Milford, Connecticut, Unicomm is led by a seasoned management team possessing more than 40 years of events industry experience and an impressive track record of dozens of successful show launches and hundreds of event productions.