Aero Engineers Get Unprecedented Insights through ''Materials Intelligence'' Software.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- ASM International and Granta Design today unveiled an information-management system specifically designed to give aerospace engineers clear insight into previously unmanageable amounts of materials data. The result of years of collaboration by the Material Data Management Consortium (MDMC), GRANTA MI is an enterprise-wide software system for the creation, tracking, qualification and management of materials information.

Historically, critical materials information has not been readily available to aerospace engineers due to inconsistencies in data storage methods (paper reports, spreadsheet files), and because information has often been lost when engineers retire. In 2002, the MDMC was formed to develop a data management system that would serve as a single, unified storage capability for all materials knowledge in an aerospace organization, effectively bridging the gap between materials groups and design engineers.

The resulting software system, GRANTA MI (Material Intelligence), is an off-the-shelf central engineering database that not only contains typical material property information, but also entire response histories, all associated pedigree information, as well as related applications, failure analysis and reference documents.

"Our members didn't want another database that would be a 'black hole' for information, they wanted a tool they could use for real knowledge capture and discovery," said Stan Theobald, Managing Director, ASM International. "With GRANTA MI, engineers and designers can retrieve, analyze and utilize data in ways never before possible."

"GRANTA MI is an integrated system of robust data tools that will work throughout an organization - from the test lab to the designer's desktop," said Dr. Will Marsden, Aerospace Product Manager, Granta Design.

Now available to the aerospace community at large, GRANTA MI has already been installed and tested at some MDMC member sites, including NASA Glenn Research Center. "The time required for data reduction and analysis has been reduced from hours or days to minutes depending upon the type of experiment being processed," said NASA's Dr. Steven Arnold, the chairman of the MDMC.

About the MDMC

The Material Data Management Consortium (MDMC), formed in 2002, is a collaboration between ASM International, Granta Design Ltd, NASA Glenn Research Center and materials-oriented corporations and government agencies in the US aerospace and defense industries to develop software systems for managing materials information. For more information and a listing of the Consortium's members, please visit: http://mdmc.net/.

About ASM International

ASM International, The Materials Information Society, is the world's leading publisher of reliable information and data on metals, engineered materials and processes. Based in Materials Park, Ohio, ASM's membership is a worldwide network of materials scientists and engineers dedicated to advancing industry, technology and applications of metals and materials. For more information, please visit www.asminternational.org.

About Granta Design

Granta Design is the leading materials information technology (IT) provider, supplying the world's first and only comprehensive materials IT system. The Cambridge-based software company serves many of the world's leading corporations, government agencies, and universities, providing the most advanced capability at the intersection of materials and IT. For more information, please visit: www.grantadesign.com.