Ascent Logic Corporation's RDD-100: Systems Engineering Software for Australian Students; Joint statement issued by University of Technology, Sydney in Sydney and Ascent Logic Corporation in San Jose, California.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 8, 1996--Ascent Logic Corporation (ALC), the world's leading developer and supplier of systems engineering software has granted $1.2 million in systems engineering software to the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS).

The software, marketed as RDD-100 by ALC and used internationally in aerospace, defence and other sectors, will strengthen UTS graduate programs in systems and real-time software engineering, and provide vital infrastructure for teaching and research.

Through its close links with industry, the Faculty of Engineering at UTS has made pioneering contributions to systems and software engineering education in Australia at undergraduate, graduate and professional level. With the acquisition of RDD-100, its graduate students will now gain hands-on experience with the techniques and tools required by many Australian companies in these important and developing fields.

RDD-100 will also be used in a joint UTS-Thomson program involving Campus Thomson, a division of Thomson-CSF of France. This masters degree course, the first of its kind in Australia, addresses the educational need for intensive practical training of real-time software engineers in an industrial applications setting, using industry standard methodologies and development tools to establish and satisfy system requirements.

"The award of this software package provides the University with a significant opportunity to enhance its educational partnerships with industry," said Professor Rod Belcher, Head of the Graduate School of Engineering at UTS.

"At present, very few Australian universities offer programs in systems or software engineering, even though there is a strong demand for engineers with world class capabilities in these areas. We want to advance Australian practice in these fields through collaborative research and innovative teaching." Belcher cites the interest of an Australian subsidiary of Rockwell International, Rockwell Australia Ltd, which provided a travel scholarship to enable UTS evaluation of the RDD-100 software in the USA.

The University's research programs will also be boosted. Current engineering research includes work on real-time systems architecting, requirements capture for large defence programs and behavioral modelling of socio-technical systems. Initially, RDD-100 will be used in these research programs to assist concept verification and evaluate dynamic behaviour.

"RDD-100 will be a valuable tool for students in the sense that it will demonstrate and provide exposure to one of the more prevalent systems engineering tools available," commented David Rowe, one of the systems engineering research students at UTS, who helped to evaluate RDD-100 extensively.

"We at ALC are proud of the fact that our software tools are being globally recognized as the leading systems engineering software in the industry. As more universities start teaching RDD-100, graduate software engineers will develop and design software that adheres to international standards. We are very pleased that UTS has selected ALC's product," added Larry McArthur, President and CEO of Ascent Logic.

Ascent Logic Corporation, established in 1987, is the premier supplier of systems engineering software products and related consulting and training services. The San Jose based company develops, markets and supports systems engineering software for requirements analysis, traceability, and the modelling of complex systems. Ascent Logic Corporation is a privately held, venture capital funded company with sales and support offices and affiliates in the United States, Europe, Japan and Australia.

CONTACT: Ascent Logic Corp.

Sigrid Roemer, 408/943-0630

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CMC Principal

Caroline Murphy, 415/324-8819

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