Bentley Lauds Launching of ModelCity Jerusalem.

JERUSALEM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 19, 1999--

Three-dimensional Model of Ancient City of Jerusalem

Created with Bentley Software

Bentley Systems, Incorporated (Exton, PA, USA) today applauded the news that ModelCity(SM) Jerusalem, a three-dimensional virtual model of the ancient city and its man-made structures, has been launched at a ceremony at the Jerusalem Center for Planning in Historic Cities. Bentley's flagship architectural and engineering software MicroStation/J(TM) served as the standard upon which ModelCity Jerusalem has been created.

The honorable mayor of the city of Jerusalem, Mr. Ehud Olmert will attend today's ceremony in celebration of the launch.

ModelCity Jerusalem initially encompasses the Old City and eventually will include the city's entire metropolitan area. Restoration experts will benefit from the full context of Jerusalem for their planning and rebuilding work.

The model will also be used in transportation and utility planning, municipal design, and maintenance of the Old City. ModelCity Jerusalem serves as the basis for a virtual Jerusalem, enabling visitors to its Web site to tour the ancient city from anywhere in the world.

Mr. Ehud Olmert, the honorable mayor of the city of Jerusalem, comments, "The benefits of ModelCity Jerusalem are two-fold. In the hands of the city's decision-makers and planners, it will result in an improved quality of life for residents, while insuring that the future of Jerusalem is in keeping with its honored past." He adds, "With a virtual Jerusalem accessible over the Internet, those working for the betterment of the municipality have an indispensable tool. And now, people all over the world can experience our historic city."

Mr. Olmert adds, "We are grateful to Bentley, to ATL, and to Silicon Graphics for their generosity which has made this virtual model - the only one of its kind in Israel - a reality."

Bentley's Israeli distributor, Advanced Technology (ATL), conducted a pilot program in which they converted existing digital mapping data quickly and easily into a three-dimensional model. As a result, the Jerusalem Center for Planning in Historic Cities selected Bentley software as the standard for the entire ModelCity Jerusalem project.

ATL has provided technical expertise in Bentley geoengineering and EEM products. For more information on ATL, go to www.atl.co.il. The Center's choice prompted Bentley, ATL, and Silicon Graphics, Inc., makers of the hardware that will run MicroStation/J, to donate their products and services.

Yoav Etiel, senior vice president of marketing at Bentley, comments, "The cityscape of Jerusalem - a 3,000 year-old city - reflects the influence of historic religions, cultures, and styles of architecture. Designers, planners, and engineers can now better preserve the unique characteristics of this ancient city using the three-dimensional model of ModelCity Jerusalem."

Todd Johnson, senior vice president of worldwide marketing for Silicon Graphics, says, "We are gratified to take part in the prestigious project of ModelCity Jerusalem. The immense graphics and modeling demands of this project are precisely the challenge that our visual workstations are designed to meet." He adds, "Our hope is that ModelCity Jerusalem will help future developments stay true to the city's past."

MicroStation/J has been used for two- and three-dimensional design and modeling. MicroStation(R) Descartes(TM) has provided capabilities for imaging functions, including integration of photographs and maps with engineering drawings. GeoTerrain by GEOPAK(TM) made digital terrain modeling possible, allowing for an accurate representation of the landscape in ModelCity Jerusalem.

Silicon Graphics 320 and Silicon Graphics 540 visual workstations have provided the computing power required by this large-scale modeling and design project.

ModelCity Jerusalem has been designed using data from smaller projects that have happened over many years including a physical model of the city that has been under construction for twenty years and digital mapping data that has been accumulated with different software systems.

With MicroStation/J, all existing data, regardless of its original format, was easily funneled into one system and used cohesively for the comprehensive project. The model will appear on the Jerusalem Center for Planning in Historic Cities Web site at www.jerusalem.muni.il/model.

More on the Jerusalem Center for Planning in Historic Cities

The Jerusalem Center for Planning in Historic Cities is an interdisciplinary center for the study of planning, design, development and conservation. Its goals are to advance research and exchange ideas in these fields, as well as to foster greater awareness among professionals, academics and the public at large about issues involved in the conservation of historic cities.

By virtue of Jerusalem's unique historic and spiritual character, a wide range of world experts from interrelated disciplines has been involved since the city's reunification in 1967 in the day-to-day building of the city. The decision to establish the Jerusalem Center for Planning in Historic Cities was supported by Jerusalem Municipality and the Conservation Foundation of Washington, D.C.

More on Silicon Graphics

Silicon Graphics, Inc. is a leading supplier of visual computing and high-performance systems. The company offers the broadest range of products in the industry - from low-end desktop workstations to servers and high-end supercomputers. Key industries include communications, energy, entertainment, government, manufacturing and sciences.

Silicon Graphics and its subsidiaries have offices throughout the world and corporate headquarters in Mountain View, California.

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More on Bentley

Bentley Systems, Incorporated is a worldwide leader in engineering software. The Bentley Continuum(SM) is the company's comprehensive engineering IT strategy comprising products, services, and strategic affiliations. The company now serves over 300,000 professionals in building/plant engineering, geoengineering, and manufacturing engineering.

With revenues now over $175 million annually, Bentley has advanced from the number three to the number two software provider in the A/E/C market, according to Daratech.

Bentley's MicroStation and ModelServer(R) enterprise engineering modeling (EEM) products, together with high-quality, interoperable engineering applications provided by strategic affiliates, are used at over 70 percent of the largest U.S. engineering firms. These products form the software foundation of the world's infrastructure such as landmark buildings, roadways, industrial plants and machines.

The Bentley SELECT(SM) technology and service subscription program now reaches nearly 200,000 users.

More information about Bentley is available at www.bentley.com.

Bentley, MicroStation, and ModelServer are registered trademarks; MicroStation/J is a trademark; Bentley Continuum, Bentley SELECT, and ModelCity are service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or Bentley Software Inc. GEOPAK is a registered trademark and GeoTerrain by GEOPAK is a trademark of GEOPAK Corporation. Descartes is a trademark of HMR Inc.

Silicon Graphics is a registered trademark; Silicon Graphics 320, Silicon Graphics 540 and the Silicon Graphics logo are trademarks of Silicon Graphics, Inc. Other brands and product names are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.