Mentor Graphics Joins ProSTEP iVip Forum to Facilitate Automotive Electrical Standards Development.

WILSONVILLE, Ore. -- Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq:MENT) today announced its membership of the ProSTEP iViP Association ECAD Implementor Forum (ECAD-IF), which specializes in the harmonization and specification of ISO STEP data-models and data exchange interfaces (Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data). As a leading electrical design tools vendor, Mentor Graphics' membership of ECAD-IF lends further weight to the development of common electrical exchange standards in general, and particularly for the automotive industry.

ECAD-IF has previously made significant contributions to the detailed elaboration of the ISO STEP AP212 electrical system design & harness standard; more recently it has also been responsible for the development of the KBL automotive electrical harness standard, a specialized derivative of AP212.

The Mentor Graphics flagship product in the ECAD electrical systems design and harnessing domain is the Capital Harness Systems (CHS) software suite. Mentor Graphics has already released AP212-compliant interfaces for the Capital Logic and Capital Integrator products in 2004, and is currently finalizing a KBL interface for the Capital Engineer product.

"AP212 is our chosen open standard for supporting data exchange with our CHS tool suite because the AP212 technical scope (from concept to manufacture) and its industry scope (from cars to trains, planes and other transportation platforms) matches exactly with our CHS product offering," said Martin O'Brien, general manager, Mentor Graphics Integrated Electrical Systems Division. "KBL is an important derivative of AP212 that is especially important to our German customers involved in harness design and manufacture, and we look forward to working with ECAD-IF to contribute towards its further development."

For more information on the Capital Harness Systems product suite please visit http://www.mentor.com/harness/.

About Mentor Graphics

Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq:MENT) is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products, consulting services and award-winning support for the world's most successful electronics and semiconductor companies. Established in 1981, the company reported revenues over the last 12 months of over $700 million and employs approximately 3,850 people worldwide. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777; Silicon Valley headquarters are located at 1001 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, California 95131-2314. World Wide Web site: http://www.mentor.com/.

(Mentor Graphics is a registered trademark and Capital Harness is a trademark of Mentor Graphics Corporation. All other company or product names are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.)