Opal-RT Technologies Finalizes Strategic Partnership with A&D Company of Japan

MONTREAL, Sept. 21 -- Opal-RT Technologies Inc. (http://www.opal-rt.com/ ), the world leader in distributed simulation on PC- based platforms, today announced plans to join forces with A&D Company, Limited in a strategic partnership designed to establish the standard simulation tool-set for next-generation product design in the automotive industry.

Opal-RT enjoys an enviable reputation in the field of real-time simulation technology over distributed computation hardware, and supplies software, hardware, simulation, modeling, consulting, etc. to industries such as automotive, aerospace, mechatronics, robotics, and energy.

The cooperation of the two companies is expected to bring great synergies through:

- Technological collaboration: the development of next-generation simulation tools as the standard for the auto industry through the hardware mass-production technology of A&D and the simulation technologies of Opal-RT.

- International Market Development: In Japan, A&D will increase market awareness of how Opal-RT's RT-LAB(TM) simulation technologies operate on A&D hardware through A&D's extensive sales network, leading to sales promotion of a joint-company product. In North America, cooperative marketing activity starts in 2004 and a joint sales company will be established in 2005.

Background to this Partnership

Due to intense competition in the global auto industry, significant challenges, such as compliance with state & federal regulations, the speed and cost of new vehicle design and development, and exhaust gas emission, must be overcome simultaneously. In particular, during the research-and-development stages of a new vehicle design, the testing procedure is complicated and verification of the test data took a great deal of time due to the increasing complexity of the designs. Moreover, the overall performance of the car design is conducted through extensive fine-tuning of the control system of a car. However, since the development tools needed for each stage carry out development differently, there is a need for a system that can combine both.

"There is strong demand for the establishment of an integrated simulation and testing environment for automotive engineers using dynamic design software tools, such as MATLAB(TM)," said Jean Belanger, President & CEO of Opal-RT Technologies. "Opal-RT's partnership with A&D blazes the trail for the development of solutions that can meet this demand while overcoming the challenges of meeting government regulations for automotive design, and speeding the pace and lowering the cost of the overall vehicle design process."

Expected Outcomes from this Partnership

Powerful simulation software products from Opal-RT, including the company's flagship RT-LAB(TM) engineering simulator products, will operate on A&D's DSP series of products. The two companies will collaborate on co- marketing activities, to raise awareness of jointly developed solutions. The focus of the partnership will be on the Japanese and North American markets, with the aim of developing auto industry standard tools, while creating opportunities for standardization within the European auto market.

About A&D Company, Ltd.

Established in 1977, A&D Company, Ltd. has grown from developing digital- to-analog converters for companies such as Nippon Telegraph & Telephone, to becoming a world class producer of advanced measuring equipment for medicine, science and industry. A&D established itself as a multinational corporation, with offices in the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Australia, Korea, Taiwan and Russia, and as a world leader in measurement equipment. A&D's competitive edge is the direct result of its ability to leverage strong engineering and manufacturing capabilities, while incorporating highly accurate analog and digital technologies into broad product lines focused to provide customers with the greatest value. For more information, visit the company's website at http://www.aandd.co.jp/ .

About Opal-RT Technologies Inc.

Opal-RT provides software, hardware, and related solutions for real-time simulation applications, with the aim of enabling real-time parallel processing through flexible and affordable technologies.

The company offers a full range of engineering simulation products -- from enabling technologies to turnkey engineering simulators -- and consulting services that include systems integration, software development, simulation and modeling, problem-solving, and training. Opal-RT's core expertise is in distributed hard-real-time simulation, with experienced engineers designing real-time simulators for automotive, electrical power, aerospace, robotics, and other industries where fidelity and fault tolerance requirements push rapid prototyping and hardware-in-the-loop testing to their limits. Opal-RT's unique approach integrates parallel, distributed computing with commercial- off-the-shelf technologies. The resulting RT-LAB product range enables customers to develop simulations quickly, easily, affordably, and competitively. For more information about Opal-RT's range of Engineering Simulators and Distributed Processing Tools, see http://www.opal-rt.com/ .

About RT-LAB

RT-LAB is the real-time technology that revolutionizes the way model-based design is performed within the engineering organization. Through its openness, RT-LAB has the flexibility to be applied to any simulation and control problem, and scalability to provide a low-risk entry point for any application, allowing the developer to add computation power where and when needed-whether to dramatically speed up simulations or for real-time hardware- in-the-loop applications.

RT-LAB is a registered trademark of Opal-RT Technologies Inc.

MATLAB is a registered trademark of The Mathworks Inc.