---

$650,000 Order from NREL Establishes Strategic Role of Mechanical Dynamics' ADAMS Functional Virtual Prototyping in Hybrid Electric Vehicle Program

6 July 2000

$650,000 Order from NREL Establishes Strategic Role of Mechanical Dynamics' ADAMS(R) Functional Virtual Prototyping in Hybrid Electric Vehicle Program

    ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy 
Lab has established the strategic role of functional virtual prototyping in its 
product engineering process with a $650,000 software and services order to 
Mechanical Dynamics , developer of ADAMS mechanical system simulation software.

    NREL, the DOE's premier laboratory for renewable energy and energy-
efficiency research, will implement ADAMS in its ADVISOR  (ADvanced VehIcle
SimulatOR) project, which is part of the Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV)
program.  The program's aim is to create a knowledge-based infrastructure,
including tools and processes, which will aid in the conceptual development of
energy-efficient automotive powertrain and related subsystems.  The
infrastructure will then be made available via the Internet to other
government labs and automotive manufacturers and suppliers to facilitate fast,
cost-efficient development of energy-efficient vehicle systems.

    "NREL's decision to implement ADAMS in the HEV program is another step in
establishing functional virtual prototyping as a standard part of the new
digital product development process," said Robert R. Ryan, president and chief
operating officer of Mechanical Dynamics.  "With ADAMS selected as the basis
for the HEV program, engineers and scientists can now collaborate on
innovative alternative fuel powertrain systems within a common virtual design
and development environment."

    Terry Penney, NREL's HEV program technology manager, said, "It's been
proven that functional virtual prototyping of automotive systems reduces
development cost and time.  By evaluating the full vehicle performance early
in the design process, we can achieve improved system performance, such as
emissions and fuel economy, and optimize components and systems from a full-
vehicle standpoint.  In addition, we expect that a key outcome of our work
will be technologies and processes that aid in the development of lightweight
vehicle systems."

    Penney said that, along with its automotive industry leadership,
Mechanical Dynamics was selected based on its project management experience,
interfaces to other computer-aided engineering software, and its automotive-
specific software applications.

    One application that will play a strategic role in the HEV program is
ADAMS(R)/Car, a specialized simulation environment for vehicle development.
ADAMS/Car is a key component in Mechanical Dynamics' Functional Digital
Car(TM) concept, which allows simulation of a complete vehicle including
chassis, engine, driveline, and body.  In addition to providing answers on how
the overall system and its components move, the Functional Digital Car gives
users an understanding of how that movement affects packaging, comfort,
vibration, noise, and component durability.

    Mechanical Dynamics expects the majority of the revenue from the project
to be recognized over the second half of 2000, as software is delivered and
the related services are performed.

    Mechanical Dynamics pioneered the field of mechanical system simulation
with its market-leading ADAMS(R) software, and remains committed to extending
the capabilities of this technology to benefit manufacturers in every industry
worldwide.  Engineering teams use ADAMS to build and test functional virtual
prototypes of their complex mechanical system designs.  Mechanical Dynamics
also offers extensive implementation services, including consulting and
training.  In this way, the company partners with its customers to help reduce
the time, costs, and risks of the product development process and meet the
"Smarter to Market" challenge.