May 11, 2004
   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Visual Numerics COO Phil Fraher Appointed to Industry Advisory Committee for Preeminent Supercomputing Conference

High-Performance Computing Analytics Executive to Bring Independent Software Vendor Perspective to Conference Planning Committee

SAN RAMON, Calif., May 11, 2004 -- Underscoring its leadership position in high-performance computing, Visual Numerics, Inc., a leading provider of numerical analysis and visualization software, today announced that company Chief Operating Officer Phil Fraher has been named to serve on the Industry Advisory Committee of the SC international high performance computing, networking and storage conference series, one of the most highly regarded conferences in the industry. Sponsored by the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Architecture and the IEEE Computer Society, the SC conference series is in its 16th year and is recognized for highlighting the most innovative developments in high-performance computing, networking and storage (www.sc-conference.org/sc2004). Fraher is currently the only representative from an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) serving on the conference Industry Advisory Committee, which also has representatives from companies such as Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Sun Microsystems.

Tim Leite, Visual Numerics’ director of education programs, will also serve on the tutorial review committee for the SC 2004 technical program.

“SC is one of the world’s leading conferences, dedicated to bringing together the best and the brightest in the scientific and business communities in the area of high-performance computing,” said Phil Fraher, COO of Visual Numerics. ”I’m honored to be part of the advisory committee and look forward to working with such a talented group of people.”

“Visual Numerics is a recognized leader in high-performance computing and we’re thrilled to have Phil join the Industry Advisory Committee (IAC),” said Jeff Huskamp, General Chair for SC2004 and Chair of the IAC. “The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Bridging Communities’ – which sums up our ongoing mission of bringing together representatives from many technical communities to exchange ideas, celebrate past successes and plan for the future. Phil’s contributions to this year’s event, and events in the future, will help us further this vision.”

About Phil Fraher:
As Visual Numerics’ COO, Fraher oversees sales, marketing, human resources and research & development worldwide. Fraher has extensive experience in high-performance computing in data-intensive environments, and has held various senior roles in finance and operational management including venture capital fund raising, mergers and acquisitions management, international operations growth and development, joint venture development, and Web portal strategy and deployment. Prior to joining Visual Numerics, Fraher was COO and CFO at Brightmail, Inc., a successful venture-backed Bay Area start-up, where he led the raising of $35M in venture capital for the company in a highly difficult economic environment. Fraher also served as CFO at Cahners Business Information Electronic Media Division, where he developed a sophisticated Web portal strategy to grow that company’s business. Fraher holds seats on the Advisory Board at the College of Computer Science and Engineering at Auburn University, and the Alumni Advisory Council at the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Rochester. .

About the SC Conference Series:
The SC conference, initiated in 1988, attracts university, industry and government representative from around the world to learn about the latest in high performance computing, networking and storage. For information, contact Dr. Jeffrey C. Huskamp, University of Maryland – (301) 405-7700, or jhuskamp@umd.edu.

About Visual Numerics, Inc.:
Visual Numeric has provided technical software solutions for numerical analysis and visualization for over 30 years. The company’s software products help users understand complex data from a variety of sources and build business-critical applications. Visual Numerics offers two product lines: the IMSL™ Numerical Libraries for powerful mathematical and statistical analysis and the PV-WAVE visual data analysis development environment. Visual Numerics also offers customized consulting services for applications that involve mathematical, statistical, or visual data analysis to meet today’s business analytical needs. Major corporations, academic institutions, and research laboratories worldwide use Visual Numerics’ software tools, including such high profile companies as: Bear, Stearns & Company; Priceline.com; The Dow Chemical Company; Sandia National Laboratories; Boeing Company; Risk Management Solutions; and Coleman Research Corp. This large and diverse customer base is supported through a direct sales force, wholly owned international subsidiaries, and international distributors. For more information about Visual Numerics, please visit www.vni.com.

About ACM and ACM SIGARCH:
ACM (www.acm.org) is widely recognized as the premier organization for computing professionals, delivering resources that advance the computing and IT disciplines, enable professional development, and promote policies and research that benefit society. ACM SIGARCH serves a unique community of computer professionals working on the forefront of computer design in both industry and academia. It is ACM's primary forum for interchange of ideas about tomorrow's hardware and its interactions with compilers and operating systems.

About IEEE CS:
The IEEE Computer Society (www.computer.org) is the world's leading organization of computer professionals, and the largest of the 42 societies and the councils of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Its vision is to be the leading provider of technical information and services to the world's computing professionals. The Society is dedicated to advancing the theory, practice, and application of computer and information processing technology. The SC conference series is supported by the society’s Technical Committees on Computer Architecture and Supercomputing Applications.

Editor's Notes:
Visual Numerics and PV-WAVE are registered trademarks of Visual Numerics, Inc. IMSL, JMSL, JWAVE, TS-WAVE and Knowledge in Motion are trademarks of Visual Numerics. All other company, product or brand names are the property of their respective owners.