March 15, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Visual Numerics Forms New Business Unit Focused on
Education Programs
Company Veteran and High Performance Computing Expert to Lead New
Education Unit and Oversee "Knowledge in Motion Program"
San Ramon, CA - March 15, 2004 - Building on the success of its six-month old "Knowledge in
Motion" education program, Visual Numerics Inc., a leading provider of numerical analysis and
visualization software, today announced the formation of a new business unit focused exclusively
on education programs and the academic community. Additionally, the company announced that Tim
Leite has been named director of education programs and will oversee the new unit. During his
16-year tenure with Visual Numerics, Leite has had various programming, development, product
management, technical support, and business development roles, giving him an excellent foundation
for establishing educational partnerships and facilitating the computational requirements of the
academic community.
"Tim has been with Visual Numerics for many years, and his experience and knowledge about the
academic arena's specific needs make him perfectly suited for this new role," said Phil Fraher,
COO of Visual Numerics. "Our new education unit, combined with Tim's vision and expertise, will
further establish Visual Numerics as a numerical analysis leader in education."
A pioneer in bringing Java-based statistical and mathematical technology to the classroom,
Visual Numerics launched the Knowledge in Motion program in September 2003 to provide university
professors the unique opportunity to use Visual Numerics' JMSL Numerical Library for Java
applications for curriculum development. The company is expanding this program to offer more
flexible licensing options and encourage a broader use of Visual Numerics software across
university departments as a forum for collaboration on both curriculum development and research.
"Visual Numerics is breaking down the barriers universities typically encounter when
attempting to use commercial software for educational and collaborative research use," said
Leite. "For more than 30 years, Visual Numerics has been committed to putting the most
advanced numerical analysis and visualization tools in the hands of students and professors.
I am pleased to take on this new role in furthering our mission and building stronger
partnerships with our academic users."
Under Leite's guidance, the key objectives of Visual Numerics' new Education Programs group include
increasing the usage of Visual Numerics products among professors, researchers and students, supporting
curriculum development, building strategic partnerships with key universities and professors,
increasing awareness of Visual Numerics technology and expertise, as well as continuing the
growth of the company's revenues from education.
Bringing Commercial Java Numerics to the Classroom
Knowledge in Motion was designed to enable university professors to leverage JMSL to develop applications
in Java for a variety of computationally-based disciplines such as engineering, mathematics, statistics
and computer science. The program is intended to encourage students to understand the concepts
of numerical analysis and statistical methods with a broadly used, platform-independent language.
Visual Numerics has modified its licensing policies and initiated new education programs to
address changes in the education marketplace driven by the extension of classroom and
research activities to the Web, the growing need to collaborate across university boundaries,
the need for distance learning, and the increasing use of Java in education worldwide.
Visual Numerics' Knowledge in Motion program has been highly successful over the past
several months, and professors from prominent academic institutions like Hong Kong University,
the University of Colorado and the University of Texas are using the JMSL Numerical Library to
develop new applications and instructional aids for course curriculum. For example, Dr.
Gary McClelland, psychology professor at the University of Colorado, has created a series
of interactive applets that illustrate a variety of statistical principles. The applets
rely on JMSL mathematics and statistics classes for the underlying computations, and JMSL
charting classes for the visual component. Information on Dr. McClelland's project can be
found at http://www.bolderstats.com/jmsl/doc/.
"The Knowledge in Motion program has been a tremendous asset to me and to my students,"
said Dr. McClelland. "I develop my own class library of probability functions, statistical
algorithms, and chart types to teach statistical concepts. Visual Numerics is giving us the
rare opportunity to have direct interaction with Java applets, which allows students a hands-on
understanding of underlying statistical principles. We are extremely thankful to be
participating in this valuable program."
For more information about the Knowledge in Motion program, to apply as a charter member, or
to find out about special student discount pricing,
visit: http://www.vni.com/solutions/education/programs.html.
About the JMSL Numerical Library
The JMSL Numerical Library is a comprehensive set of mathematical, statistical and charting
classes written in 100% Java and based on Visual Numerics' reliable IMSL algorithms. JMSL
includes:
- The JMSL Numerical Library Application Quick Start Pack - a set of pre-built applications that can be used for a jump-start on creating analytical programs and rapid idea generation. These programs combine computational examples with graphical output to provide a visual representation of the underlying mathematics and statistics in use.
- More than 15 chart types for displaying computational results.
- Source code for over 200 document examples covering the entire set of JMSL Java classes.
About Visual Numerics, Inc.
Visual Numerics 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.
Editor's Notes:
Visual Numerics and PV-WAVE are registered trademarks of Visual Numerics, Inc. in the US and other
countries. IMSL, JMSL, JWAVE, TS-WAVE and Knowledge in Motion are trademarks of Visual Numerics, Inc.
All other company, product or brand names are the property of their respective owners.