December 15, 2005, Lebanon, NH, USA

Fluent Inc., world leader in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software and services, announced today its contribution to the new undergraduate engineering textbook by James Wilkes; Fluid Mechanics for Chemical Engineers, Second Edition, with Microfluidics and CFD, published by Prentice Hall. This Second Edition is a revision of the best selling fluid mechanics book for chemical engineers. Professor Emeritus of Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan, Dr. Wilkes has authored several textbooks in the area of numerical methods and this latest book provides a comprehensive overview of numerical methods specific to the field of fluid mechanics.

The book is a comprehensive text that offers an understanding of fluid mechanics essential for the chemical engineer. Thorough and clearly written, it gives the undergraduate and first-year graduate student a complete overview of this essential topic by providing numerous real-world chemical engineering examples and problems of increasing detail and complexity.

Dr. Chi-Yang Cheng, of Fluent Inc., was invited by Dr. Wilkes to write a completely new chapter for the 2nd Edition, introducing CFD and FlowLab (Fluent's educational CFD software product). Dr. Cheng's chapter presents an overview of numerical methods specific to CFD. Four FlowLab-based CFD exercises are reviewed in the chapter to reinforce important underlying concepts as well as the best methods of practice with CFD software in chemical engineering:

Developing Flow in a Pipe http://flowlab.fluent.com/exercise/ex2.htm

Pipe Flow through Sudden Expansion http://flowlab.fluent.com/exercise/ex3.htm

Flow in a Mixing Elbow http://flowlab.fluent.com/exercise/ex11.htm

Flow Over a Cylinder http://flowlab.fluent.com/exercise/ex5.htm

"Professor Wilkes has been very active in promoting the integration of computational tools into the chemical engineering curriculum, especially fluid mechanics, throughout his academic career. The quality, depth, and elegant style of his presentation of fluid mechanics and CFD methodology in this book are self-evident. I believe this new edition will be a very substantial addition to the fluid mechanics literature," said Dr. Cheng. "I have many years of college teaching experience myself, and it is generally understood that an ideal CFD teaching tool must be powerful and simple to use so that the critically important message we are trying to pass to the students is not overwhelmed by the complexity of the tool. FlowLab is a very good package to meet both of these requirements."

"The use of CFD examples in the classroom really makes the subject come 'alive,' because the previous restrictive necessities of 'nice' geometries and boundary conditions and constant physical properties can now be lifted," stated Dr. Wilkes. "As a consequence, a variety of more practical examples can now be investigated, and the student can concentrate more on seeing and interpreting the physical aspects of the fluid-flow patterns, rather than solely being wrapped up in the mathematics of the solution. Now that the k-ε turbulence method is available in PC-based software, turbulent flows can be investigated in more complex and practical situations, even including recirculating flows that involve, for example, convection of turbulence and jet mixing."

Find out more about Fluid Mechanics for Chemical Engineers http://vig.prenhall.com/catalog/academic/product/0,1144,0131482122,00.html

Find out more about FlowLab http://flowlab.fluent.com/index.htm

About the Author James O. Wilkes is Professor Emeritus of Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan, where he served as department chairman and assistant dean for admissions. From 1989 to 1992, he was an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor. Wilkes coauthored Applied Numerical Methods (Wiley, 1969) and Digital Computing and Numerical Methods (Wiley, 1973). He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Cambridge and his M.S. and Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan. His research interests involve numerical methods for solving a wide variety of engineering problems.

About Fluent

Fluent is the world's largest provider of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software and consulting services. Fluent's software is used for simulation, visualization, and analysis of fluid flow, heat and mass transfer, and chemical reactions. It is a vital part of the computer-aided engineering (CAE) process for companies around the world and is deployed in nearly every manufacturing industry. FLUENT is used extensively in the Motor Racing industry worldwide by the vast majority of race teams. Using Fluent's software, engineers build virtual prototypes and simulate the performance of proposed and existing designs, allowing them to improve design quality while reducing cost and speeding time to market. Fluent's corporate headquarters are located in Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA, with offices in China, Belgium, England, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan and Sweden. Its CFD software is also available around the world through joint ventures, partnerships, and distributors in Korea, Australia, Brazil, China, Taiwan, the Czech Republic, Middle East, and most European countries.

FLUENT® and FLUENT/FlowLab™ are registered trademarks of Fluent Inc.

About Prentice Hall

Established in 1913 by Charles Gerstenberg and Richard Ettinger, Prentice Hall successfully publishes introductory through advanced-level textbooks, professional reference publications, and monographs. Eighty-five years after its foundation, Prentice Hall merged with the world's leading educational and professional publisher-Pearson Education. Since 1998, Prentice Hall has continued to define itself as a market leader in educational, technical, and reference publishing and also as an innovator in online learning and support. Additional information is available at http://www.prenhallprofessional.com/.

For general inquiries contact:

Jennifer Correa Fluent Inc. 10 Cavendish Court Lebanon, NH 03766 (603) 643-2600 Ext. 668 jrc@fluent.com