New Solid Edge Professional Certification Program Launched by UGS PLM Solutions

PLANO, Texas, February 2, 2004 -- UGS PLM Solutions today announced its new Solid Edge® Professional Certification Program, creating an opportunity for Solid Edge users to test and validate their skills against a documented knowledge base. The program provides evidence to users, their companies, and other interested parties, that the certified user has displayed the CAD skills to adeptly use Solid Edge. Once users pass the certification test, they are presented with a certificate of accomplishment, signed by UGS PLM Solutions, and the right to use the Solid Edge Certified Professional logo.

The Solid Edge Professional Certification Test is an online user skills assessment examination. It consists of 85 specific questions as well as an interactive section graded by the Solid Edge certification center. The four-hour professional assessment tests a wide range of user modeling skills and general Solid Edge design knowledge including:

• User Interface
• Sketches and Profiles
• Reference Planes
• Features
• Advanced Part
• Edge Bar
• Sheet Metal
• Assembly
• Drafting

A nominal fee for the Solid Edge certification test has been set at $99 in order to provide easy access to individuals or entire departments. It is available entirely on-line, allowing testing at any time 24 hours per day, directly from the user's Internet-accessible Solid Edge workstation. Users may access a sample test in advance to determine a preliminary indication of capability levels needed to pass.

"Passing the test provides users and their employers with publishable, verifiable evidence that they have achieved a level of proficiency with Solid Edge modeling skills and therefore are an accomplished Solid Edge Certified Professional," said Bruce Boes, vice president of marketing and business strategy for Solid Edge.

User Benefits

• Skill assessment and assurance that users are armed with the required knowledge of Solid Edge product capabilities.
• Worldwide recognition that users have the complete Solid Edge skill set and an ability to communicate with like minded professionals globally.
• Use of the Solid Edge Certified Professional logo for users' business cards and/or resumes.
• Documented certificate of accomplishment signed by UGS PLM Solutions to verify test success.

Company Benefits

• Verifying that users' skills are current and they are using Solid Edge effectively can be linked to bottom-line organizational results.
• Companies can work with their training provider to establish a verifiable goal of preparing users to pass the Solid Edge certification test.
• Validated, documented Solid Edge capability enables companies to establish or enhance credibility with their customers for Solid Edge-related projects.
• Increased employee satisfaction and esteem through accomplishment and recognition.

For more information and a copy of the program rules, agreements and the sample test, go to www.solidedge.com and click on the certification link.

The Solution

Solid Edge (www.solidedge.com) from UGS PLM Solutions is powerful 3D CAD software that allows manufacturing companies to Design with Insight and to reduce time to market, improve quality and lower cost. The exclusive Solid Edge Insight technology embeds design management capabilities directly within CAD, providing insight into design intent to the entire organization and enhancing collaboration. Insight, complemented by Solid Edge's superior core modeling and process workflows, has reduced Engineering Change Orders (ECOs) and their related rework by 50 percent or more. The extensive Solid Edge user community is comprised of designers at thousands of companies worldwide, including Alcoa, NEC Engineering, and Volvo. The Solid Edge Voyager Program includes 200 integrated engineering software applications and computer hardware solutions.

About UGS PLM Solutions

UGS PLM Solutions, a leader in product data management, collaboration and product design software and services with 41,000 clients and more than 2.6 million seats of technology operating in the market, is the product lifecycle management (PLM) subsidiary of EDS. The company works collaboratively with its clients to create solutions enabling them to transform their process of innovation and thus begin to capture the promise of PLM. The integration of the former operations of companies including Structural Dynamics Research Corporation (SDRC), Engineering Animation Inc. (EAI) and UGS, UGS PLM Solutions has created some of the leading design, collaboration and product data management technologies that ultimately formed the foundation of the PLM industry. Today, the company is a family of one, building on three decades of leadership in continuing to be a pioneer in PLM. For more information on UGS PLM Solutions products and services, visit www.ugsplmsolutions.com or www.eds.com.

About EDS

Note to editors: Solid Edge is a registered trademark of EDS or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries. All other trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks belong to their respective holders.