Altair Continues to Extend Casting Solution Options, Adding Quantech ATZ to Partner Alliance

TROY, Mich., Feb. 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Altair continues to narrow the casting simulation gap with its announcement today that Quantech ATZ  has joined the Altair Partner Alliance. Quantech ATZ's Click2Cast allows for simple and quick casting simulation and is now available by download to all eligible HyperWorks users through the partner program.

Click2Cast offers the easiest casting process simulation on the market, within an innovative and user-friendly interface. The software requires no special training and does not require the user to have an extensive technical background. Yet, it is a very effective, powerful tool, with possible applications in a wide variety of industries, such as mold-making, automotive, naval, aerospace, train, electrical-appliance, furniture and casting industries. It now serves as a valuable asset to the Partner Alliance and to product development in general.

"It is our pleasure to welcome Quantech to the Altair Partner Alliance," said Altair Director of Industry Solutions Dr. Subir Roy.  "Click2Cast is quite an amazing product for casting simulation when it comes to simplicity and ease of use, compared to the valuable information it provides. It puts simulation at the fingertips of designers and engineers to assess and improve product quality and manufacturability with very few intuitive button clicks."

Click2Cast brings many benefits to the Partner Alliance by extending the casting solution offering within the program. In addition to its ease of use, Click2Cast provides an intuitive user experience. The user is able to perform a straightforward and quick mold filling and solidification simulation to enhance and optimize manufactured components through five simple steps:

1. Open the file in stereolithography (STL) format
2. Define the in-gate and mesh
3. Set up the process parameters
4. Run the calculation
5. Analyze the results

All the while it helps foundry engineers and other users avoid typical casting defects, such as air entrapment, porosity and cold shots, among others. Click2Cast uses a revolutionary mesh generator to allow the user the ability to import STL files and quickly prepare the model for simulation, avoiding the usual setbacks of geometry repair.

"Quantech is very eager to start work with Altair and the Partner Alliance," said Martin Solinas, general manager for Click2Cast. "Click2Cast is a great value for any size company, since its technical complexity is low, meaning no training is required, nor is it necessary to hire new, qualified staff to run the software. It simplifies the complex simulation process to five steps to perform any necessary casting simulations, starting with uploading the STL file and ending with analyzing the results."

Available for the last twelve years, Altair's innovative unit-based licensing system allows HyperWorks users customizable access to a growing portfolio of applications while optimizing their return on investment (ROI). Every license is composed of a pool of recyclable HyperWorks units (HWUs), which can be used to access any application within the HyperWorks family.

After witnessing this original licensing model's success, Altair has offered the opportunity for third-party companies to run their own applications under this unit-based system, a collaboration known as the Altair Partner Alliance. The overall flexibility of these HWUs empowers users and allows them access to the largest and most complete suite of CAE applications available, making the benefits to participating HyperWorks customers infinite. The ROI increases for users each time a new application is added to the offering, since any of the partner programs can be accessed using the same leased HWUs they are already using to run HyperWorks. This makes more than 50 additional applications available at no incremental cost or long-term commitment.

HyperWorks users can download Click2Cast at www.altairalliance.com/quantech. To learn more about Click2Cast, please attend one of the introductory webinars, being held on March 13, 2013, at 9am and 1pm ET. These webinars will be hosted by Altair and presented by Quantech.

About Quantech ATZ

Quantech provides the industry with state-of-the-art CAE simulation software applications to solve engineering problems in the fields of metal forming, optimization of casting processes, damage evolution of composites parts and others by using intensive computer-based simulation techniques. Our mission is to enable our customers to focus on what is important to them and their business, offering a range of FEM simulation software solutions especially designed to validate and optimize the design of parts and structures using the most advanced technology, without users needing to be experts and minimizing the time required in the process.

About Altair

Altair empowers client innovation and decision-making through technology that optimizes the analysis, management and visualization of business and engineering information. Privately held, with 1,800 employees, Altair has offices throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia/Pacific. With a 27-year track record for high-end software for engineering and computing, enterprise analytics solutions, and innovative product design and development, Altair consistently delivers a competitive advantage to customers in a broad range of industries. To learn more, please visit www.altair.com or www.simulatetoinnovate.com.

About the Altair Partner Alliance

Altair's HyperWorks platform applies a revolutionary subscription-based licensing model where customers use floating licenses to access a broad suite of Altair-developed as well as third-party software applications on-demand. The Altair Partner Alliance effectively extends the HyperWorks Platform from 28 internally developed solutions to more than 50 applications with the addition of new partner applications. Customers can invoke these third-party applications at no incremental cost using their existing HyperWorks licenses. Customers benefit from unmatched flexibility and access, resulting in maximum software utilization, productivity and ROI. For more information about the HyperWorks Partner Alliance, visit www.altairalliance.com.

SOURCE Altair