SAN RAFAEL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 12, 2002--

       100 European Companies Demonstrate Interest in Developing
              Applications to Enhance Autodesk Inventor

Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK), the world's leading design software and digital content company, today announced the first 10 European applications that have met the qualifications of the Autodesk Inventor Certified Application Program (AICAP) for Autodesk Inventor(R) 6 software. They include sheet metal, data management, computer-aided manufacturing, productivity tools and assembly modeling applications from Germany, Finland, Italy, the Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom. In addition availability in their local languages, most certified applications are offered in English. Demonstrating broad interest for Autodesk Inventor, an additional 90 new commercial and corporate software developers in Europe have requested the Autodesk Inventor 6 application programming interface (API) to build specialized solutions for sale or in-house use that will bring additional value and choices to Autodesk Inventor users.

The deep integration between the Autodesk Inventor application and developer software offers tremendous benefits to customers in terms of functionality and software quality. "Our participation in the Autodesk Inventor Certified Application Program has given us the resources needed to properly develop, market, and support our integrated products," said Mark Latimer, director of Latimer-CAD. "Because we work closely with Autodesk, we are able to catch problems early in our mutual development cycles and get them resolved before release to customers."

First European Autodesk Inventor 6 Certified Applications

In every area of manufacturing, developers are building applications to extend the capabilities of Autodesk Inventor software. This increase in certified partner applications means broader choices for our customers to select the program that works perfectly for their manufacturing needs. For example, in this quarter alone three new sheetmetal applications were certified. These include AutoPOL from FCC Software AB (Finland), COPRA MetalBender TD-i and COPRA MetalBender Analyser-i from data M GmbH (Germany), and Sheetmetal Inventor from SPI GmbH (Germany).

"With application certification, we are able to ensure our Sheetmetal Inventor software has the highest level of interoperability with Autodesk Inventor 6 software," said Ralf-Uwe Weber, director of Development for SPI, GmbH. "The result is a valuable combination of solutions that bring manufacturers greater productivity and profitability. It also allows us to offer our solutions to customers outside of Germany."

Data management options continue to grow for customers as well. Newly certified data management applications include DBInventor from MechWorks (Italy), and GAIN EDM from GAIN Software GmbH. Certified productivity tools include Genius Inventor from web2CAD (Germany) and MechSoft for Inventor from MechSoft (Czech Republic). In other solution areas, Pathtrace Engineering Systems Ltd. (United Kingdom) certified EdgeCAM Computer-Aided Manufacturing software and Latimer-CAD Ltd. (United Kingdom) certified the IDF Interface for Autodesk Inventor software. For further information on these and other Autodesk Inventor certified applications, visit www.autodesk.com/inventor to easily search for solutions available in 22 languages.

"We are offering developers the opportunity to expand beyond their local markets to bring innovative and valuable solutions to our customers," said Robert Kross, vice president of the Manufacturing Division at Autodesk. "Today's announcement marks another milestone in the success of our program demonstrating the global appeal of Autodesk Inventor software."

Certified applications have met standards set by Autodesk to ensure robustness, quality, and the highest level of interoperability with its award-winning Autodesk Inventor 3D mechanical design system. The certification program is part of a complete manufacturing solution that helps accelerate product development cycles and shorten their time to market with a variety of applications across all areas of manufacturing worldwide.

About Autodesk

Founded in 1982, Autodesk, Inc., is the world's leading design software and digital content company. Autodesk offers solutions for professionals in building design, geographic information systems, manufacturing, digital media, and wireless data services. By delivering progressive products and services, Autodesk helps customers create, manage, use, and maximize the value of their digital data throughout the lifecycle of their projects. For more information about the company, see www.autodesk.com.

Note to Editors: Autodesk and Autodesk Inventor are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

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