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The MathWorks and Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AZPN) today announced that the two companies have successfully collaborated to offer a cosimulation link between their market-leading products, Simulink ® and Aspen Dynamics®.  The new link, available as a Simulink block within Aspen Dynamics, enables engineers to use Model-Based Design to develop embedded controllers for complex chemical processes.

With the link between Aspen Dynamics, which provides rigorous dynamic simulation of chemical processes, and Simulink, a simulation platform for control design and embedded system development, engineers can use nonlinear chemical process simulations to design, prototype, and evaluate advanced control strategies. This approach not only dramatically reduces the need for costly hardware prototypes or testing on actual process systems, but also helps engineers implement safer, more reliable, and higher-performance control systems more rapidly and cost effectively.

“We use Simulink for embedded control development and Aspen Dynamics for chemical process modeling,” said Don Rohr, development manager of fuel cell company Plug Power.  “The link between the two products will let us take full advantage of our Aspen Dynamics models as we develop our controllers with Simulink.  It opens up exciting new possibilities for us to prototype and test hardware and controls architecture.”

“The MathWorks and AspenTech product integration lets engineers share a common set of tools for plant modeling and control system design, and facilitates communication across engineering teams,” stated Tony Lennon, industry marketing manager, The MathWorks.  “Control engineers who design and test control systems with Simulink can now access the fully rigorous nonlinear process models that process engineers already know and use.   Most importantly, they can now explore different control strategies and apply better schemes without having to implement them on hardware prototypes.”

“Using a rigorous dynamic process model measurably improves the understanding of process behavior and supports the design of a superior control system, thereby increasing confidence that the control system will perform as expected in the real world,” said Glenn Dissinger, Aspen Dynamics product manager, AspenTech.  “Additionally, the integration of these leading-edge simulation and control design software tools lets engineers efficiently model and optimize the performance of chemical processes in one environment.”