Montreal based CIARA, a division of the Hypertec Group and provider of cutting-edge IT products, announced today, in the presence of Dominique Anglade, the Quebec Minister of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development responsible for Digital Strategy, the launch of its new design platform for aeronautical engineering, the KRONOS workstation.

"To take full advantage of business opportunities to come, Québec must follow global trends and consider the challenges they raise, especially in terms of innovation and workforce." said Minister Dominique Anglade.

"It is important to create a favourable climate to enable our local companies to become major players on the world stage. Whether through subsidies to businesses or through tax credits and the protection of intellectual property, my government relies upon innovation and skilled labour to make Quebec a sought-after destination for technological development," continued the Minister.

The KRONOS has been designed to meet the most stringent requirements of business applications related to aerospace, engineering, automotive and marine design. Furthermore, the KRONOS significantly increases performance and productivity in order to support the work of engineers and designers who use such software as Catia, SolidWorks, Pro-Engineer, AutoCAD, as well as such simulation software as ANSYS, SIMULIA, Abaqus, Nastran, LS-Dyna, and many others.

"CIARA understands that companies in the aerospace industry such as Bombardier, Pratt & Whitney, CAE, Bell Helicopter, and Heroux Devtek are faced with enormous competitive pressure from a market without boundaries. The KRONOS will enable these companies to significantly increase the productivity and efficiency of their workforce, thereby concurrently reducing their operating costs. These cost savings can have a significant impact on profits at the end of a year," said André Lamarre, Executive Vice President of Business Development at Hypertec Group.

The KRONOS workstation performs its tasks at extremely accelerated speeds, responding to challenges posed by engineering, 2D and 3D computer-aided design, rendering, computer simulation, and graphic design. According to independent test results performed with CPU Passmark, SPECapc SolidWorks and SPECviewperf, which compared the KRONOS to equivalent models at Dell, HP and Lenovo, the KRONOS 800 series outperformed its competition with a speed that was up to ten times faster. These speed improvements translate into savings of more than 60 minutes per workday, equivalent to about a month's increase in productivity on an annual basis by engineers and/or designers in the aerospace sector.