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The HSE’s Nuclear Directorate (ND), working with the Environment Agency, is currently completing a Generic Design Assessment (GDA) for new nuclear power stations in the UK.

Altran Praxis is technical partner with prime contractor engineering consultancy Frazer-Nash to support Step 4 of the GDA programme – ‘Assessment for Design Acceptance’ - which will see the companies independently examine the safety case evidence for the two different reactor types that are currently being assessed for their suitability to meet UK regulatory standards.

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Formed through the merger of Praxis, the international specialist in critical systems engineering, and embedded software experts SC2 by Altran, the new organisation will focus on the engineering of software intensive and embedded systems with demanding safety, security or innovation requirements.

The merger brings together Praxis’ deep expertise in safety and security critical systems with the strong innovation capabilities of SC2 by Altran in areas such as Human Machine Interface (HMI), multimedia and connectivity which it has gained through its long pedigree as a software research centre in the automotive sector. This will benefit clients by providing a full end-to-end capability in innovative embedded and critical systems.

Headquartered in Bath, UK, Altran Praxis will operate globally through offices in France, India and the UK. It currently employs 270 people and plans to expand further in 2010. Both Praxis and SC2 by Altran are already owned by the global €1.65 billion Altran group and Altran Praxis now forms the centre of excellence for embedded and critical systems within Altran.

"The launch of Altran Praxis will offer our clients a truly unique capability. For example if you are an automotive, aircraft or train manufacturer, we can now build and assure your most critical control systems, such as engine management or braking, and also deliver the most innovative passenger infotainment systems for generating more revenue. With the increasing integration of systems this combined capability is of very high value," said Keith Williams, Altran Praxis Managing Director. "Crucially, our staff are extremely supportive of the merger, as it provides opportunities for them to become involved in different technologies and markets as well as further extending our international reach."

Building on its joint heritage, Altran Praxis will operate as a trusted partner to companies in the aerospace and defence, rail, nuclear, air traffic management, automotive, medical and security sectors. Key projects in these sectors include:

• The development of the software for the ground-breaking iFACTS air traffic management system for the UK’s National Air Traffic Services (NATS).
• Innovation projects in the field of automotive connectivity and telematics for Renault.
• Development of gesture based HMI technology for medical and control centre applications in sectors such as rail, air traffic management and nuclear.
• Independent Safety Assessment on Tube Lines’ new signalling system for the London Underground.
• Technical support for the UK Health and Safety Executive’s assessment of new build nuclear reactor types.
• Development of the software for the US National Security Agency’s Tokeneer biometric security system.
• Safety partner for the Thales Watchkeeper Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV).

Altran Praxis will build safety and security critical software; develop innovative embedded software for new products and applications; act as a safety and security partner, consultant or independent assessor; conduct research for clients and develop in-house tools and technology supporting embedded and critical systems.

"Embedded systems, safety and security are all strategic services for Altran, and with the merger of Praxis and SC2 by Altran we have focused and strengthened our offering in these growth areas," said Yves de Chaisemartin, Altran Group Chief Executive Officer. "The creation of this new centre of excellence is in line with our strategy of investing to benefit our customers by delivering new capabilities based on expertise and innovation, which can be delivered globally across key industry sectors."

Originally formed in 1983, Praxis has been part of Altran since 1997 and specialises in critical systems engineering. SC2, formerly owned by Continental, is a software research centre focused on embedded software and based in Sophia Antipolis on the French Côte d’Azur. SC2 was acquired by Altran in 2008.

About Altran Praxis

Altran Praxis is a specialist systems and software house, focused on the engineering of systems with demanding safety, security or innovation requirements. Altran Praxis leads the world in specific areas of advanced systems engineering and innovation such as: ultra low defect software engineering, Human Machine Interface (HMI), safety engineering for complex or novel systems and tools (such as SPARK) /methods for systems engineering. It offers clients a range of services including turnkey systems development, consultancy, training and R&D. Key market sectors are aerospace and defence, rail, nuclear, air traffic management, automotive, medical and security. The company operates globally with active projects in the US, Asia and Europe. The headquarters of Altran Praxis are in Bath (UK) with offices in Sophia Antipolis, London, Paris, Loughborough and Bangalore. Altran Praxis is an expertise centre within, and wholly owned by, Altran which is a global leader in innovation engineering and employs 18,000 staff across the world.

www.altran-praxis.com

Press contacts:

Leena Chauhan

Altran Praxis
press@altran-praxis.com

Chris Measures/Clodagh Boyle

Speed (for Altran Praxis)
altran-praxis@speedcommunications.com

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The Safety and Reliability Society, which celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2010, is an internationally recognised organisation that represents engineers and scientists working in the twin fields of safety and reliability.

Due to increased reliance on technology, safety and reliability systems have been rapidly growing in importance across a wide range of industries. SaRS’ broad-based membership brings together engineers, software developers and those responsible for human factors, such as behavioural psychologists, to provide a holistic view of this vital discipline.

SaRS aims to increase the professionalism and reputation of those involved in these key areas by sharing information, establishing professional standards and techniques and encouraging those in education to enter the sector. It currently has over 600 members across the UK, Europe, Middle East, USA and Asia Pacific.

Trevor has been a member of SaRS for over 20 years and was elected onto the society’s council two years ago. At Praxis he is responsible for training and implementing safety and reliability best practice across the whole organisation.

"Increasingly sophisticated technology systems are at the heart of how we live, travel and communicate today," said Trevor Cockram, principal consultant, Praxis. "Safety and reliability are now even more critical to their successful operation than when SaRS was formed 30 years ago. Working with my colleagues, I want to use my chairmanship to strengthen safety competencies across the industry and encourage more people to enter this area."

SaRS is liaising closely with universities to promote the safety discipline to students and to encourage more people to become engineers. It is also championing professional education, working with the Engineering Council to ensure members achieve Chartered Engineer qualifications. Additionally, as part of his year in office Trevor will be organising a conference in Summer 2010 to celebrate the 30 successful years of SaRS.

About Altran Praxis

Altran Praxis is a specialist systems and software house, focused on the engineering of systems with demanding safety, security or innovation requirements. Altran Praxis leads the world in specific areas of advanced systems engineering and innovation such as: ultra low defect software engineering, Human Machine Interface (HMI), safety engineering for complex or novel systems and tools (such as SPARK) /methods for systems engineering. It offers clients a range of services including turnkey systems development, consultancy, training and R&D. Key market sectors are aerospace and defence, rail, nuclear, air traffic management, automotive, medical and security. The company operates globally with active projects in the US, Asia and Europe. The headquarters of Altran Praxis are in Bath (UK) with offices in Sophia Antipolis, London, Paris, Loughborough and Bangalore. Altran Praxis is an expertise centre within, and wholly owned by, Altran which is a global leader in innovation engineering and employs 18,000 staff across the world.

www.altran-praxis.com

Press contacts:

Leena Chauhan

Altran Praxis
press@altran-praxis.com

Chris Measures/Clodagh Boyle

Speed (for Altran Praxis)
altran-praxis@speedcommunications.com

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SPARK is a high level programming language and toolset designed for writing software for high integrity applications. General Dynamics UK selected SPARK for the project owing to its ability to enable the development and verification of software to the highest level of Ministry of Defence safety certification – Defence Standard (Def Stan) 00-56 issue 2 Safety Integrity Level 4. SPARK enables the application of formal verification techniques in a segregated monitor architecture, ensuring rapid compliance.

The release of SPARK GPL completes the strategic shift that sees the once proprietary SPARK technology now a part of the Freely Licensed Open Source Software (FLOSS) ecosystem.

SPARK was created by Praxis, the international specialist in critical systems engineering and safety assurance, and AdaCore, the leading provider of commercial software solutions for the Ada language. SPARK provides the foremost language, toolset and design discipline for the engineering of high-assurance software. It combines the renowned SPARK language and verification tools from Praxis, with the GNAT Programming Studio (GPS) and GNATbench development environments from AdaCore.

SPARK GPL Edition allows students and the Free Software community to develop using the toolset under the terms of the GPL. Academic staff using SPARK in teaching and research can download the software under AdaCore’s GAP programme. A professional version - SPARK Pro - is globally available from AdaCore. Launched in March 2009, SPARK Pro includes full support and is aimed at professional developers of high assurance systems.

SPARK GPL is rapidly expanding the SPARK development community. Over 1,700 downloads of the technology have taken place from an estimated 700 individuals since the launch of the GPL Edition.

SPARK has a distinguished track-record in the development of high-assurance systems. These include the Tokeneer project developed by Praxis for the US National Security Agency (NSA) using SPARK and AdaCore’s GNAT technology. SPARK GPL complements Tokeneer, which provides a freely downloadable demonstration of the SPARK technology.

"SPARK has a long and distinguished industrial pedigree being used for large-scale critical development systems all over the world. This pedigree, and the research that has enabled it, is now freely available, and I look forward to seeing the research advances and innovations that will result," said Keith Williams, Praxis Managing Director. "It is also very important that the academic community now has access to such industrial-strength material to support the teaching of high-integrity software engineering."

Developed by Praxis, SPARK is a language specifically designed to support the development of software used in applications where correct operation is vital either for reasons of safety or security. The SPARK toolset offers static verification that is unrivalled in terms of its soundness, low false-alarm rate, depth and efficiency. The toolset also generates evidence for correctness that can be used to build a constructive assurance case in line with the requirements of industry regulators and certification schemes. There are versions of SPARK based on Ada 83, Ada 95, and Ada 2005, so all leading Ada compilers and tools work out-of-the-box with SPARK.

"AdaCore is committed to the Free Software community, and the launch of SPARK GPL will widen the scope and range of tools available to students and developers interested in learning how to build high-assurance applications," said Robert Dewar, CEO and President, AdaCore. "By making SPARK available to the academic and research community, we hope to stimulate work in improving approaches to developing safety- and security-critical systems."

The SPARK GPL release includes:

• The SPARK Language Definition
• Full SPARK Toolset, including RavenSPARK, Examiner, Simplifier and Checker
• Integration with the latest version of AdaCore’s GPS and GNATBench IDEs
• Tutorial material for SPARK GPL, included in the accompanying release of the Tokeneer Discovery package
• Availability of full sources for all the tools

Webinar
A joint webinar between AdaCore and Praxis, providing an introduction and demonstration of SPARK GPL, will be held on October 13, 2009. Academics and Free Software developers are encouraged to participate. It will begin at 5pm European Daylight Time/4pm GMT Daylight Time/11am Eastern Daylight Time/8am Pacific Daylight Time. Register here.

About Altran Praxis

Altran Praxis is a specialist systems and software house, focused on the engineering of systems with demanding safety, security or innovation requirements. Altran Praxis leads the world in specific areas of advanced systems engineering and innovation such as: ultra low defect software engineering, Human Machine Interface (HMI), safety engineering for complex or novel systems and tools (such as SPARK) /methods for systems engineering. It offers clients a range of services including turnkey systems development, consultancy, training and R&D. Key market sectors are aerospace and defence, rail, nuclear, air traffic management, automotive, medical and security. The company operates globally with active projects in the US, Asia and Europe. The headquarters of Altran Praxis are in Bath (UK) with offices in Sophia Antipolis, London, Paris, Loughborough and Bangalore. Altran Praxis is an expertise centre within, and wholly owned by, Altran which is a global leader in innovation engineering and employs 18,000 staff across the world.

www.altran-praxis.com

Press contacts:

Leena Chauhan

Altran Praxis
press@altran-praxis.com

Chris Measures/Clodagh Boyle

Speed (for Altran Praxis)
altran-praxis@speedcommunications.com

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