ERIM Acquires Vector Research Incorporated

    ANN ARBOR, Mich., May 21 The Environmental Research
Institute of Michigan (ERIM) today announced it has acquired Vector Research
Incorporated (VRI), a 350-person information technology company with major
operations in the Washington, D.C. metro area and San Antonio, Texas, in
addition to its offices in Ann Arbor.  The new company will have $75 million
in annual revenues.

    "This partnership is about speed and about delivering on promises," said
Ken Baker, ERIM's President and CEO.  "As one of the top-tier, non-profit
research institutions in the nation, the new ERIM is ideally positioned to
accelerate the flow of pioneering smart informatics research to the useable
good.  This is a key part of our non-profit mission, to ensure that the
quality of our research finds a direct, deployable and sustainable link to the
quality of life and business through-out the nation and the world."

    ERIM develops and deploys smart informatics systems solutions to four core
market areas: (1) defense and civil agencies within the federal and state
governments; (2) healthcare and life sciences; (3) automotive; and (4)
environmental.  "Each of these core ERIM markets has tremendous and growing
need for information," said Baker.  "But the new ERIM is more than just
another IT company.  We're about gathering information, processing information
and extracting new knowledge from what we gather and process.

    "It's the rapid delivery of new knowledge to the customer that lies at the
heart of informatics.  It is an explosive area for research and innovation and
an almost limitless opportunity for new application."

    ERIM, with the addition of VRI, employs 450 people with approximately 200
in Washington, D.C. and nearly 30 in San Antonio.  The bulk of the remaining
employees are in Michigan.  The combined entity has a strong history of
providing advanced information and knowledge generation technology solutions
to the federal government including the Department of Defense, the Department
of the Treasury and the U.S. Agency for International Development.  VRI's
pioneering work in advanced modeling and simulation, originally developed for
DoD customers, is finding application in the healthcare industry where
modeling improvements to large healthcare delivery systems holds promise for
improving efficiencies, saving money and delivering better care.

    "Few people might guess that the number one supplier to the automotive
industry is the healthcare industry," said CEO Baker.  "This cost impacts
every buyer in a measurable way.  The power of the new ERIM is that it has the
depth and the breadth to understand the dynamics in critical commercial
sectors, such as the automotive industry, and to know intuitively and rapidly
how solutions developed for one customer, like the military health care
system, might be deployed to meet the needs of another, such as the automotive
industry.  It's a wonderful example of what it means to be an end-to-end
innovator."

    As with ERIM, VRI was founded as a "spin-off" from the University of
Michigan.  At the request of senior U.S. Army leadership in 1969, VRI was born
out of the University's Systems Research Lab.  Its initial work focused on
applying sophisticated new simulation models for better understanding combat
operations.  As VRI's expertise in simulation-based, high-end analysis and
modeling grew, new applications in healthcare and information technology were
identified and successfully deployed.

    "This is one of those rare business partnerships where one plus one does
equal three," said Vector founder Seth Bonder.  "ERIM's time-tested history as
one of the nation's leading research non-profits combined with VRI's proven
ability to speed the delivery of innovative IT solutions to our customers is
an all around win."  As part of the transaction, Bonder has been added to the
ERIM Board of Trustees.