The Company
VRcontext International S.A. - a spin-off of Tractebel Engineering (a GDF Suez Group company), is a privately owned Virtual Reality Software company headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. With an office in Houston, Texas, and its strategic partners and a global network of over 20 value-added resellers, VRcontext enjoys global reach with certified support capability to guarantee the quality of its technology deployment. Incorporated in 2000, VRcontext is widely recognized for its flagship product Walkinside®, the result of over a decade of pioneering developments in the Virtual Worlds technology area. Benefitting from over 75 man-years of R&D, Walkinside is now fast becoming the worldwide standard in the Oil & Gas, Process and Energy Industries, with applications in the Architecture/Engineering/Construction (AEC) and Homeland Security markets.
By providing intuitive, real-time access to all pertinent information for complex industrial facilities, VRcontext's best-in-class solution offers unprecedented opportunities for optimizing major capital asset operations, change management and safety, leveraging the asset model as a shared 3D portal. Owner/Operators together with their partners and service contractors can collaborate remotely and manage their assets more intelligently, enhancing process management, security, and personnel safety. VRcontext delivers an extremely intuitive and powerful, real-time collaborative environment that helps streamline work processes and personnel training, enables faster and better decision-making, and optimizes the management of critical assets over their lifetimes, while mitigating growing shortage of, and accessibility to, skilled personnel. The latest software Release 6 is SOA- and .NET-compliant, after a complete redevelopment aimed at capitalizing on modern software engineering standards and delivering better product modularity, while enhancing performance and end-user experiences. With the powerful Walkinside 6 SDK, effective integration with external applications and diverse data sources is now easier than ever before.
Operating Principles
VRcontext is a nimble organization, committed to delivering outstanding application quality to its clients and is constantly striving to exceed their expectations with unmatched responsiveness. The Company is continuously seeking to develop mutually rewarding relationships and partnerships with value-add organizations. VRcontext delivers highly flexible Enterprise solutions, without compromising adherence to ISO and other recognized standards and practices.
VRcontext manages its business based on the principles of strong corporate governance, a clear system of management accountability, and a set of values and policies for quality software programming. The corporate governance policies emphasize the importance of the relationships between the Company's management team, and its Board of Advisors and shareholders.
Walking Together
By constantly interacting with its owner-operator customers and their contractors and service providers, VRcontext has developed state-of-the-art, innovative tools for real-time operations and process monitoring. At the same time, VRcontext is constantly improving its competency and know-how in the area of real-time visualization of massive data models for time-critical and complex operations of Process Industry assets.
Our Mission
VRcontext bridges the gap between the engineering design activities and the life cycle of critical and massive assets, including operations and maintenance, safety, training, simulations of potential incidents, disaster recovery planning and execution, and decommissioning. Collaboration, full immersive SOP simulation and networked avatars allow various disciplines to better understand, communicate, monitor and manage their assets remotely. "Real-time visualization for both Greenfield and existing assets is becoming a de-facto requirement for enhancing efficiency and safety. Benefiting from our mature technology, our customers can accelerate and increase value and ROI to their projects, leveraging intelligent, visual accessibility to all resources and information available, via a single model-based portal " says Francois Lagae, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of VRcontext. "Further, with our authorized sales network, we are in an ideal position to support our customers on a global scale, extending into new markets and allowing our partners to provide their clients with the strength of our world-class knowledge, support and service."
Business Focus
Walkinside implementation is primarily focused on the Oil & Gas, Process, Energy, AEC, and Homeland Security markets, but can also be extended to Mining, Paper & Pulp, Pharmaceuticals and Aerospace. With the Walkinside SDK, VRcontext offers a unique open framework for, and a suite of, application plug-ins, encompassing SCADA and DCS information, links to databases (including production, scheduling and maintenance), document management, and asset decommissioning. These solutions enable critical information-sharing between O/Os and their Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) firms and contractors. Considerable time and money can be saved to Owner-Operators by enabling them to immersively visualize design, maintenance, and operational data through a single unified and complete virtual 3D model of the asset, which is built from diverse input formats. Avoiding costly re-engineering and accelerating safe plant start-up and personnel training are key benefits from deploying Walkinside.
Services
In support of the efficient implementation of its software and to maximize customer benefits, VRcontext offers end-user, administrator and software engineer training, as well as services to customize Walkinside-based business solutions to customersÕ specific requirements. Easily accessible custom links to internal and external applications, document management systems, and databases can readily be developed to expedite effective integration across all disciplines, tools, and information sources.
VRcontext International S.A. - a spin-off of Tractebel Engineering (a GDF Suez Group company), is a privately owned Virtual Reality Software company headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. With an office in Houston, Texas, and its strategic partners and a global network of over 20 value-added resellers, VRcontext enjoys global reach with certified support capability to guarantee the quality of its technology deployment. Incorporated in 2000, VRcontext is widely recognized for its flagship product Walkinside®, the result of over a decade of pioneering developments in the Virtual Worlds technology area. Benefitting from over 75 man-years of R&D, Walkinside is now fast becoming the worldwide standard in the Oil & Gas, Process and Energy Industries, with applications in the Architecture/Engineering/Construction (AEC) and Homeland Security markets.
By providing intuitive, real-time access to all pertinent information for complex industrial facilities, VRcontext's best-in-class solution offers unprecedented opportunities for optimizing major capital asset operations, change management and safety, leveraging the asset model as a shared 3D portal. Owner/Operators together with their partners and service contractors can collaborate remotely and manage their assets more intelligently, enhancing process management, security, and personnel safety. VRcontext delivers an extremely intuitive and powerful, real-time collaborative environment that helps streamline work processes and personnel training, enables faster and better decision-making, and optimizes the management of critical assets over their lifetimes, while mitigating growing shortage of, and accessibility to, skilled personnel. The latest software Release 6 is SOA- and .NET-compliant, after a complete redevelopment aimed at capitalizing on modern software engineering standards and delivering better product modularity, while enhancing performance and end-user experiences. With the powerful Walkinside 6 SDK, effective integration with external applications and diverse data sources is now easier than ever before.
Operating Principles
VRcontext is a nimble organization, committed to delivering outstanding application quality to its clients and is constantly striving to exceed their expectations with unmatched responsiveness. The Company is continuously seeking to develop mutually rewarding relationships and partnerships with value-add organizations. VRcontext delivers highly flexible Enterprise solutions, without compromising adherence to ISO and other recognized standards and practices.
VRcontext manages its business based on the principles of strong corporate governance, a clear system of management accountability, and a set of values and policies for quality software programming. The corporate governance policies emphasize the importance of the relationships between the Company's management team, and its Board of Advisors and shareholders.
Walking Together
By constantly interacting with its owner-operator customers and their contractors and service providers, VRcontext has developed state-of-the-art, innovative tools for real-time operations and process monitoring. At the same time, VRcontext is constantly improving its competency and know-how in the area of real-time visualization of massive data models for time-critical and complex operations of Process Industry assets.
Our Mission
VRcontext bridges the gap between the engineering design activities and the life cycle of critical and massive assets, including operations and maintenance, safety, training, simulations of potential incidents, disaster recovery planning and execution, and decommissioning. Collaboration, full immersive SOP simulation and networked avatars allow various disciplines to better understand, communicate, monitor and manage their assets remotely. "Real-time visualization for both Greenfield and existing assets is becoming a de-facto requirement for enhancing efficiency and safety. Benefiting from our mature technology, our customers can accelerate and increase value and ROI to their projects, leveraging intelligent, visual accessibility to all resources and information available, via a single model-based portal " says Francois Lagae, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of VRcontext. "Further, with our authorized sales network, we are in an ideal position to support our customers on a global scale, extending into new markets and allowing our partners to provide their clients with the strength of our world-class knowledge, support and service."
Business Focus
Walkinside implementation is primarily focused on the Oil & Gas, Process, Energy, AEC, and Homeland Security markets, but can also be extended to Mining, Paper & Pulp, Pharmaceuticals and Aerospace. With the Walkinside SDK, VRcontext offers a unique open framework for, and a suite of, application plug-ins, encompassing SCADA and DCS information, links to databases (including production, scheduling and maintenance), document management, and asset decommissioning. These solutions enable critical information-sharing between O/Os and their Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) firms and contractors. Considerable time and money can be saved to Owner-Operators by enabling them to immersively visualize design, maintenance, and operational data through a single unified and complete virtual 3D model of the asset, which is built from diverse input formats. Avoiding costly re-engineering and accelerating safe plant start-up and personnel training are key benefits from deploying Walkinside.
Services
In support of the efficient implementation of its software and to maximize customer benefits, VRcontext offers end-user, administrator and software engineer training, as well as services to customize Walkinside-based business solutions to customersÕ specific requirements. Easily accessible custom links to internal and external applications, document management systems, and databases can readily be developed to expedite effective integration across all disciplines, tools, and information sources.
François Lagae is Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, as well as cofounder, of VRcontext. He has a 25 years experience in IT, including 7 years as Chief Executive Officer of Wave Research/FilePool, a Belgian software success story bought by USA-based EMC, the worldwide data storage leader, and 5 years with Hewlett-Packard in international marketing and sales. François is also a board member for a number of other IT companies. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and an MSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Louvain (Belgium).
Marc de Buyl joined VRcontext in 2007 as Vice President of the Americas and Managing Director for VRcontext LLC, based in Houston, Texas. With over 30 years in Energy, in Oil & Gas in particular, he brings relevant business and technical experience and a career history with the service industry, mainly designing E&P software applications and business processes. His career spans R&D, business development, and management responsibilities with Western Geophysical (now a Division of Schlumberger Oilfield Services); optimizing hydrocarbon reservoir management for Compagnie Générale de Géophysique; and heading up the Energy Management Consulting Group for Electronic Data Systems. His technical background is focused on earth sciences; Marc has an MSc in Geology from the University of Brussels, post-graduate studies in exploration seismology at the Colorado School of Mines, and an MBA from the West London Institute of Higher Education. He has published numerous articles and papers in trade journals, has served as an SPE Distinguished Lecturer, and is a member of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, the European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers, and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
André Colin joined VRcontext in 2005 as Vice President - Business Development after spending more than 25 years in the software industry. He started his career as consultant in structural analysis with Control Data Corporation. He then joined Computervision, an historical leader in the CAD/CAM industry, where he had several International Sales Management positions. After spending 5 years as General Manager - Europe with CADSI, a developer of Dynamic Simulation software for the Mechanical Engineering sector, he worked as Vice President - Europe for Rand Worldwide, which sells and deploys a PLM-based solution. Andréholds an MSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Louvain (Belgium) and a Ph.D. in Engineering from UCLA (USA).
Hans Van den Wijngaert joined VRcontext in 2006 as Sales Director, after spending over 10 years in the Computer Aided Engineering software industry.He joined CADSI in 1996 as application engineer for Dynamic Simulation software for the Mechanical Industry. In 1999 he joined LMS International where he held different positions in International Presales support, Software Development, Marketing and Product Management for Functional Performance Simulation products used by the Automotive and Aerospace industry. Hans holds a MS in Mechanical Engineering (Major in Mechatronics) from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.