Ansys
Ansys, Inc. is an American multinational company with its headquarters based in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. It develops and markets CAE/multiphysics engineering simulation software for product design, testing and operation and offers its products and services to customers worldwide.
Company type
- Nasdaq: ANSS
- Nasdaq-100 component
- S&P 500 component
1970, in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, United States
Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
- Ronald Hovsepian (chairman)
- Ajei S. Gopal (president & CEO)
Ansys suite of engineering simulation software
US$2.27 billion (2023)
US$626 million (2023)
US$500 million (2023)
US$7.32 billion (2023)
US$5.39 billion (2023)
c. 6,200 (2023)
Origins[edit]
Ansys was founded in 1970 as Swanson Analysis Systems, Inc. (SASI) by John Swanson. The idea for Ansys was first conceived by Swanson while working at the Westinghouse Astronuclear Laboratory in the 1960s.[2] At the time, engineers performed finite element analysis (FEA) by hand.[2] Westinghouse rejected Swanson's idea to automate FEA by developing general purpose engineering software, so Swanson left the company in 1969 to develop the software on his own.[2] He founded SASI the next year, working out of his farmhouse in Pittsburgh.[3][4]
Swanson developed the initial ANSYS software on punch cards and used a mainframe computer that was rented by the hour.[2] Westinghouse hired him as a consultant, under the condition that any code he developed for Westinghouse could also be included in the Ansys product line.[3] Westinghouse became the first Ansys user.[3]
Swanson sold his interest in the company to venture capitalists in 1994, and the company was renamed "Ansys" after the software. Ansys went public on NASDAQ in 1996. In the 2000s, the company acquired other engineering design companies, obtaining additional technology for fluid dynamics, electronics design, and physics analysis. Ansys became a component of the NASDAQ-100 index on December 23, 2019.[5]
History[edit]
By 1991, SASI had 153 employees and $29 million in annual revenue,[6] controlling 10 percent of the market for finite element analysis software.[6] According to The Engineering Design Revolution, the company became "well-respected" among engineering circles, but remained small.[7]
In 1992, SASI acquired Compuflo, which marketed and developed fluid dynamics analysis software.[7]
In 1994, Swanson sold his majority interest in the company to venture capitalist firm TA Associates.[3][6] Peter Smith was appointed CEO[7] and SASI was renamed after the software, Ansys, the following year.[3][6]
Ansys went public in 1996, raising about $46 million in an initial public offering.[7]
By 1997, Ansys had grown to $50.5 million in annual revenue.[8]
In the late 1990s, Ansys shifted its business model[7] away from software licenses, and corresponding revenue declined.[7] However, revenue from services increased.[7]
From 1996 to 2000, profits at Ansys grew an average of 160 percent per year.[6]
In February 2000, Jim Cashman was appointed CEO.[7] Current CEO Ajei S. Gopal was appointed in early 2017.[9][10]
In November 2020, South China Morning Post reported that Ansys software had been used for Chinese military research in the development of hypersonic missile technology.[11] In October 2022, Washington Post reviewed procurement documents and confirmed that Ansys technology had been acquired by seven Chinese entities present on either the export blacklist or with known links to Chinese missile technology.[12] Ansys said that it and its subsidiaries have no records of the indicated sales or shipments and suggested that piracy may have been involved.[12]
In January 2024 Synopsys and Ansys announced that they had entered into a definitive agreement under which Synopsys would acquire Ansys in a deal valued at around $35B.[13][14]