Altair Engineering
An engineering technology company providing simulation, high-performance computing, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and cloud software.
Last updated August 27, 2026
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Overview
Altair Engineering is a United States-based engineering technology company whose software and cloud solutions support product development, simulation, optimization, high-performance computing, data analytics, and artificial intelligence. Founded in Troy, Michigan, in 1985 by James R. Scapa, George Christ, and Mark Kistner, the company began as an engineering consulting firm before developing a substantial product business in computer-aided engineering and numerical simulation. Its customers have included organizations in automotive, aerospace, aviation, defense, electronics, consumer products, energy, heavy equipment, life sciences, finance, and manufacturing. Altair became particularly associated with HyperWorks, a computer-aided engineering environment that brought together model preparation, finite-element analysis, optimization, visualization, and related engineering workflows. Products such as HyperMesh and OptiStruct helped establish the company in automotive and other product-development markets, where engineers use virtual analysis to test structures, reduce weight, evaluate materials, and shorten physical prototyping cycles. Altair software has also been used in the development of aircraft components, racing yachts, vehicles, consumer electronics, and other engineered products. The company’s engineering services arm continued to provide consulting and product-development support alongside its software activities. Over time, Altair broadened beyond conventional simulation. Its portfolio came to include electromagnetic and thermal analysis, computational fluid dynamics, design and generative optimization, visualization, Internet of Things and data intelligence, workload management, and high-performance computing. Through PBS Professional and the broader PBS Works portfolio, Altair supplied tools for scheduling and managing demanding workloads across clusters, supercomputers, private infrastructure, and cloud environments. The company also developed or acquired technologies intended to make simulation and optimization accessible earlier in the design process, including Altair Inspire and SimSolid. Acquisitions were central to Altair’s expansion. The company acquired or licensed technologies in areas including optimization, computational mechanics, rendering, data analytics, workload management, and industrial design. Its acquisition of Datawatch strengthened data visualization and analytics, while its purchase of RapidMiner in 2022 added enterprise data preparation, machine learning, and data-science capabilities. In 2023, Altair rebranded that offering as Altair RapidMiner. These moves reflected a strategy of connecting physical simulation and engineering knowledge with operational data and artificial intelligence. Altair became a publicly traded company on Nasdaq in November 2017 under the symbol ALTR. It later agreed to be acquired by Siemens in October 2024. The transaction was completed in March 2025, reportedly at a value of approximately $10.6 billion, and Altair was integrated into Siemens’ Digital Industries organization. It therefore ceased to operate as an independent listed company, while its software products, technologies, and brand continued within Siemens’ industrial software portfolio.
History
Altair Engineering was established in 1985 in Troy, Michigan, by James R. Scapa, George Christ, and Mark Kistner. Scapa remained the company’s central executive leader from its founding and later served as chairman. Altair initially operated as an engineering consultancy. It gradually moved toward developing and licensing computer-aided engineering software, responding to manufacturers’ need to evaluate product performance computationally before committing to expensive physical prototypes. During the 1990s, Altair developed a reputation in engineering simulation through products including HyperWorks, HyperMesh, and OptiStruct. The company’s tools were especially significant in automotive product development, where structural analysis and optimization could be used to reduce weight, improve performance, and shorten development cycles. Early customers and users included Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler. Altair’s technology was also applied in racing-yacht development, including work associated with the Young America and AmericaOne projects for the America’s Cup. Its customer base later extended into aerospace, aviation, electronics, consumer products, and toy manufacturing. In 2002, Altair software was used in weight optimization work for wing ribs of the Airbus A380. The company expanded internationally during this period. It had begun investing in India in the 1990s and opened offices in Seongnam, South Korea, and Shanghai, China, in 2002. In 2003, Altair acquired rights to PBS Professional, enabling it to enter more deeply into workload management and high-performance computing. A $30 million investment from General Atlantic in October 2004 supported further growth. By 2004, software sales and licensing had overtaken consulting as the company’s principal source of revenue. Altair also participated with General Motors and the United States Department of Defense in work on a new military vehicle. Altair continued to build its engineering portfolio through acquisitions. In 2006, it acquired French computer-aided engineering company Mecalog and its Radioss technology. The company also created ilumisys in 2007 to develop LED lighting products intended as direct replacements for fluorescent tubes. That business was relocated within Michigan in 2011 and rebranded as Toggled in 2012. During the early 2010s, Altair ProductDesign developed vehicle concepts and prototypes, including the BUSolution hydraulic-hybrid transit bus concept and the Avant GT electric concept car. By 2013, the company had offices in 19 countries and approximately 1,800 employees. It also bought out General Atlantic’s equity stake that year. Altair expanded into visualization and data-oriented technologies in the second half of the 2010s. In 2016, it acquired Solid Iris Technologies, the developer of Thea Render, adding photorealistic rendering and visualization capabilities. On November 1, 2017, Altair completed an initial public offering on Nasdaq under the symbol ALTR. The IPO raised approximately $156 million, with shares priced at $13, according to the cited reference material. Altair had acquired numerous companies before the IPO and continued to pursue a portfolio strategy afterward. Its Startup Program, introduced in 2018 and relaunched in 2021, made selected technologies available to qualifying early-stage companies. By 2019, Altair had acquired approximately 30 businesses, business units, or software packages. It increasingly incorporated artificial intelligence and machine learning into its engineering and analytics products. The acquisition of Datawatch strengthened visualization and data analytics and was followed by the opening of a Greensboro, North Carolina office. In the 2020s, Altair positioned simulation, high-performance computing, analytics, and AI as connected components of a wider industrial technology platform. Its collaboration with Rolls-Royce applied AI and machine learning to aero-engine design, while Argonne National Laboratory selected PBS Professional for high-performance computing workloads. Altair completed its acquisition of RapidMiner in 2022, adding enterprise data preparation, data science, machine learning, and model-development capabilities. The offering was rebranded Altair RapidMiner in 2023. That year, Altair also acquired OmniQuest to extend its optimization portfolio. In May 2023, the United States Court of Appeals issued a favorable ruling in a copyright-infringement case concerning SAS software; the reference material identifies this as a significant legal development involving Altair, but does not provide enough detail here to characterize the full procedural history. On October 30, 2024, Siemens announced an agreement to acquire Altair. The transaction was completed in March 2025, with Altair becoming part of Siemens Digital Industries. The cited Wikipedia reference describes the acquisition value as $10.6 billion. Altair consequently ceased to be an independent Nasdaq-listed company, while its software and technology portfolio continued within Siemens’ industrial software activities.
- 2025
Acquisition by Siemens completed
[5]Siemens completed the acquisition and integrated Altair into its Digital Industries business.
- 2024
Siemens announces acquisition agreement
[4]Siemens announced an agreement to acquire Altair in an all-cash transaction.
- 2023
Altair RapidMiner rebrand
[1]Altair rebranded its data analytics and AI offering as Altair RapidMiner.
- 2023
OmniQuest acquired
[1]Altair acquired OmniQuest to further develop its optimization technology.
- 2022
RapidMiner acquisition completed
[3]The acquisition added enterprise data science, data preparation, and machine-learning capabilities.
- 2021
Startup Program relaunched
[1]Altair relaunched its Startup Program as part of its outreach to early-stage technology companies.
- 2019
Datawatch acquisition expands analytics
[1]Altair acquired Datawatch, strengthening its data visualization and analytics business.
- 2018
Startup Program launched
[2]Altair introduced a program providing qualifying startups with access to selected software and technologies.
- 2017
Altair goes public
[1]Altair began trading on Nasdaq on November 1 under the ticker ALTR.
- 2016
Solid Iris Technologies acquired
[1]The acquisition brought Thea Render and related photorealistic rendering capabilities into Altair’s technology portfolio.
Products and positioning
A broad engineering and industrial software platform linking simulation, optimization, high-performance computing, data analytics, and artificial intelligence for product development and operational decision-making.
Engineering simulation platform
Altair HyperWorks
Altair’s principal engineering simulation environment brings together tools for model preparation, finite-element and multiphysics analysis, optimization, visualization, and workflow management. It is used by engineering organizations to evaluate product performance virtually and coordinate simulation activities across development programs.
Finite-element pre-processing
Altair HyperMesh
A model-building and pre-processing environment used to prepare complex finite-element and simulation models. HyperMesh supports engineering teams working with detailed assemblies and multiple solver technologies before analysis and optimization are performed.
Structural optimization
Altair OptiStruct
A structural analysis and optimization solver used to improve designs for strength, stiffness, weight, durability, and other engineering objectives. It became one of Altair’s recognized technologies in automotive and broader product-development applications.
Design and generative optimization
Altair Inspire
A family of design-oriented simulation and optimization tools intended to bring engineering analysis earlier into the product-development process. Designers and engineers can explore structural behavior, topology, materials, manufacturing considerations, and alternative geometries before detailed production engineering.
Structural analysis
Altair SimSolid
Structural simulation software designed for complex assemblies and rapid design iteration. It seeks to reduce the conventional model-preparation burden associated with finite-element analysis, allowing engineers to assess designs without extensive geometry simplification or meshing work.
High-performance computing
Altair PBS Works
A portfolio for managing high-performance computing environments, workloads, and resources. Its technologies support scheduling, monitoring, and administration across enterprise clusters, supercomputers, private infrastructure, cloud environments, and hybrid computing deployments.
Workload management · 2003
Altair PBS Professional
A workload manager and job scheduler for high-performance computing systems. It helps organizations allocate computing resources, queue jobs, and coordinate demanding scientific, engineering, analytics, and industrial workloads across clusters and supercomputing environments.
Data analytics and artificial intelligence · 2022
Altair RapidMiner
An enterprise data-science and AI platform acquired through RapidMiner and rebranded by Altair in 2023. Its capabilities include data preparation, visual workflows, machine learning, model development, deployment, and analytics intended for technical and business users.
Electromagnetic and thermal simulation
Altair Flux
Simulation software for electromagnetic, thermal, and electromechanical engineering. It supports analysis of fields, heat behavior, electric machines, and related system-performance questions in product and component design.
Rendering and visualization
Thea Render
A photorealistic rendering and visualization technology developed by Solid Iris Technologies and brought into Altair through acquisition. It added visual presentation and rendering capabilities to Altair’s wider design and engineering software portfolio.
Marketing campaigns
- 2018Altair Startup Program
Global startup and early-stage technology markets
Altair introduced a program that made selected engineering, simulation, computing, and analytics technologies available to qualifying startups. The program was relaunched in 2021 and served as an ecosystem and adoption initiative for early-stage companies.
Outcome. The program continued as a startup-focused technology access initiative.
Brand decisions
2024
Agreement to be acquired by SiemensM&ABackground
Altair operated across engineering simulation, high-performance computing, analytics, and AI, while Siemens was expanding its industrial software platform.
Action taken
Siemens announced an all-cash agreement to acquire Altair. The transaction was completed in March 2025.
Aftermath
Altair became part of Siemens Digital Industries and ceased to be an independent Nasdaq-listed company.
Reported acquisition value. $10.6 billion (Announced October 2024; completed March 2025)
2022
RapidMiner acquisitionM&ABackground
Altair sought to connect engineering simulation with enterprise data science, machine learning, and operational analytics.
Action taken
Altair completed the acquisition of RapidMiner and incorporated its data-preparation, analytics, and machine-learning capabilities.
Aftermath
The technology became the foundation of the Altair RapidMiner offering and strengthened Altair’s data and AI positioning.
2017
Initial public offeringOtherBackground
After years of product expansion and acquisitions, Altair sought access to public equity markets.
Action taken
Altair listed on Nasdaq on November 1, 2017, under the symbol ALTR.
Aftermath
The company became an independently traded public software business.
IPO proceeds. $156 million raised (November 2017)
2004
Shift toward software-led revenueStrategyBackground
Altair had historically generated substantial revenue from engineering consulting while also developing computer-aided engineering products.
Action taken
The company expanded software production, licensing, and product development, with software sales and licensing overtaking consulting as its main revenue source by 2004.
Aftermath
Altair developed into a broader engineering software and computing technology company while retaining consulting capabilities.
Sources5 sources
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