What Altair makes

Altair builds computer-aided engineering software that automotive OEMs and their tier suppliers use to design and validate vehicles in simulation before cutting metal. The company is best known for the HyperWorks platform, a suite of applications for finite element analysis, computational fluid dynamics, multi-body dynamics, electromagnetics, and structural optimization. Named products within and around that platform include OptiStruct for structural analysis and topology optimization, HyperMesh for pre-processing and meshing, Radioss for crash and impact simulation, SimSolid for meshless simulation, Inspire for early design and generative work, Feko for electromagnetics, and EDEM for bulk-material and particle simulation.

The product line reaches beyond pure simulation. Altair sells high-performance computing workload management through PBS Professional, data analytics and machine learning through RapidMiner, and a portfolio of tools for electronic system design and systems modeling. Taken together, the software supports the way modern vehicle programs are run: engineers optimize a body-in-white for stiffness and weight, run crash cases against regulatory tests, model battery-pack thermal behavior for electric vehicles, and schedule those large simulation jobs across compute clusters. Simulation-led design is also what lets a program compress its bill of materials and tooling decisions earlier, before commitments are locked. Altair's own examples describe crash simulations of vehicles including a Ford Taurus and an electric Toyota Venza with its battery pack, the kind of physics-heavy work that defines the automotive engineering use case.

Altair started in 1985 as an engineering consulting firm in Troy, Michigan, and moved into packaged software over the following decades. Early automotive clients included Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler, and simulation-led design remains central to how carmakers and suppliers cut development time and cost. For buyers weighing where engineering work happens, the choice between building simulation capability in-house and buying a commercial platform is a version of the broader build-versus-buy question that runs through every direct-materials organization.

Financial performance

Altair's last full year as a public company was strong. For fiscal 2024 the company reported total revenue of $665.8 million, up 8.7 percent year over year, with software revenue of $611.9 million, up 11.3 percent. Profitability turned positive: GAAP operating income was $17.7 million and net income was $14.2 million, a swing from a net loss of $8.9 million in 2023. Adjusted EBITDA reached $149.9 million at a 22.5 percent margin, per the company's fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 results. Those are published figures from Altair's final earnings release before the acquisition closed.

Altair traded on the Nasdaq under the ticker ALTR from its 2017 initial public offering until the Siemens acquisition closed in March 2025. As a subsidiary inside Siemens Digital Industries Software, Altair no longer files standalone financial statements, so the FY2024 figures above are the most recent published standalone results.

Ownership and history

Altair was founded in 1985 by James Scapa, George Christ, and Mark Kistner. It grew through roughly forty acquisitions over four decades, adding Radioss for crash simulation, Datawatch and RapidMiner for data analytics, and Univa for HPC scheduling, among others. In September 2024 Siemens agreed to acquire Altair for about $10.6 billion, or $113.00 per share in cash, and the deal closed in March 2025.

Altair now operates as part of Siemens Digital Industries Software, where its portfolio was combined with Siemens' existing simulation and test business. Founder and long-time chief executive James Scapa departed in 2025. The combined simulation, HPC, and AI organization is led by Sam Mahalingam, Altair's former chief technology officer, now an executive vice president at Siemens Digital Industries Software and based in Troy, Michigan. The company reports serving more than 16,000 customers across offices in some 28 countries.

Certifications and quality

Altair is a software and services company rather than a parts manufacturer, so the quality signals that matter here differ from the PPAP and IATF 16949 evidence a stamping or molding supplier would carry. Its simulation solvers are used to satisfy the physical validation and regulatory crash-testing that vehicle programs require, and its software is deployed inside the engineering functions of major manufacturers. Public, dated certification records specific to Altair's software operations were not confirmed for this profile, so no certification claim is published here.

Known customers

Altair's software is a long-standing staple of automotive engineering, but current program-level customer relationships are largely unnamed in public sources. The documented, publishable relationships are historical and directional rather than current contract disclosures.

Beyond these historical relationships, Altair describes its solutions as used by "the world's largest manufacturers and suppliers" for vehicle development, and it publishes automotive crash and optimization case studies. Those are company characterizations of its market, not disclosures of specific current accounts.

Frequently asked questions

What does Altair Engineering make?

Altair makes computer-aided engineering software used to simulate and optimize product designs. Its best-known platform is HyperWorks, which spans finite element analysis, computational fluid dynamics, crash simulation with Radioss, structural optimization with OptiStruct, and meshing with HyperMesh. It also sells high-performance computing management (PBS Professional) and data analytics (RapidMiner). Automotive engineering is a core use case.

Who owns Altair Engineering?

Siemens owns Altair. Siemens acquired the company for about $10.6 billion in a deal that closed in March 2025, and Altair now operates as part of Siemens Digital Industries Software. Altair was previously public, trading on the Nasdaq as ALTR from 2017 until the acquisition.

What is Altair Engineering's revenue?

Altair's last reported full-year revenue as a public company was $665.8 million for fiscal 2024, up 8.7 percent year over year, with net income of $14.2 million. As a Siemens subsidiary, Altair no longer reports standalone financial results, so FY2024 is the most recent published figure.

Where is Altair Engineering headquartered?

Altair is headquartered at 1820 East Big Beaver Road, Troy, Michigan 48083. The company was founded in Troy in 1985 and reports offices in roughly 28 countries.

Who are Altair Engineering's customers?

Altair serves engineering organizations across automotive, aerospace, electronics, and other industries and reports more than 16,000 customers. In automotive specifically, its early clients included Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler, and its simulation software remains widely used by OEMs and suppliers for crash, structural, and optimization work.

Is Altair still an independent company?

No. Altair became part of Siemens Digital Industries Software when Siemens completed its acquisition in March 2025. Its simulation portfolio was combined with Siemens' existing simulation and test business, and the combined organization is led by former Altair CTO Sam Mahalingam.

Last verified September 27, 2026. Is this your company? Request a correction.