Project 2

The idea for Ansys was first conceived by John 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 Ansys under the name Swanson Analysis Systems Inc. (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 Swanson as a consultant, under the condition that any code he developed for Westinghouse could also be included in the Ansys product line.^[3] Westinghouse also became the first Ansys user.^[3