Some 25 years after it spun out of the University of Cambridge, Granta Design has been acquired by ANSYS. The premier provider of materials information technology, Granta Design has collaborated with ANSYS, the global leader and innovator of engineering simulation software, since 2006. Most recently the two companies launched an additive manufacturing partnership, integrating ANSYS simulation with the GRANTA MI: Material Gateway.

With advances in the performance of metals, plastics and other materials, including innovations in areas such as composites and additive manufacturing, businesses have a wealth of material choices when developing products. At the same time, they require accurate, traceable and reliable materials information to make informed choices and to ensure that simulations of material and device behaviour yield accurate results.

With this acquisition, ANSYS customers gain access to Granta Design’s world-leading system for managing corporate material intelligence and its market-leading solution for materials sources, selection and management. Granta customers can expect even easier access to ANSYS’ gold-standard simulation technology. Granta will continue its open ecosystem, integrating with a wide range of leading product lifecycle management, CAD and computer-aided engineering solutions.

A publicly-traded American company, ANSYS develops and markets finite element analysis software used to simulate engineering problems. Founded in 1970, it has close to 3,000 employees. It is based in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. Over 40,000 customers worldwide use ANSYS solutions, including 96 of the top 100 industrial companies in the Fortune 500 representing a wide range of industries, including aerospace, automotive, defence, electronics, energy, materials and chemical processing, turbomachinery and consumer products.

Granta Design was founded in 1994 as a spin-out from the Department of Engineering by Professors Mike Ashby and David Cebon. It is the largest company and R&D organisation operating in the materials information technology market. Headquartered in Cambridge, Granta Design has over 180 employees. Its products include GRANTA MI, the leading system for enterprise materials information management, and CES Selector, which enables users to explore the impact that different materials have on the behaviour of their products. Granta’s customers include Airbus, General Motors, Emerson Electric, Lockheed Martin, NASA, Saudi Aramco and Rolls-Royce. Granta also develops CES EduPack, the world’s leading teaching resource for materials topics in engineering, science, processing and design, which is used by over 1,000 universities worldwide.

“Granta Design pioneered the field of materials information technology,” said Shane Emswiler, ANSYS vice president and general manager. “With materials engineering becoming an increasingly important aspect of product development, our customers require high-quality and comprehensive materials information for accurate simulation results. Integrating Granta’s solutions into the ANSYS portfolio will provide a seamless user experience—and enable our customers to innovate like never before.”

“For nearly 50 years, ANSYS has been the leader in engineering simulation,” said David Cebon, co-founder and managing director of Granta Design. “Combining that expertise with Granta’s decades of experience in material intelligence will help our customers make smarter decisions when developing their next-generation products.”

Former Deputy Director of Cambridge Enterprise, Dr Richard Jennings, supported Granta through its spin-out and development and served on its Board of Directors for 25 years. “Granta represents the best of technology transfer,” he said. “The acquisition by ANSYS confirms the outstanding quality of the technology and once again enables the work of leading Cambridge academics to have a true global impact.” 

News of the intended acquisition was announced on 22 January.