New Board Members Bring Focus on Digital Product and Experience Creation to Altair

TROY, Mich., Sept. 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Altair has added Trace Harris and Oren Michels to its Board of Directors.

"With both these individuals we have deliberately brought aboard talent from outside of traditional product development technology viewpoints", noted James R. Scapa, Altair's Founder, Chairman and CEO. "The world enabled by cloud-based high performance computing, data analytics, and connectivity through the Internet of Things will be a better place.   Altair believes strongly that we can play a strong role in helping product and experience creators across the globe design a future that is more sustainable and allows more people to achieve their full potential. Trace and Oren have the clarity and vision to help us do that."

Ms. Harris' professional experience includes 13 years with Vivendi, ultimately as its senior executive in the US for strategy, finance, corporate development, and business innovation. She was previously Senior Vice President of Strategic Development for Universal Studios Television Group, where she was responsible for developing and implementing international television strategies as well as for launching its first international television network. Prior to Universal Studios, Trace was Director of Finance and Channel Operations for Warner Brothers International Channels. She started her career at JP Morgan in New York.  Ms. Harris was granted her Bachelor's degree from Stanford University in Economics and her MBA from Yale School of Management.

Trace Harris stated that, "Altair enables companies across a wide range of industries to innovate faster and optimize both product design and decision making. I'm thrilled to serve on the board of this innovative, dynamic and growing organization which delivers so much value for its customers."

Mr. Michels is an entrepreneur, investor, board member, and advisor to technology startups in the US and Europe. He co-founded Mashery in 2006 and served as CEO until Intel acquired the company in 2013. When it was acquired, Mashery-powered APIs were used by over 350,000 active developers in over 100,000 active applications, and counted among its customers many of the largest e-commerce, media, and data companies in the world.  Oren's angel investments include Uber, Pebble Post, and eero. He also invests as an LP in early and mid-stage venture capital funds. He served as a director of Aepona, an Irish software company, from 2011 through its acquisition by Intel in 2013. He was also an early advisor to the founder of Gnip, which was acquired by Twitter.  Mr. Michels actively advises enterprise SaaS, PaaS, and cloud companies, and has assisted several such companies in developing and implementing strategies for growth and in closing M&A transactions.  He holds a BS in electrical engineering from MIT and an MBA from UCLA.

"I'm honored to be a part of the next phase of Altair's remarkable story," said Oren Michels. "It's rare to find a company that has made such an investment of time and passion in tackling such complex technological problems - and achieved such a long track record of consistent growth and commercial success. I can't wait to see how Jim and his amazing team continue to build this remarkable company."

About Altair 

Founded in 1985, Altair is focused on the development and application of simulation technology to synthesize and optimize designs, processes and decisions for improved business performance. Privately held with more than 2,600 employees, Altair is headquartered in Troy, Michigan, USA with more than 45 offices throughout 20 countries, and serves more than 5,000 corporate clients across broad industry segments. To learn more, please visit www.altair.com.

Media contact:

Altair Corporate/ Americas
Biba A. Bedi
+1-757-224-0548 x 406
[email protected]

SOURCE Altair

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http://www.altair.com