James R. Scapa

Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer

James R. Scapa brings more than 35 years of engineering experience to his dual role of chairman and CEO of Altair, a title he has held since the company's inception in 1985.

Through Scapa's leadership, the company is now a global technology company that provides software and cloud solutions in the areas of product development, high performance computing (HPC) and data analytics. Today, the company employs over 3,000 engineers, scientists and creatives with more than 86 offices in 25 countries.

With more than 11,000 customers globally, Altair software enables customers to enhance product performance, compress development time and reduce costs.

Scapa earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University and a master of business administration degree from University of Michigan.

Howard Morof

Chief Financial Officer

As chief financial officer, Howard Morof is responsible for Altair's global corporate financial strategy. A veteran financial executive of more than 30 years, he has extensive experience with high growth companies as well as expertise in capital markets, mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures.

Morof joined Altair in 2013 from North American Bancard, one of America's largest independent merchant and credit card processing companies, where he served as CFO for five years. Previously, he held CFO roles at FMF Capital, a wholesale mortgage banking company, and Broder Bros. Co., a leading distributor of imprintable activewear, after serving as a partner at Morof Sheplow Weinstein CPAs.

Morof is a certified public accountant, having earned a master's degree in taxation from Walsh College and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from University of Michigan.

Brett Chouinard

President, Chief Operating Officer

As president and chief operating officer for Altair, Brett Chouinard is responsible for global sales and technical support, including EMEA, APAC, and Americas regional operations, as well as Altair's business partner programs. He joined Altair in 1993 and held a variety of positions, including managing the North Central region for the Americas operation, and as vice president of the Americas region.

With a strong technical background and business acumen, Chouinard has managed significant growth in all of his positions, while building an impressive team of business leaders worldwide. His leadership skills continue to produce strong, profitable growth today, while planning for sustained business success in the years to come.

Prior to joining Altair, he worked as an engineer at GE Aircraft. Chouinard earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Michigan Technological University and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from University of Cincinnati.

James Dagg

Chief Technical Officer

As chief technical officer for Altair's design and simulation solutions, James Dagg is responsible for delivering Altair's simulation, modeling, and visualization technologies to designers, engineers, and simulation specialists.

For more than 30 years, Dagg has been a visionary behind Altair's software strategy and development activities. Prior to his role as CTO, Dagg was the senior vice president for solidThinking where he was responsible for leading the development of its concept design technologies, Inspire and Evolve. For more than a decade, he oversaw the development of Altair's computer-aided engineering (CAE) software suite, Altair HyperWorks™.

Dagg earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in applied mechanics from University of Michigan.

Dr. Uwe Schramm

Chief Technical Officer

As chief technical officer for Altair's solvers, optimization, and smart multi-physics solutions and strategy, Dr. Uwe Schramm is responsible for developing computational engines to solve today's most complex engineering problems, while developing and deeply embedding optimization technology throughout Altair's software portfolio to spur innovation and to drive the design process.

For over 20 years, Dr. Schramm has held senior management positions at Altair including overseeing the development of Altair's optimization technologies, building a western region consulting practice, and serving as managing director of Altair’s operations in Germany.

Prior to joining Altair, Dr. Schramm had a career in academia at the University of Virginia and University of Rostock. He is recognized globally for his research contributions in structural and multi-disciplinary optimization.

Dr. Schramm holds a master’s and doctorate degree from the University of Rostock, Germany.

Srikanth "Sam" Mahalingam

Chief Technical Officer

As chief technical officer, Srikanth "Sam" Mahalingam is the CTO for Altair's cloud and high-performance computing (HPC) strategy where he is responsible for applying new cloud and mobile technologies to the digital simulation and HPC worlds.

With more than 20 years of experience in software development, software architecture, technical management, and project management, Mahalingam is responsible for shaping current products and identifying new products and solutions to ease cloud adoption and mobile strategies for Altair customers.

During his time at Altair, Mahalingam has worked on various products and projects across custom services and product teams. He then joined a start-up as a joint promoter to launch a disruptive virtual try-on product that was later acquired by a large software services firm in India. Mahalingam rejoined Altair in 2005 to spearhead new product initiatives and eventually became Altair’s thought leader for enterprise software strategies.

Mahalingam earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering and an executive master’s degree in business administration from the Indian School of Business.

Amy Messano

Chief Marketing Officer

As chief marketing officer, Amy Messano is responsible for Altair's global corporate marketing and communications strategy and execution. She has more than two decades of deep experience in all facets of marketing and communications in the fields of technology, advanced mobility, and energy.

Prior to Altair, Messano served as vice president of integrated marketing and communications at Aptiv (formerly Delphi), where she was a key player in launching the spin-off company. Previously, she held various senior roles at Microsoft and DTE Energy. Throughout her career, Messano has received countless awards for leading and launching innovative campaigns that have driven exceptional results through world-class collaboration.

Messano earned a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado.

Andrea Siudara

Chief Information Officer

As chief information officer, Andrea Siudara leads Altair’s global information technology team where she is responsible for overseeing the company’s IT systems, enterprise business systems and IT business strategy.

With nearly 20 years of experience in leading large-scale, global IT organizations for major companies, Siudara was previously global director, sales and marketing IT for Ford Motor Company. She has an acknowledged track record of aligning IT with business goals to reduce complexity, accelerate growth, facilitate change, and improve operations. She also held previous roles at Delphi, Dell, and General Motors.

Siudara earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Michigan and a master’s degree in business administration from Michigan State University.

Nelson Dias

Chief Revenue Officer

As chief revenue officer, Nelson Dias is responsible for creating integration and alignment between all revenue-related functions, including marketing, sales, customer support, pricing, and revenue management.

With more than 30 years of technical sales and management experience, Dias has held several senior management roles at Altair including senior vice president of Altair’s operations in Asia Pacific and managing director of Altair India.

Dias earned a bachelor’s degree of engineering in computer science from the University of Mumbai.

Gilma Saravia

Chief People Officer

As chief people officer, Gilma Saravia leads Altair’s global human resources organization, including workforce strategy, talent acquisition and development, and employee engagement.

Saravia joined Altair from Aptiv where she served as vice president, global corporate human resources and talent. Previously, she held various senior roles at U. S. Steel and Deloitte’s Human Capital consulting group.

Saravia has more than two decades of experience in leading large-scale, global teams in organizational effectiveness, talent acquisition and development, and HR transformation at major companies.

She earned a bachelor of business administration degree from the University of Texas at Austin and holds various certifications in talent, leadership development, diversity, and inclusion.

Dave Simon

Chief Administrative Officer

As chief administrative officer, Dave Simon is responsible for Altair’s analyst relations and executive communication functions.

With more than 20 years of technical and management experience, Simon has held several senior management roles at Altair including senior vice president where he was responsible for corporate talent and communications, vice president of corporate communications, president of Altair’s wholly-owned subsidiary Toggled, and director of product innovation. Prior to these roles he served as president of Simco Industries and was also an engineer at Ford Motor Company.

Simon holds a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from University of Michigan and a master’s degree in management from Walsh College.

Raoul Maitra

Chief Legal Officer

As chief legal officer, Raoul Maitra is responsible for Altair’s legal affairs including developing and leading corporate legal strategy to promote and protect the company's intellectual property and overseeing delivery of legal services and resources to accomplish corporate goals, strategies, and priorities.

Previously, Maitra served as Altair’s co-general counsel and deputy general counsel.

Maitra earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from University of Michigan and a juris doctor degree from the Mauer School of Law at Indiana University (Bloomington).

Stephanie Buckner

Senior Vice President, Corporate Development

As senior vice president of corporate development, Stephanie Buckner is responsible for Altair’s strategic business initiatives and its merger and acquisition efforts. This includes building strategic partnerships across Altair’s entire ecosystem including software, hardware, cloud, the Altair Partner Alliance, and with customers.

Previously, Buckner held senior management roles at Altair including director of strategic alliances where she surpassed aggressive new partner enrollment goals and was responsible for scouting, selling, onboarding, and managing relationships with third-party B2B software providers. Additionally, during her time at Altair, she also was the co-founder and chief executive officer of WEYV, a multi-content platform built on Altair’s patented digital content licensing model.

Prior to joining Altair Buckner held analyst roles at Cisco Systems and American Express.

Buckner earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial and operations engineering from University of Michigan.

James R. Scapa

James R. Scapa brings more than 35 years of engineering experience to his dual role of chairman and CEO of Altair, a title he has held since the company's inception in 1985.

Through Scapa's leadership, the company is now a global technology company that provides software and cloud solutions in the areas of product development, high performance computing (HPC) and data analytics. Today, the company employs over 3,000 engineers, scientists and creatives with more than 86 offices in 25 countries.

With more than 11,000 customers globally, Altair software enables customers to enhance product performance, compress development time and reduce costs.

Scapa earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University and a master of business administration degree from University of Michigan.

Trace Harris

Trace Harris is a finance, strategy, and business development executive. She has spent 20 years managing transactions and leading teams in global media companies and in education.

Harris' professional experience includes 13 years with Vivendi, ultimately as its senior executive in the U.S. 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, Harris was director of finance and channel operations for Warner Bros. International Channels. She began her career at JP Morgan in New York. Currently, Harris consults media and education companies.

Harris earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Stanford University and a master’s of business administration degree with a concentration in finance from Yale School of Management.

Brett Chouinard

As president and chief operating officer for Altair, Brett Chouinard is responsible for global sales and technical support, including EMEA, APAC, and Americas regional operations, as well as Altair's business partner programs. He joined Altair in 1993 and held a variety of positions, including managing the North Central region for the Americas operation, and as vice president of the Americas region.

With a strong technical background and business acumen, Chouinard has managed significant growth in all of his positions, while building an impressive team of business leaders worldwide. His leadership skills continue to produce strong, profitable growth today, while planning for sustained business success in the years to come.

Prior to joining Altair, he worked as an engineer at GE Aircraft. Chouinard earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Michigan Technological University and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from University of Cincinnati.

Steve Earhart

Steve Earhart is a CPA/MBA with a career that includes more than 40 years of finance and operating experience focused on technology and consumer companies, publicly and privately held. His specialties include business strategy, acquisition optimization and corporate finance.

Earhart retired from Motorola, Inc. in 2003 as senior vice president of finance where he made contributions in the launch of the cellular industry, the opening of Japan, China and several European markets to cellular technology, venture investment for market development, and capital formation for overall corporate stability.

Post Motorola, Earhart joined SSA Global Technologies as executive vice president and chief financial officer. During his tenure revenue grew three-fold largely through acquisition achievement. He led SSA's initial public offering and later led the company’s sale to Infor Global Technologies where he became chief financial officer of Infor Global post-closing. In 2009, Earhart joined Torex Ltd. as executive vice president and chief financial officer with a focus on the company's operational turnaround. In 2012, Earhart joined World Kitchen LLC as chief financial officer and he held this position until 2017.

Earhart earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting science from University of Illinois and a master of business administration degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Jan Kowal

Jan Kowal became president of Brose North America, Inc. in 1998 where he managed the North American arm of Brose Fahrzeugteile GmbH & Co. after 12 years of holding strategic positions within the company.

Kowal, an expert in market development, spearheaded Brose North America's growth to 20 percent market share and 1.3 billion USD and established six manufacturing locations with 4,000 employees.

Transferring his position to the new president in August 2012, Kowal remained with the company as chairman for Brose North America, Inc. until May 2015. Kowal has also consulted the Brose group in Europe and U.S.

Between 2006 and 2013, Kowal was a member of the board for OESA; the last four years as a member of the executive committee, including the chairmanship in 2012.

Kowal joined Brose Fahrzeugteile GmbH & Co. in 1986 with more than nine years of experience in different areas of the automotive industry in Sweden. While at Brose, he managed the development of markets in Sweden, United Kingdom, Japan, France, and Germany.

Kowal earned a master's degree in mechanical engineering from University of Technology, Goteborg, Sweden.

Richard Hart

Richard Hart is a seasoned financial executive with deep operational and banking experience.

Hart is currently chief financial officer for Guidewire, a NASDAQ-listed technology company providing software to property and casualty insurers, with overall global responsibility for finance operations. From March 2004 to November 2013, Richard served as managing director at Deutsche Bank, an investment bank. From 1999 to 2004, Richard served as an investment banker at Credit Suisse First Boston, an investment bank, most recently as managing director.

Hart earned a juris doctor degree from New York University School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Mary C. Boyce

Mary C. Boyce is a noted educator, researcher, and leader. She is Dean of The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science at Columbia University in the City of New York, where she is also the Morris A. and Alma Schapiro Professor of Engineering. Prior to joining Columbia, Boyce served on the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for over 25 years, leading the Mechanical Engineering Department from 2008 to 2013.

Boyce’s research focuses on materials and mechanics, particularly in the areas of multi-scale and nonlinear mechanics of polymers and soft composites. Her work has been documented in more than 170 archival journal articles spanning materials, mechanics, and physics. She has mentored over 40 M.S. thesis students and over 25 PhD students and has been widely recognized for her scholarly contributions, including election as a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Engineering. Boyce leads the education and research mission of Columbia Engineering with more than 200 faculty, 15,00 undergraduate students, 2,500 graduate students, and 100 postdoctoral fellows.

Boyce earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering science and mechanics from Virginia Tech, and a master’s degree and PhD in mechanical engineering from MIT.