In a deal between two data technology firms, Altair Engineering Inc. has acquired M-Base Engineering & Software GmbH for an undisclosed price.
Altair of Troy, Mich., is a publicly traded firm that provides solutions in data analytics, simulation and high-performance computing. Aachen, Germany-based M-Base is an international supplier of material database and information systems with a focus on plastics.
In an Oct. 8 news release, Altair officials said that the acquisition of M-Base will allow the firm to offer the most comprehensive, high-fidelity plastics database available on the market.
"The integration of M-Base into the Altair ecosystem brings deep knowledge and experience in material database projects, as well as the high-quality data our customers require to improve the design of their products," Altair CEO James Scapa said. "It also expands our presence in the plastics industry, as M-Base holds strong relationships with plastics manufacturers."
M-Base co-founder Erwin Baur added that "integrating our technology and Material Data Center with Altair will provide excellent functionality for engineers and designers during material selection and product development processes."
Officials said that one of the most important decisions in product development is the selection of materials for production. With that in mind, the acquisition of M-Base "is an important additional step to deliver comprehensive material information and infrastructure to predict and optimize product performance through simulation," they added.
M-Base brings to Altair "first-rate plastics material data" supplied directly by material producers, officials said. M-base also offers material database technology and plastics material data preparation from raw data to data usable by designers and engineers.
M-Base also is the official software supplier to Computer-Aided Material Preselection by Uniform Standards, or CAMPUS, which officials said was the world's most successful plastic material database.