Laramie Company With UW Origins Sells Its Business to Autodesk

A legendary Laramie based company is moving forward in a different direction. Firehole Composites, a Laramie-based company whose origins sprung from the University of Wyoming’s Department of Mechanical Engineering 25 years ago, was recently purchased by Autodesk Inc., which focuses on 3-D design, engineering and entertainment software.

The multi-million dollar sale, which transpired March 12th with the San Francisco-based Fortune 350 company, represents one of the most successful outcomes of an initial technology transfer at UW. But it was a long, hard journey -- with the work of many people along the way.

Located at 203 S. Second St., Firehole Composites develops innovative software tools designed to significantly improve structural design and analysis with composite materials, which are materials made from at least two different materials. The company’s mission is to help engineers create lighter, stronger, safer and more efficient composite designs through superior analysis capability.

“It’s really exciting. Part of it is validation of what we’ve done and being able to take the technology we’re proud of to the next level,” says Jerad Stack, former Firehole CEO and now product manager for composite software for Autodesk. “We’re playing in the major leagues now.”