(330b) A Tribute to Lawrence B. Evans: History of Aspen Technology from the Aspen Project to the Year 2000

MIT Chemical Engineering Professor Larry Evans was Principal Investigator of the ASPEN Project, a major research and development effort funded in 1976 by the U.S. Department of Energy and 65 companies in the process industries worldwide. The purpose of the project was to develop a “’third generation” process modeling and simulation system that could be used to evaluate proposed synthetic fuel processes both technically and economically.

When the project was completed in 1981 Larry, along with seven key members of the project staff, founded Aspen Technology, Inc. (AspenTech) to license the technology from MIT and to further develop, support and commercialize it.  With Larry as CEO AspenTech greatly expanded the breadth and depth of the technology over the ensuing years, and brought on board a wide range of complementary products.  The company grew from a 10-person startup to a public company with a capitalization value of $3.9B as of the end of 2013.  This presentation is intended to chronicle that journey as it unfolded through the year 2000.