Zoltan Cendes is founder and chairman of Ansoft Corp., Pittsburgh, PA. He also serves as Ansoft’s chief technology officer and is responsible for managing the company’s research and development. In this role, he sets the overall direction of Ansoft’s technology and products. He has made significant contributions in the area of finite element modeling of electromagnetic devices. In particular, he solved the problem of spurious modes that prior to his work had made the application of finite element methods in electrical engineering impractical. He, along with his coworkers, developed new types of finite elements called edge elements that eliminate the problem of spurious modes. He also introduced the Delaunay mesh generation algorithm and adaptive mesh refinement procedures to finite element analysis and the transfinite element method and model order reduction procedures to high frequency electromagnetics. Cendes’ original research in these areas made possible many of Ansoft’s products, including Maxwell®, Spicelink™ and HFSS.™

Prior to forming Ansoft in 1984, Cendes served six years with the General Electric Corp., first in the Large Steam Turbine Generator Division and then in the Corporate Research and Development Center, where he was responsible for developing finite element computer codes. In 1980, he was appointed associate professor of electrical engineering at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. In 1982, he joined the faculty of electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, where he was a professor until 1996.

Cendes received his MS and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering from McGill University. Dr. Cendes is a Fellow of the IEEE, has served on the Editorial Board of IEEE Spectrum, on the International Steering Committee of the COMPUMAG Conference and as an IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (IEEE AP-S) Distinguished Lecturer. He is a member of the International Workshop on Finite Elements in Microwave Engineering Steering Committee.