Joe Manich

My Career Journey

I joined Ansys in June 1987, so more than 35 years ago! I joined the Technical Support team, which today is a part of the Ansys Customer Excellence (ACE) organization. Three years later, I was asked to join the development organization to help develop and manage the releases of the first offering of our products on PCs where I joined Ansys founder John Swanson and others in these efforts. From there, I led a variety of projects and teams. In 2018, I was asked to lead a team that had been in deep R&D for several years. In my current role today, I helped them release the first version of their product.

How I’d Explain My Job to a Kindergartener

I work with computers and the smart people who make great software. This software puts pretty pictures on the screen that help engineers build great and safe products.

What I Actually Do

I manage budgets, hire developers, and make sure that the brilliant developers, testers, and tech writers have what they need to do their work.

Why I Choose Ansys

Even in the late 1980s, Ansys' brand was very prestigious within the engineering community. I used the tool before I was hired in 1987, and always had deep admiration for the company. It has been my privilege to have served here all of this time.

The ability to move between teams has always been a great benefit, even when we were a small firm. The mentality that I have always had as a manager, and I learned this from leaders that I experienced early in my career, that I prefer to lose you to another team within Ansys than to lose you to a competitor or anyone outside. Without the willingness to accommodate I wouldn't have been able to move from tech support to product, and even within product, among different teams and business units.

A Sense of Belonging

Believing in the mission of providing tools for engineers and being with others that have the same passion for engineering software that works and works well.

My Best Advice

If you love what you do, it is no longer work. Find your passion and follow your dreams. The advantage of Ansys today is that there is a huge portfolio with many opportunities.

Getting Involved

I’m very involved with the small Latino community in Pittsburgh. I co-founded the Pittsburgh Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in 2004 and served in various capacities for 10 years. Currently, I co-lead the Ansys Latino Connection employee resource group.

In addition, I have enjoyed getting involved internally with the Ansys internship program. Not only does my team recruit a number of interns each year, I also have the privilege to meet with the incoming class every rotation. I have the pleasure of sharing the history of Ansys and telling the story of the evolution of our great company.

What You Might Not Know

People are surprised to see when they meet me in person that I'm 6 feet, 3 inches tall. In these days of working remotely and constant Teams meetings, one loses the perspective of what we look like for real in the flesh.

I love baseball. I follow our local Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Yankees. I'm also getting into soccer (or futbol), especially now the finals of the World Cup are coming up.

I love live theater (drama, opera) and enjoy Salsa music and dancing.