MENT

Mentor Graphics Corporation

A maker of electronic design automation (EDA) software, Mentor Graphics builds the computer programs engineers use to design, verify, and simulate the chips inside everything from phones to cars — including the industry-standard Calibre and ModelSim tools. It was founded in 1981 in Oregon by three former Tektronix engineers who helped launch the entire EDA industry. The founders wanted to call it "Mentor," but that name was already trademarked, so they tacked on "Graphics" — after rejecting candidates like "Enormous Enterprises." The company is now part of Siemens EDA.