Kitware

Kitware, Inc. is an American software company that develops and maintains open-source software for scientific computing, medical imaging, and data visualization. Founded in 1998 by Will Schroeder, Ken Martin, and Bill Hoffman, the company builds and sustains reusable software toolkits intended to accelerate research and development across academia and industry.

Its best-known projects include VTK (Visualization Toolkit), a cross-platform library for 2D and 3D computer graphics, visualization, and image processing; ITK (Insight Segmentation and Registration Toolkit), a widely used library for medical image analysis; CMake, a cross-platform open-source build system; ParaView, an open-source data analysis and visualization application; and 3D Slicer, an extensible platform for medical image informatics, visualization, and image-guided therapy. Kitware also develops and supports additional software and provides consulting, training, and customization services to researchers and organizations.

The company operates through a mix of open-source software maintenance and paid services, including support contracts, custom development, and collaborative research projects with universities, hospitals, and industry partners. Kitware emphasizes interoperability and standards in scientific software and frequently participates in academic and government-funded initiatives related to imaging, visualization, and computational science.

As a contributor to the open-source ecosystem, Kitware aims to enable reproducible research and facilitate the adoption of advanced tools across disciplines. The organization maintains a global footprint through remote and regional teams, with activities spanning software development, education, and collaborative research.