UW ChemE Graduates Barry M. Wise and Neal B. Gallagher Celebrate 25 Years at Eigenvector Research

Eigenvector Research, Inc. (EVRI) was founded by UW Chemical Engineering graduates Barry M. Wise and Neal B. Gallagher on January 1, 1995 and celebrated its 25th anniversary. EVRI is largely based on data science methods in chemistry, i.e. chemometrics, that Wise researched during his graduate work under the supervision of Professors N. Lawrence Ricker and the late Bruce R. Kowalski in Chemistry. Wise developed the first version of Eigenvector’s flagship PLS_Toolbox software as part of his dissertation “Adapting Multivariate Analysis for Monitoring and Modeling Chemical Processes.” The software has evolved over the last three decades into a multi-platform suite of products for building and applying multivariate and machine learning methods for pattern recognition, calibration and classification in the process environment. It’s active user base consists of several thousand people world wide and is used in applications from chemical process control to teaching data science in universities. 

Eigenvector provides training on the use of data modeling methods, and has organized hundreds of short courses attended by thousands of students over the last 25 years. It’s annual Eigenvector University in Seattle, now in its 15th year, is a week-long event typically attended by about 50 students. EVRI also provides consulting services and has worked on a wide array of applications from medical devices to the manufacture of high tech machine parts.  

Wise and Gallagher started their graduate studies at University of Washington in Autumn 1985. They met the first day of class on September 30. An undergraduate in Chemical Engineering and Engineering Physics at University of Colorado, Gallagher completed his M.S. ChemE at UW in 1987. He went on to University of Arizona where he finished his ChemE Ph.D. in 1992. Wise obtained B.S. degrees in ChemE and Chemistry at UW in 1982 and went on to work for Pacific Northwest National Laboratories (PNNL) in Richland, WA. Returning to UW in 1985, Wise completed his M.S. ChemE in 1987 under Professor Harold Hager and his Ph.D. in 1991. 

The two senior members of EVRI’s software development team also have ties to UW: R. Scott Koch graduated with his B.A. in Chemistry in 1995 and Donal O’Sullivan obtained his Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences in 1986. They have been with Eigenvector for 17 and 11 years now, respectively, and are a critical part of the Eigenvector team. 

For more background and history about Eigenvector Research please see Eigenvector Turns 25. For questions please contact Eigenvector President Barry M. Wise.