About WIT
Founded in 1943 as one of America’s first independently-owned nuclear science facilities , The Wyoming Institute of Technology has been at the forefront of scientific research and advancement in the United States for more than seventy years, serving as a leading voice in a wide assortment of fields, from environmental issues to medical science to consumer tech and beyond.
Our Mission
Our mission statement has remained the same since we were handed our very first government contract in 1943: “to always intrepidly seek answers to the greatest challenges of our day, employing scientific method and cutting-edge research to ensure only the highest-quality results at all times.”
Regardless of the agendas of our financial supporters on any given project, WIT staff work tirelessly to provide neutral, non-partisan, wholly accurate scientific research and data, using the latest and most innovative technologies to advance our understandings of the world around us and its inhabitants. That’s why companies like Halliburton, Exxon-Mobil, BP, and countless others count on WIT for all of their third-party scientific research needs.
Our History
Originally known as the Wyoming Institute of Education and Nuclear Energy Research, WIT was founded in 1943 by Dr. Matt Stone Sr. and Dr. Montgomery “Monty” Allen III, who were commissioned by the US Government to study molecular damage from long-term radiation exposure as a part of the Manhattan Project.
From August of 1949 through December 1951, WIT researchers made a number of key discoveries that would eventually lead to the invention of color television sets. They also filed three-dozen patents for new technology that would have allowed the private sector to develop what WIT called “smellovision,” allowing televisions to reproduce odors present on television screens, but the FCC, CDC, and FDA regulated those efforts out of existence. Still, WIT won several awards in that era for our groundbreaking research.
In 1959, WIT became involved in America’s space program, as one of the countless public and private organizations responsible for putting a man on the moon. Every human who has ever stepped foot on the Moon received in-depth training from, and contributed toward the research of, WIT. In fact, WIT’s original “space toilet” design is largely still in use on the International Space Station today!
The Wyoming Institute of Education and Nuclear Energy Research shortened its name in 1967 to simply “The Wyoming Institute of Technology.” That same year, we played a critical role in the early development of the Internet, alongside DARPA researchers and our then-partners at Brookhaven National Laboratory.
After having been commissioned in 1986 by the Reagan Administration to study how the government might infiltrate computers and disable them remotely, WIT researchers developed what some say is the world’s first computer virus in 1987. This “bug” was so effective that it completely shut down all of North America’s internet service on June 18th, 1987.
In 1989, Monsanto and DuPont commissioned WIT to study agricultural genetics, leading to our invention of the first genetically-modified crops in 1992. Our research was noted as fundamental in the cloning of Dolly the Sheep in 1997, as well as the creation of the world’s first 100% organic artificial nose, which was created for pop-star Michael Jackson in 1999.
In December of 1999, WIT literally saved the world, after our computer science researchers managed to stop the Y2K virus from spreading globally. The Y2K virus would have caused airplanes to fall from the sky, the stock market to crash, cars to stop functioning, cell phones to randomly dial strangers, and more. WIT’s tireless work led to several WIT researchers being awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2000, and Presidential Medals of Freedom in both 2000 and 2001.
In 2006, ., to take WIT into the future. Since then, the company has been more profitable than it ever has, while advancing science in more fields, and in more ways, than any other privately-owned think thank in North America.
To date, WIT owns 471,393 patents, has offices in 19 States and 14 countries around the globe, and has contributed more than 960 million lines of code to critical computer systems for the governments of the United States, Great Britain, France, Iran, and Micronesia.