Bal Dixit

Last updated

Bal Dixit is the chairman of Newtex Industries. He founded Newtex in 1978 after being one of the first researchers to formulate a viable alternative to asbestos in fire safety gear. In 1977, he started work on developing a product he would later call Zetex in response to the impending asbestos ban. This product exhibits many of the properties of asbestos, without the side effects of lung cancer or mesothelioma. [1] [2]

Asbestos Group of highly stable, non-flammable silicate minerals with a fibrous structure

Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals, which all have in common, their asbestiform habit: i.e., long, thin fibrous crystals, with each visible fiber composed of millions of microscopic "fibrils" that can be released by abrasion and other processes. The minerals are chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite, tremolite, anthophyllite, and actinolite.

Zetex fabrics were invented by Bal Dixit in 1978. This highly texturized fiberglass fabric exhibits many of the same properties as asbestos, such as resistance to heat, corrosion and rot resistance, outstanding electrical properties, ability to withstand molten metal, and thermal insulation. However, it does not carry the same health risks.

Contents

Early life and education

Dixit was born in the village of Katol in central India in 1938. After receiving his degree in Textile Technology from the University of Punjab, he emigrated to the United States in 1964, joining Union Carbide Corporation as an Advanced Technologist. At Union Carbide, Dixit helped develop carbon fiber for lightweight structural composites that were later incorporated in General Dynamics' F-111B fighter aircraft. Dixit earned his master's in Textile Technology from the University of Massachusetts in 1966 and soon after joined Garlock, where he was tasked with establishing a modern asbestos plant in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Dixit went on to earn an MBA from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1974. [3]

His Company

In 1978, Dixit left Garlock to launch his own company, Newtex Industries, in Victor, New York. At Newtex, he developed Zetex fiberglass fabric, a safe and viable alternative to asbestos. By 1983, Newtex grew to $2.4 Million in sales.

Dixit led Newtex from the time he founded the company in 1978 until he stepped down to retire in 2006. At that time, Dixit's son-in-law, Jerry Joliet, took over as President and CEO. [3]

The Dixit Fixit

In 1980, just 2 days before the annual stockholders' meeting, a large fire caused extensive damage to the Newtex plant. The company was fully operational again 3 weeks after the fire. Newtex employees dubbed the impressive recovery as "The Dixit Fixit", and Dixit's perseverance after the fire was documented in two books by RIT business professor Andrew J. Dubrin, Getting it Done: The Transforming Power of Self-Discipline and The Inner Core of the Resilient Manager. [4]

Community Involvement

In 1996, Dixit was appointed Director of the Federal Reserve Bank by Chairman Alan Greenspan. He served as Chairman of the Board of the Buffalo Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank for five years. He also served on the boards of the Rochester General Hospital and the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce and has been a Rochester Institute of Technology Trustee. [3]

In June 2018, the Golisano Institute for Sustainability at the Rochester Institute of Technology dedicated the Bal Dixit Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Fire Protection, made possible by a $2 Million gift from Dixit. [5]

Recognition

Dixit received the Herbert W. VandenBrul Entrepreneurial Award in 1992 and was inducted into the Rochester Business Hall of Fame in 2003. [3]

Related Research Articles

Textile Material produced by twining, weaving, felting, knotting, or otherwise processing natural or synthetic fibers

A textile is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibers. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, hemp, or other materials to produce long strands. Textiles are formed by weaving, knitting, crocheting, knotting, felting, or braiding.

Rochester Institute of Technology private university in Rochester, New York, USA

Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private doctoral university within the town of Henrietta in the Rochester, New York metropolitan area.

Aramid Heat-resistant and strong synthetic fiber; asbestos substitute

Aramid fibers are a class of heat-resistant and strong synthetic fibers. They are used in aerospace and military applications, for ballistic-rated body armor fabric and ballistic composites, in bicycle tires, marine cordage, marine hull reinforcement, and as an asbestos substitute. The name is a portmanteau of "aromatic polyamide". The chain molecules in the fibers are highly oriented along the fiber axis. As a result, a higher proportion of the chemical bond contributes more to fiber strength than in many other synthetic fibers. Aramides have a very high melting point

Polybenzimidazole fiber is a synthetic fiber with a very high decomposition temperature and doesn't exhibit a melting point. It has exceptional thermal and chemical stability and does not readily ignite. It was first discovered by American polymer chemist Carl Shipp Marvel in the pursuit of new materials with superior stability, retention of stiffness, toughness at elevated temperature. Due to its high stability, polybenzimidazole is used to fabricate high-performance protective apparel such as firefighter's gear, astronaut space suits, high temperature protective gloves, welders’ apparel and aircraft wall fabrics. Polybenzimidazole has been applied as a membrane in fuel cells.

B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences

The B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences is one of the largest colleges at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), and is home to the institute’s computing education and research facilities. Golisano College is home to RIT’s computer science, computing security, information sciences and technologies, and software engineering departments, and to the Ph.D. program in computing and information sciences, and the School of Interactive Games & Media. Golisano College is housed in a 125,000 square foot facility, opened in 2003 on RIT’s campus in Rochester, New York.

Sun protective clothing

Sun protective clothing is clothing specifically designed for sun protection and is produced from a fabric rated for its level of ultraviolet (UV) protection. A novel weave structure and denier may produce sun protective properties. In addition, some textiles and fabrics employed in the use of sun protective clothing may be pre-treated with UV-inhibiting ingredients during manufacture to enhance their effectiveness.

A technical textile is a textile product manufactured for non-aesthetic purposes, where function is the primary criterion. Technical textiles include textiles for automotive applications, medical textiles, geotextiles, agrotextiles, and protective clothing.

Kate Gleason College of Engineering

The Kate Gleason College of Engineering (KGCOE) is the engineering college at the Rochester Institute of Technology. The college is home to all of RIT's engineering programs except for software engineering, which is part of the B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences. Enrollment for the 2014-15 academic year, per the 21 Day Report: 2,742 undergraduate students, 714 graduate students, 22.01% female. 100% of tenured and tenure-track faculty hold doctoral degrees.

William W. Destler American academic administrator

William Wallace Destler is an American university professor and administrator. In 2017 he retired after having served for exactly 10 years as the 9th president of the Rochester Institute of Technology. He held the position from July 1, 2007, succeeding Albert J. Simone.

Garlock Sealing Technologies

Garlock Sealing Technologies, a subsidiary of EnPro Industries, produces Klozure Dynamic Seals and other sealing products. Garlock has a global presence, with 1,887 employees, at 14 facilities, in twelve countries.

Henry Lomb Co-founder of Bausch & Lomb

Henry Lomb was an American optician who co-founded Bausch & Lomb and led a group of businessmen to found The Mechanics Institute, the forerunner of Rochester Institute of Technology.

Rochester Institute of Technology - Dubai satellite campus in Dubai of Rochester Institute of Technology

Rochester Institute of Technology - Dubai is a satellite campus of Rochester Institute of Technology, New York, USA, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The college is located in the Dubai Silicon Oasis and started offering part-time graduate courses in Fall 2008. In 2009, the university began its full-time graduate program. RIT Dubai's first graduating class was in 2010, with the graduation ceremony taking place in Rochester, NY. In 2010, a full-time undergraduate program was started as part of the university's planned expansion. In the fall of 2011, RIT Dubai moved its campus to a new premises to accommodate the growing student body. By 2019, RIT plans to expand the campus to 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m2) to provide facilities for 4,000 students.

Saunders College of Business


Saunders College of Business is one of nine colleges at Rochester Institute of Technology and is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB). As of fall semester 2016, Saunders College of Business encompasses nearly 11% of RIT's enrollment, home to more than 2,000 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in programs across RIT Global Campuses in Rochester, New York, Croatia, Dubai, Kosovo, and China.

RIT Tigers

The RIT Tigers are composed of 22 teams representing Rochester Institute of Technology in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women's basketball, crew, cross country, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, and track and field. Men's sports include baseball and wrestling. Women's sports include softball, and volleyball. The Tigers compete in the NCAA Division III and are members of the Liberty League for all sports except ice hockey, which competes in NCAA Division I. The men's ice hockey team is a member of Atlantic Hockey, while the women's ice hockey team is a member of College Hockey America.

David R. Bryant is an internationally acclaimed organic chemist, having worked his entire thirty-nine-year 'early career' at Union Carbide. He is inventor on some ninety patents, and a recipient of the Perkin Medal. He currently is a member of Renewable Algal Energy (RAE) LLC, and is working to commercialize an algae-to-oil process utilizing RAE's patent pending technology.

Center for Detectors

The Center for Detectors (CfD) is a Rochester Institute of Technology College of Science academic research center. The CfD was founded in 2010 by Dr. Donald Figer. Located in the IT Collaboratory at RIT, the CfD designs, develops, and implements new advanced sensor technologies through collaboration with academic researchers, industry engineers, government scientists, and university students. The mission of the CfD is to enable scientific discovery, national security, better living, and commercial innovation through the design and development of advanced photon detectors and associated technology in a broad array of applications.

In re Garlock Sealing Technologies, LLC is a court case heard in the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina which involves the entry into bankruptcy proceedings by Garlock Sealing Technologies, a manufacturer of coated asbestos gaskets, as a result of potential liability from current and future settlements. The plaintiffs were over 4,000 asbestos victims suffering from mesothelioma, including many Navy veterans, as well as an unknown number of future mesothelioma victims. As noted by the court, mesothelioma "is always fatal, causing death essentially by suffocation within about eighteen months of diagnosis" and involves "a horrific death."

Susan Margaret Watkins

Susan Margaret Watkins is a Cornell University professor emerita who founded the academic field of functional apparel design. She is the author of the seminal textbook in the field, Clothing: The Portable Environment (1984), and holds patents as a result of her collaborative research with the U.S. Army, the U.S. Air Force, firefighters associations, and other industrial partners. In 1991 Watkins was inducted as a Fellow into the International Textile and Apparel Association (ITAA), the highest honor awarded by the organization, for her contributions in shaping the field of functional apparel design.

References

  1. Dixit, B., "Performance of Protective Clothing: Development and Testing of Asbestos Substitutes," Performance of Protective Clothing. ASTM STP 900, R. L. Barker and G. C. Coletta, Eds., American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, 1986, pp. 445-460.
  2. "Bal Dixit revisits time at Newtex Industries". Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved 2018-06-28.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "RIT's Golisano Institute for Sustainability names lab in honor of Sudhakar 'Bal' Dixit". www.rit.edu. Retrieved 2018-07-05.
  4. "RIT - University Magazine". www.rit.edu. Retrieved 2018-07-05.
  5. "About | News & Press Releases | Bal Dixit Lab for Advanced Materials and Fire Protection Opens at RIT | Newtex". www.newtex.com. Retrieved 2018-07-05.