Dr. Kalsi, the founder of Kalsi Engineering, Inc., was featured in an April 20, 2018 article in the business section of the Houston Chronicle newspaper. The article is titled, “Engineering: The little things make all the difference”, and was written by business columnist Chris Tomlinson.
The article outlines Dr. Kalsi’s personal story: How he emigrated from India to America in 1967 to attend the University of Houston, earned a Ph. D. in engineering, was employed locally for several years, and then founded a small business that has made outsized contributions in two different areas of the energy market over the past 40 years.
The article explains that part of Kalsi Engineering focuses on oilfield rotary shaft seals, and part focuses on valve and actuator-related issues in the nuclear power industry. Dr. Kalsi developed and patented the company’s first commercial rotary seal in 1986, and experienced success with it in various oilfield drilling applications. The key advantage the initial rotary seal design had was a geometry that induces hydroplaning during rotation, to minimize wear and improve seal and equipment life. Since then, the company has continued to advance the state of the art, developing increasingly robust high performance rotary seals.
The article also outlines some of the contributions Kalsi Engineering has made to the nuclear power industry, revealing that every U.S. nuclear plant, and various others around the world, are customers. One area of intense activity has been improving the performance and reliability of valves and actuators. This involves evaluation and testing of specific valves and actuators, and also involves developing software that predicts wear rates in various service conditions, and predicts performance in accident-conditions.
The article also discusses Dr. Kalsi’s conservative business strategy, which has allowed Kalsi Engineering to survive the ups and downs of the energy industry, while continuing to innovate.
