INDUSTRY FACES Founder of NADICOM Has Passion for U.S. Metalcasters
Prasad Karunakaran, founder and CEO of the North American Ductile Iron Co. (NADICOM), Fulton, Md., came to the U.S. from India in search of a better life. “My hope is that when my
children grow older they will not tell me they are leaving for another country to seek a better life,” Ka- runakaran said.
Tat is the thought underly-
ing the creation of NADICOM, which is launching a ductile iron metalcasting facility in Iowa City, Iowa. Te $85 million project will start off manufacturing large finished castings for the renewable energy sector. Te metalcasting facility will cast and machine large castings, initially for wind turbine applications. It later will introduce other industries into its portfolio. “We wanted to leverage the advan-
college job training program and work with a research group at the Univ. of Iowa, which was awarded a $300,000 grant to improve ductile iron castings for use in wind turbines. “I have a passion for bringing
manufacturing jobs to the U.S.,” Karunakaran said. “Tis inspired me to focus on setting up NADI- COM and driving its mission.” Karunakaran conceived
Prasad Karunakaran’s, founder and CEO of NADICOM, emabarks on the company’s first project in Iowa City.
tages of building a green field foundry to its maximum ex- tent,” Karunakaran said. “As part of this process, we looked at six states and multiple communities in each state. At the end, Iowa City came out to fit best for our overall plans and long- term strategy. Access to good logistics, power supply and talents from local communities were some of the factors.” In its mission statement, NADICOM says it is dedi-
cated to “establishing projects that create manufacturing and service jobs for the new economy of the United States.” Tis mission is embodied by the Iowa City project, NADICOM’s first facility launch. “We plan to build this operation from the ground up,
creating more than 200 true manufacturing jobs,” Karuna- karan said. NADICOM is planning to utilize a local community
PERSONALS
Sivyer Steel, Bettendorf, Iowa, announced Keith Pearl has rejoined the company in its new quality manager position.
Asco Carbon Dioxide Ltd., Ro-
manshorn, Switzerland, announced Marco Pellegrino will be its new managing director.
OBITUARIES
Mike Butts died on March 12, 2011, at the age of 51. Butts worked
at Gold Foundry and Machine Works, Independence, Mo., for 27 years until its closing. He then became a foundry manager for Clay & Bailey, Kansas City, Mo., and worked there until his passing. Butts had been an American Foundry Society member since 2006.
Robert “Bob” Low died at the age
of 72 on April 24, 2011. Low worked as manager of manufacturing opera- tions at International Harvester Co., Waukesha, Wis., for 24 years. He then worked as a Southwestern sales repre-
sentative for Benton Foundry, Benton, Pa., retiring in 2004 after 17 years.
Louis Borick passed away at the
age of 87 on Nov. 28, 2011. Borick founded Superior Industries, Van Nuys, Calif., in 1957 and served as chairman of the board of directors from 1958 through 2007. Borick was the chief executive officer of the com- pany until early 2005. He led Superior Industries from a small automotive accessories distributor to a major automotive component supplier.
March 2012 MODERN CASTING | 27
NADICOM while helping a friend set up North Ameri- can sales operations for a steel metalcasting facility based out of Dubai-UAE. NADICOM was officially established in early 2010 with a primary focus on serving the wind energy market. Karunakaran said
the company is aware of diversifica- tion in its customer base and would
consider another foundry to meet an offshore wind market need, if it makes business sense. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in Architecture
from the Manipal Institute of Technology, Karnataka, India, in 1990, Karunakaran worked as an Architect in Dubai until 1993. He came to the U.S. in 1993 from Dubai to earn a master’s degree in computer science from the Univ. of Maryland. In his spare time, Karunakaran serves on the local Par-
ent-Teacher Association (PTA) in Maryland and supports many philanthropic interests, including supporting children with special needs and promoting educational diversity programs. Karunakaran also serves as president of Zenyon Inc., an IT company he founded in 1997 that serves the U.S. government.
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