St. Louis, MO – Zoltek, the global leader in industrial-grade carbon fibers, proudly celebrates the company’s 50th anniversary since its founding in July 1975. Zoltek began as a small industrial distributor launched by Zsolt Rumy, a Hungarian-born engineer who came to the U.S. as a refugee in 1957.
Rumy started Zoltek with just $8,000 and a vision to serve the chemical industry and later grew the company into a global leader in the carbon fiber industry. His bold pivot into carbon fiber manufacturing in 1988 was the beginning of the democratization of carbon fiber advanced materials and laid the foundation for the company’s global success. In 2014, Zoltek was acquired by the Toray Group, a Japanese global chemicals conglomerate and leader in aerospace grade carbon fibers.
“This anniversary is a celebration of our industrial roots and a recommitment to our future,” said Dave Purcell, CEO of Zoltek. “We’re honoring the legacy of Zsolt with an eye on the next 50 years of innovation together now as part of the Toray Group.”
Zoltek’s facilities in the U.S., Mexico, and Hungary produce carbon fiber advanced materials that enable lightweight solutions for wind turbine blades, aircraft, energy storage, and a host of other industrial applications. With the support now of the Toray Group, the company is poised to enable new applications with material innovations for the next 50 years.
For more information about the rebrand and anniversary initiatives, visit www.zoltek.com.
