The ChemQuest Group, Inc. Appoints Dr. Sudhir Hublikar as Director

The ChemQuest Group, Inc., a business strategy firm in specialty chemicals, is pleased to announce Dr. Sudhir Hublikar (formerly Vice President of Adhesives and Coatings R&D for Avery Dennison Corporation) as its Technology and Innovations Director.  Dr. Hublikar is well known for his strong business acumen delivering profitable, sustained growth through innovation. 

In his new role at ChemQuest, Dr. Hublikar will leverage his broad technical experience in fibers, plastics, adhesives, coatings and composites to assist clients in diverse markets ranging from aerospace & defense, to building envelope, civil engineering & construction as well as the industrial sector and textiles industry. 

“We are excited to welcome Dr. Hublikar to our practice,” said Dan Murad, president/CEO of ChemQuest. “We feel confident that Sudhir can advance our clients’ profitability through his unique growth-oriented strategic approach to innovation for fibers, plastics, adhesives, coatings and composites. Moreover, Dr. Hublikar’s innovation methodology is a natural entrée into ChemQuest’s four pillars of service: business strategy, technology & development, buy-side advisory services in M&A (investment thesis through integration) and manufacturing, commercial & operational efficiencies.”

Dr. Hublikar earned a Ph.D. in Polymer Science and an MBA. His career, spanning thirty years, includes Technology R&D executive positions with BF Goodrich Aerospace, Noveon and AGY Holding Corporation, with his most recent position held at Avery Dennison Corporation.

Just prior to joining ChemQuest, Dr. Hublikar, then-Vice President of Adhesives and Coatings R&D for Avery Dennison, led the creation of multiple disruptive technology platforms (some commercialized in 2016), with growth potential exceeding $100 million.

As the Vice President of Science & Technology at AGY, (a $175 million privately-held global manufacturer of specialty glass fiber reinforcements), Dr. Hublikar built an entrepreneurial R&D organization to deliver value exceeding 25% of sales launching new products and processes, including new glass chemistry platforms with an estimated value of over $100 million.  At AGY, Dr. Hublikar also secured congressional funds for joint R&D with Army Research Labs, and eventually assisted in selling the business to PE investors through an auction process.

At Noveon, Dr. Sudhir Hublikar held two R&D leader positions: From 2001 to 2004, as Director of Technology, Performance Coatings (a $400 million business unit that manufactured acrylic emulsions and polyurethane dispersions), Dr. Sudhir Hublikar led a 100-person global technology group where, in three short years, he doubled sales from new products by transforming centralized R&D into market-focused teams.  The successful outcome of Dr. Hublikar’s newly-formed innovation management system included game-changing technology platforms for Noveon including Breathable PU’s, Core-Shell PU’s and a Novel block copolymerization technology – complementary enhancements to its product portfolio of polymers used to formulate coatings and sealants in various end uses such as architectural paint, automotive and industrial coatings, and coated papers and textiles. 

From 1998 to 2001, Dr. Hublikar led a 120-person global technology organization supporting Noveon’s $450 million Specialty Plastics Group that produced thermoplastic polyurethanes, chlorinated PVC, dicyclopentadiene RIM polymers, and amine antioxidants. Dr. Hublikar accelerated growth by focusing R&D efforts on a managed portfolio and led the development of step-change technologies including TPU-based elastic fibers, flexible CPVC pipe, Ru catalysis for DCPD and polyols from soybeans.

Joining the ChemQuest practice, Sudhir said, “I am excited to be putting 30-years of managing technological innovation in specialty chemicals to work for The ChemQuest Group, Inc.  I look forward to my R&D executive role on behalf of ChemQuest clients, with seamless technical support executed through the ChemQuest Technology Institute, as an important differentiator for solving complex problems in chemicals’ business strategy.”

Look for Dr. Sudhir Hublikar’s article in ChemQuest’s Strategic Solutions column in the Adhesives and Sealants Industry (ASI) Magazine in March 2017.