Incorporated in 1962, HTRI was chartered to conduct application-oriented research in the field of heat transfer and fluid flow technology. Our goal–to deliver proprietary, high quality research using dependable design methods and software products–was a departure from the then-typical process of using university-derived theory to conduct individual experiments.

In 1963, all experiments were conducted in Alhambra, California, USA, and administrative offices were located in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, USA. As the company grew in size and reputation, the administrative offices were moved in 1973 to South Pasadena, California.

Over the next fifteen years, we increased international marketing efforts and held the first member meetings in Asia and Europe. In addition to providing research data and analysis, we released our first software products.

In 1989, Claudette Beyer was appointed President & Chief Executive Officer. Beyer’s first task was to direct the cross-country move from South Pasadena to College Station, Texas. The new location was near four major metropolitan areas in Texas and provided access to several top engineering schools. Its proximity to Houston, the home of many of the world’s largest energy companies, was considered particularly advantageous. Shortly after the move, HTRI began construction of our first industrial-scale research rigs.

While research remained a top priority, software became increasingly relevant in the 1990s. As more customers migrated from mainframes to desktop computers, we released several products for the Windows operating system, including our flagship software, HTRI Xchanger Suite^®.

By 2000, we had built our first wholly owned corporate headquarters and established offices and sales representation in several countries. In 2005, we began construction of a multimillion-dollar Research & Technology Center (RTC) in Navasota, Texas. This state-of-the-art facility is approximately 3,000 m² (22,500 ft²) and currently includes ten industrially relevant rigs, most located in a climate-controlled research bay to minimize the effects of weather conditions on test results. We continue to construct and modify rigs to advance our experimental programs and to meet changing customer needs.

In 2009, HTRI entered into a strategic alliance with Honeywell International, Inc., bringing added value to our members and the customers of both companies. As part of the alliance, Honeywell provides HTRI with technology that includes research reports, technical documents, and software. HTRI and Honeywell are currently collaborating to more closely integrate HTRI Xchanger Suite and Honeywell’s UniSim^® Design process simulator.

Also in 2009, we began construction of the first office building and a conference center/dining hall building next to the RTC on our global headquarters campus in Navasota, and completed a second office building in 2015. This latest two-story structure added more than 3,100 m² (34,000 ft²) of offices, meeting rooms, and work areas.

Over the past five decades, HTRI has achieved prominence in the industry with an applied research program that represents a substantial concentration of the world’s heat transfer expertise. Our customers continue to rely on us to set the standard for process heat transfer technology.