Our Founder

Primary Flow Signal, Inc. finds inspiration and direction in the legacy of its founder and first president, the late Mr. Dezsoe Halmi, a brilliant scientist and outstanding leader; a gentleman and admirable human being.

Dezsoe (Dezso) Halmi was born on February 11, 1921 to a family of very humble means in the “FOTI UT” (Foti Street) section of Budapest Hungary. Coming from a poor family there, post-WW I, would usually relegate children to lives of difficulty and penury.  However, he began at a very early age to distinguish himself as a very tough and determined individual with a fighting spirit.

Instilled with respect for education and the motivation to excel, he was always at the top of his class, despite the poverty of his surroundings, and he garnered scholarships through his scholastic excellence. With maturity he turned his energies toward athletic activity, and in his later years, he became famous among his family and friends for springing into a handstand to demonstrate his robust health.

At the end of WW II, Russian occupation forces apprehended him, along with other Hungarian civilians, and despite never having served in the military, he was transported to Russia and pressed into slave labor for three years. During this ordeal, he came close to death a number of times, but once finally released, he returned to a communist Hungary and chafed at the oppression imposed by the new regime.

At the beginning of the Hungarian Uprising in 1956, Mr. Halmi, along with his new wife and young son, made a daring escape across the Austro-Hungarian border to freedom.   Mr. Halmi and his family were welcomed into the United States of America and settled in Rhode Island, where he lived for the rest of his highly productive life, becoming a proud naturalized citizen of his adopted country.

In the United States, Mr. Halmi began his career in engineering as a draftsman, and shortly moved to a position in the Calc department at Builders Iron Foundry in Providence RI., where he became one of the foremost experts in flow measurement. Among other distinctions, Mr. Halmi invented and patented the UVT (Universal Venturi Tube.) Also, he authored a number of landmark technical papers that have been published by ASME and disseminated worldwide in various translations.

He founded his own independent business, Primary Flow Signal, Inc. in the early Eighties, and proceeded to develop numerous innovative products, including the HVT-Halmi Venturi Tube, the PFS-HN Halmi Nozzle, and the HVT-SM Sealed Metering System, for solids bearing and contaminated line fluid measurement, many of which are patented proprietary products of the company. These innovations formed the basis on which the firm was built, and under his leadership, PFS flourished dramatically, earning a predominant position and reputation in the field of accurate and reliable flow measurement, with proponents and satisfied users throughout the world.

Dezsoe’s sudden passing in 1996 was a tremendous blow to his family, friends, professional colleagues and acquaintances, and his memory continues to drive Primary Flow Signal, Inc. to maintain and build upon the foundation of solid technical bedrock and tradition of excellence that he established.

In addition to his distinguished scientific contribution to flow measurement, his life’s passion was to write and publish a treatise on his observations of life and philosophy. Shortly before his passing, he published “The Mechanics of the Spirit” which is available in hardcover by special order directly from Primary Flow Signal, Inc.