Tom Papagiannakis, chairman of the department of civil engineering at UTSA, congratulates John Schuepback, president and CEO of Trans-Tex Fabrication, on their partnership in materials testing. Courtesy photo

Special to the Northwest Weekly

Trans-Tex Fabricating and the University of Texas at San Antonio have partnered to install a large 11-foot by 9-foot Mechanical Test System (MTS) that will enhance the teaching and research capabilities of UTSA’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

With this new installation, UTSA’s engineering students will now be able to do hands-on materials testing in the University’s Structural Dynamics Lab. An MTS consists of a large, steel load testing frame, a machine that exerts varying amounts of pressure on the material being tested and computer equipment that monitors how well the material handles the stress. Various materials like concrete, steel, plastics and other structural materials can be evaluated using the MTS.

“There are not many of these setups around the country, and UTSA engineering students will benefit tremendously from having this type of real-world materials testing capabilities right on campus,” said Mijia Yang, an assistant professor in UTSA’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “Before, we would only have theoretical and mathematical tools for teaching and research in structural engineering at UTSA. Now our students can get first-hand experience in materials testing which will benefit them in their engineering careers.”

The steel frame was donated by Trans-Tex Fabricating. Trans-Tex CEO John Schuepbach says his company’s involvement came from a simple request.

“UTSA approached us about their project and we saw the immediate benefit students would get from having this type of hands-on lab experience. We were happy to get involved. Our folks fabricated load testing frame, delivered it to UTSA and assembled it in their lab. We’ve done some work on the UTSA campus and we were very happy to give a little back. I think it is important that the engineering students come out of school with some practical experiences and this gives them a great opportunity for just that kind of experience.”

“Trans-Tex came through for us and was a great partner to work with,” Yang said expressing his gratitude for the San Antonio steel fabrication company’s involvement and donation. “They have made it possible for our students to enrich their engineering education and also given us the ability to compete for structural testing projects from the U.S. military, NASA, TxDOT and other major organizations around the country.”

UTSA is already looking to add a “shake table” to its high-tech MTS in order to conduct materials testing in earthquake simulations.