Element Materials Technology announces a major relocation of the company’s Houston testing laboratory, with the new 5.3 acre site strategically adjacent to the city’s Energy Corridor.
The move also involves the installation of state-of-the-art testing facilities, designed to create the country’s first ‘technology centre’ in oil & gas materials testing.
In what is the company’s largest ever single investment in capabilities, Element Houston will offer advanced fracture mechanics and sour service corrosion testing, combined with a new polymeric materials testing infrastructure at the same location.
The polymeric expansion will be led by experts from UK-based polymer engineering and testing specialists from Element Hitchin (formerly MERL, which was acquired by Element in 2012). The site will encompass two buildings; the main facility will cover 40,000 sq. ft. and house all core testing capabilities and Air Emissions, while the second 15,000 sq. ft building will be dedicated to NDT.
Colin Speedie, Element VP of US Operations, says: “Element Houston is already one of North America’s most highly regarded oil & gas materials testing facilities; however, this investment creates an absolutely unique suite of services and expertise to fulfil the current and future needs of this technically driven sector. This move will also enable us to further develop our strategic partnerships with current clients, as well as forging new relationships with other major players in the technical community.”
Charles Noall, President and CEO of Element, says “Element’s core objective is to become the recognised global leader for materials testing. Oil & gas is a key focus for Element and the creation of the technology centre in Houston mirrors an expansion of our capabilities in Europe, where we have significantly expanded Hitchin capabilities to create a UK oil & gas technology centre and relocated in Amsterdam to increase in our corrosion capabilities. The acquisition of MERL in 2012 demonstrated the company’s ambition in expanding its capabilities in this sector and we are now building on this investment with world-leading technology and expertise at Houston.”
The move is part of a wider investment strategy for Element, which recently acquired one of America’s largest independent materials testing businesses, Sherry Laboratories of Daleville, Indiana, to become the USA’s largest dedicated materials testing company.
The investment in Houston also follows a number of other significant acquisitions by Element in the last fifteen months, including aerospace composite testing company Delsen Testing Laboratories, leading fatigue testing business MAR-TEST, product qualification testing provider Detroit Testing Laboratories and world-class non-metallic testing supplier MERL.
About Element
Element is a global network of laboratories with experts specializing in materials testing, product qualification testing and failure analysis for the Aerospace & Defence, Oil & Gas, Power Generation, and Transportation sectors. Their team of nearly 1,400 scientists, engineers and technicians work in laboratories located throughout the U.S. and Europe.