Timeline of Innovation TRI Historical Timeline of Innovation February 7th, 1975 Texas ResearchInstitute was established Texas Research Institute was established as a key player in research and development by Dr. J. Scott Thornton on this date, using the motto “Bridging the gap between science and engineering.” Over time TRI has established an impeccable reputation as a company dedicated to innovative solutions to clients’ problems. 1977 Developed Compressed Air/Gas Testing Patented a compressed air testing kit for collecting air samples from tanks used by divers,firefighters, and hazardous materials workers. This system was originally designed for theU.S. Diver’s compressed air quality sampling and TRI Air Testing continues to hold theU.S. Navy and Coast Guard air sampling contract. TRI pioneered the science ofcompressed air and gas testing and services a wide range of industries including fire,service, dive, medical, manufacturing, pharmaceutical , food/beverage, industrialand the Government and Military. 1983 TRI moved into it’s firstemployee owned building TRI purchased 29 acres in the beautiful hill country of Austin, Texas in the late1970’s. TRI moved into the first employee owned building at 9063 Bee Cave Rd. Proudly based in Austin TX, a city that provides an outstanding environment for R&D due to it’s internationally acclaimed academic and high tech community. 1984 Sonar Transducer Reliability Program (STRIP) TRI and University of Washington were the only nongovernmental participants in theprogram. STRIP combined reliability engineering and material development for theimprovement of sonar submaries. The program led to generations of improved sonar systems, as well as insight to the thermodynamics of the oceans. 1989 Suspension Bridge Testing TRI Austin Awarded R&D 100Award from Research & Development Magazine fordeveloping a robot designed to inspect heavy cables such as those used on suspension bridges. Field trials at the Waldo-Hancock bridge in Bucksport, Maine. This device was used to inspect many suspension bridges across the U.S. including the Golden Gate Bridge. May 23rd 1990 Proclamation: TRI Day in Austin Proclaimed Texas Research Institute/Austin Inc. Day in Austin by Mayor Lee Cook.Recognized for the strong scientific and engineering technology base and considerablecontributions of TRI/Austin to the Austin Community. 1994 Green Bullets Developed under the DoD SBIR, TRI developed a non-toxic, lead-free, cost effective,molded projectile core. Green bullets began to replace U.S. Army ammunition made of lead at training facilities around the country. This invention simultaneously reduced costs in lead clean up and protects the environment. It is now commercialized as a lead substitute as the Ecomass® line of products. 1996 Non-Destructive Analysis of Fatigue in Cranes Sudden, catastrophic fatigue failures in 40-50 year old U.S. Navy cranes were posinga significant danger to personnel and equipment. TRI Austin used acoustic emission (AE) NDE techniques to successfully detect fatigue crack growth under laboratory conditions and developed new AE standards, certification procedures, and new crane AE training services for NDE inspection vendors. right photo - crane acoustic emission (CAE) test stand that was built in Phase I to apply both service and certification loads to crane drive shafts. 1999 Towed System MarineLife Attack Reduction Towed acoustical array systems on U.S. Navy submarines were experiencing damageand failures due to attacks from sharks and other marine life totaling more than $8.5 million between 1996 to 1998. TRI won the award to research the cause and deduced that the metal flashing looked like moving fish. TRI used a non-reflective coating on all metal parts and solved the problem. 2005 TRI donates land toWestbank Community Library Texas Research International began negotiations to donate approximately10 acres for the purpose of constructing the Laura Bush Community library serving the western portion of the Westbank Community Library district. The Madrone Canyon trail is a five acre natural area between the the Library and the TRI complex and home to many endangered madrone trees and other native flora and fauna. 2010 TRI moves into newcompany owned building TRI began development of an additional office complex on the remaining19 acres in 2008. TRI International and half of TRI Austin move into Suite 200 of Building B, occupying approximately 15,000 sq ft of the 50,000 square foot building in 2010. Currently Siemens, Kiewit Construction and Corel share the TRI buildings as tenants of the TRI complex. Sonar Brackets Sonar transducer mounting hardware that was previously installed on currentU.S. Navy submarines was constructed from metallic materials that had costly corrosion problems that also reduced sonar system reliability. TRI Austin developed developed high performance polymer composite brackets and found them to be a viable low cost, light weight, high strength, and corrosion free replacement for their metallic counterparts.