Before coming to K-State two years ago, Peterman, assistant
professor of civil engineering, was able to work in full-scale
structural testing as a design engineer for American Precast
Concrete Inc. in Indianapolis and as a post-doctoral research
associate at Purdue University. He said the experience he
gained there was invaluable.
"What I found for myself was that actually being involved
in the full-scale testing kind of brought all the coursework
and the principles to life," he said. "So, as a faculty member,
I wanted to bring those same experiences for my students."
Then came the plan. Peterman decided to build a full-scale
testing frame that would allow both engineers and K-State
students the opportunity to perform tests on steel, concrete
and wooden structures.
There was just one problem - the university didn't have funds
set aside to support the project.
So, Peterman went shopping.
"I contacted Havens Steel Company of Kansas City, Missouri,"
he said. "I tried to find a company that would be willing
to partner with K-State in developing these hands-on opportunities
in the classroom, as well as provide a facility where we could
really start to begin to meet the needs of industry through
physical testing of structures."
Peterman enlisted the help of Havens' president and CEO,
Ken McCullough.
"Once Havens got involved, I was able to go to other industries
and essentially tell them, 'This is what we're building, here's
what Havens is providing,' and that gave credibility to the
project," Peterman said. "I now have about two dozen corporate
sponsors who have since come on board and provided additional
equipment and facilities as part of the whole infrastructure
development. But even with the other sponsors, it was really
Havens who jumpstarted the whole thing for us."
McCullough said Havens was glad to have the opportunity to
support the project.
"We have a keen interest in the advancement of the engineering
profession, so we were glad to help K-State," he said. "There
has been a tremendous increase in the abilities to test different
types of structures, and this new facility is definitely a
good thing for the university."
The facility, which cost more than $120,000 to build, was
co-designed by Peterman and Havens Steel and will handle testing
for all types of structures, including beams and columns and
joint connections. The first scheduled project for the facility
will be centered around the research of the use of fiber-reinforced
polymer materials to repair damaged bridge girders. The estimated
time for this project is approximately one year.
The testing facility is located at 925 Carlson Street in
Manhattan, behind K-State's Civil Infrastructure Systems Laboratory.
Lakshmi Reddi, head of the Department of Civil Engineering,
said this new testing facility is just one section of CISL.
"The steel project of Dr. Peterman's is part of an 'umbrella'
lab that is evolving there," Reddi said.
Reddi said other projects will be going on simultaneously.
"This is going to take the K-State program to new heights,"
he said. "This is a unique, large-scale testing program that
many schools in the country don't have. This gives K-State
tremendous national recognition in the area of civil infrastructure
systems. I think that the activities we see at CISL will continue
to grow at a fast rate because there is so much need to test
systems at large scales."
Peterman is anticipating the advent of the new projects his
facility will introduce to campus, and said he believes they
will be a worthy addition to the civil engineering program.
"To be an effective teacher, I think I need to bring research
into the classroom," he said. "I think that as a result of
this expansion of the program, students will have a better
grasp of structural design and behavior, and hopefully more
enthusiasm. I know they're excited about doing something other
than sitting in class and doing homework. This brings it all
to life."
