Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI®) News
Printer Friendly VersionSouthwest Research Institute spins off nondestructive evaluation inspection business
San Antonio, Texas -- June 1, 1999 -- Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI®) and Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (IHI) of Japan have announced the formation of a high-technology, industrial inspection company that will employ 26 former SwRI engineers and technicians.
The new firm, IHI Southwest Technologies, Inc. (ISwT), is a wholly-owned, San Antonio-based subsidiary of IHI, a Japanese company employing more than 15,000 people. With headquarters in Tokyo, IHI is a worldwide industrial technology firm specializing in aero-engine, space development, power plants, environmental protection, and the development of a wide range of industrial equipment and facilities throughout the world. ISwT will send teams worldwide to provide nondestructive evaluation (NDE) inspection of critical components at nuclear and fossil-fuel power plants as well as petrochemical facilities. ISwT will also be expanding their activities to include maintenance and repair of nuclear power plant facilities.
J. Dan Bates, SwRI president, said, "NDE research and development will continue to be an Institute strength. The field services function has been spun off into a commercial venture, keeping the Institute's primary focus on technology development and transfer rather than long-term delivery of field services."
SwRI, a nonprofit, independent, applied research and development organization based in San Antonio, has been involved in technology transfer to clients in industry and government since its founding in 1947. SwRI is not involved in the new firm's ownership or management. However, ISwT will lease approximately 15,000 square feet of office and laboratory space on Institute property under a five-year agreement. This property formerly housed SwRI's Nondestructive Evaluation Inspection Services Department, whose equipment also has been sold to IHI. Terms of the transaction were not made public.
ISwT President Bruce Jacobs and all but one of the firm's other initial employees previously provided NDE inspection services as employees of the Institute, using tools and technologies that in many cases were developed at SwRI. The Institute will continue in research and development of new NDE technologies.
Jacobs said, "As the newest member of San Antonio's high-tech business community, and with the support of one of the world's leading industrial technology firms, ISwT intends to grow its service operations as new opportunities arise."
SwRI is an independent, nonprofit, applied engineering and physical sciences research and development organization with a staff of 2,700 and an annual research volume of $304 million.
For more information about ISwT, contact Joe Fohn, Communications Department, Southwest Research Institute, P.O. Drawer 28510, San Antonio, Texas, 78228-0510, Phone (210) 522-4630, Fax (210) 522-3547.
