K-State engineers help Kansas waterslide company bring products to the Middle East
Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025
The Technology Development Institute and civil engineering department at K-State helped waterslide company Splashtacular conduct destructive testing services to support market expansion to the Middle East. From left: Robin Rogers, Splashtacular; Bret Lanz, TDI; Alex Weidman, Splashtacular; John Bloomfield, TDI; Addison Sauer, Splashtacular; and Trinity Lawson, Splashtacular. | Download this photo.
MANHATTAN — Kansas State University's Technology Development Institute and department of civil engineering recently teamed up to help a local waterslide company enter new global markets.
The two K-State units, both in K-State's Carl R. Ice College of Engineering, provided destructive testing services to Splashtacular, a Paola-based company that has been designing, manufacturing, assembling and installing waterslides and aquatic play units worldwide for more than 25 years.
Destructive testing is a regulatory requirement for Splashtacular to expand into the Middle East. This testing consists of applying force to the parts until they encounter a structural failure and then documenting the amount of force and mode of failure.
Due to the size of the waterslide parts and the amount of force required, a large press and data acquisition system is required for the testing. Splashtacular couldn't conduct the testing in its own facility, so Alex Weidman, Splashtacular CEO, reached out to K-State for help.
The Technology Development Institute and the civil engineering department worked with Splashtacular to create a plan, and then the K-State team modified an existing test fixture to meet the needs of Splashtacular's testing protocol.
"We were able to test eight individual products in a single day with the assistance of TDI and staff in the civil engineering department," Weidman said. "Working with K-State could not have been a simpler process. They helped us with the test plan, had everything set up and ready to go once we arrived, and had the final test report just a few days after testing was completed. We couldn't have asked for a better experience to complete this testing, and the team was a pleasure to work with."
Splashtacular intends to use the report from TDI to apply for the certification that will enable them to begin selling the waterslides in the Saudi Arabia market and then expand into other Middle Eastern countries.
This project was completed in support of the K-State 105 initiative, Kansas State University's answer to the call for a comprehensive economic growth and advancement solution for Kansas.
K-State's Technology Development Institute is a U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration University Center and received a grant from the Research and Entrepreneurship Federal Matching Grant Dollars Fund.
TDI provides a broad range of engineering and business development services to both private industry and university researchers to advance the commercial readiness of new products or technologies.
