Modern wall testing lab set-up in Los Baños

The country’s first state-of-the-heart wall testing laboratory has been set up in Los Baños, Laguna.

Now operational, the facility was installed at the Department of Science and Technology-Forest Products Research and Development Institute (DOST-FPRDI) on the UP Los Baños College of Forestry and Natural Resources.

The laboratory was conceptualized by FPRDI director Dr. Florence Soriano as a facility that measures the inherent strength of prefabricated walls so that they can be used not only as partitions but also to bear load.

Created to help verify data received by the National Housing Authority Committee on then Accreditation of Innovative Technologies for Housing (NHA-AITECH), the laboratory is fully automated and conforms with international standards.

Its construction was funded by the DOST grants-in-aid through the Philippine Council for Industrial Energy Research and Development (PCIERD).

"Through the laboratory," said FPRDI engineer Thomas Rolan Rondero, "we hope to come up with performance indices that will help engineers design structures that cost less but are more resilient to typhoons and earthquakes. – RAF