Our Story: Built on Experience. Driven by People.

At Mechanical Test, we don’t manufacture the machines; we maintain a standard of application engineering that has been decades in the making.

The Foundation: A Heritage of Complexity

Our company was founded by Bob Brosch, an engineer whose career began in the early 1970s  – the formative decade of modern materials testing. During that era, the challenges were massive: high-end dynamic systems, complex servohydraulics, and the world’s most demanding research missions.

This was a time when “good enough” wasn’t an option. It required a deep, fundamental understanding of how machines behave under load and how to ensure the researcher’s data was beyond reproach.

Bob Brosch

From Innovation to Implementation

Today, our focus has evolved. We have taken the rigorous lessons learned from those high-end dynamic systems and applied them to the streamlined, efficient static and all electric dynamic machines we build today.

While the machines have changed, the core principles remain the same:

  • Integrity of Design: If we could build for the violence of dynamic testing, we know exactly how to build for the precision of static testing. A machine is only as good as its weakest component.
  • Reliability of Data: We build for researchers and quality managers who need to trust every Newton of force recorded.
  • Practical Sophistication: We use modern control technology not because it’s “new,” but because it makes the operator’s job more repeatable.

The Next Generation

Today, we are a specialized team of 25 dedicated professionals. As Bob prepares for retirement, his primary mission has shifted: The Transfer of Knowledge. We are a legacy-driven shop. Every static machine that leaves our floor benefits from 50 years of “lessons learned” in the most demanding testing environments on earth.

Technical Pedigree

The “MTO Method” is rooted in the methodologies of the industry’s foundational titans. While our current focus is on robust low force testing applications, our engineering DNA was shaped by:

  • Low Cycle Fatigue (LCF): Built on the legacy of Joe Dean Morrow, the “Grandfather of LCF.”
  • Multiaxial Fatigue: Guided by the work of Professor Darrell Socie.
  • Fracture Mechanics: Influenced by Ashok Saxena (creep and fatigue).
  • Materials Characterization: Insights from Sig Hecker (Former Director, Los Alamos).
  • Advanced Composites: Technical standards informed by Dr. Ken Jerina.


Institutional Heritage:

  • National Labs: NASA, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia, Oak Ridge.
  • Academic Research: Georgia Tech, University of Illinois, Case Western.
  • Industrial Pioneers: Westinghouse, General Electric.