Expansion Joint – It Takes A Rocket Scientist

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Houston TX, December 2011. To make a living, Bob Wilkes develops space hardware for Johnson Space Center as the chief engineer for mechanical systems at Jacobs Engineering. But on his own time, he usually finds himself inventing things. “I go home, and I can’t shut it off, so I do things for the house or for the kids,” said Wilkes, who recently brought his latest invention; Trim-A-Slab was designed to replace rotting wood between the concrete slabs of a residential driveway.

Wilkes’ interest in building things began early, when he was a teen. He remembers buying a radio-controlled toy to see how it works, then coming up with one on his own. Wilkes went on to earn bachelors’ and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. One of his first employers was a research and development firm that had a machine shop. There, he and his colleagues learned the basics of manufacturing, welding and machining. “We started doing fun things for ourselves,” Wilkes said. “Then we took outside jobs.”

Besides the expansion joint product, Wilkes also has created other things to share with his wife and their children. The “smart trellis/patio cover” he designed provided a way for the family to enjoy shade on their patio during the summer while keeping the patio bright and airy. “I developed a simple patio cover that delivers on these goals simply by placing the boards covering the patio to an angle so that the summer sun is blocked, but the winter sun shines through.”
Wilkes’ Trim-A-Slab invention is a response to another homeowner issue – wooden boards that rot between the slabs of concrete comprising the driveway and sidewalk. The wood typically rots within seven or eight years and weeds grow in its place. Wilkes initially tried to fix the problem in his own yard by replacing the rotten wood with caulk. The project was a pain, he said, and he didn’t like the way it looked when it was completed.

That’s when Wilkes came up with the alternative found at http://www.trim-a-slab.com, – a rubber strip that holds itself in place. He had 40,000 feet made last year, and now the product is for sale at 12 Ace Hardware stores in Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio and a patent is pending.
Ultimately, he’d like Trim-A-Slab to become a large scale business. Wilkes said, “You’re making something that can give back to the community, not just to satisfy your creative desire, but something that actually helps people and can give people jobs.”

For more information about Trim-A-Slab, visit trim-a-slab.com or look for Trim-A-Slab on Facebook.

Trim-A-Slab.com
2629 Natchez Court
League City, TX 77573
(281) 910-5511
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.trim-a-slab.com

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david5390
By david5390