Pipe Testing: Team
Mario Paredes, B.S., P.E., Senior Research Engineer
mparedes@TRI-ENV.com | +1 512 263 2101 Ext 256/ +1 352 231-0992 (Cell)
Mario Paredes holds a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Florida and half the curriculum for a Master’s degree he never finished. He worked for the Florida Department of Transportation for 20 years in the area of concrete and corrosion including pipe for his last 5 years. When he left FDOT he was the State Corrosion Engineer in charge of estimating the service life of all structural materials as well as approval of plastic pipe products including repair materials. In his multiple roles at FDOT, Mario was responsible for presenting in national forums research finding of work conducted at FDOT. Mario has been a professor, a service engineer for Polaroid, and now Division Director for Pipe testing at TRI since 2014. He has published several papers on concrete research; he has been chair of NCHRP idea projects, chair of one AASHTO TIG project, and member of NCHRP committees. His most proud accomplishment was leading the investigation to use concrete surface resistivity to characterize concrete permeability for which an AASHTO test method was created.
David Cuttino, B.S, Laboratory Manager
dcuttino@TRI-ENV.com | +1 512 263 2101 Ext 186
David Cuttino holds B.S. in Biology from the University of Texas at Austin. He has worked at TRI since 2001 except for one year in 2005-2006 where he explored being a scuba instructor with much success and little money. He is currently the laboratory manager for the pipe division at TRI Austin. His experience includes performing all the thermal tests used to characterize polymers, all physical tests to characterize structural and mechanical properties of polymers, as well as multiple other tests to extract chemicals or service life data from polymers. David has performed the most stress crack growth resistance testing in the American continent for the whole pipe industry. He has grown technically at PPI since graduating college with a wide array of experience as technician, senior technician, and now lab manager.
James E. (Jay) Sprague, Laboratory Director – TRI South Carolina
jesprague@tri-env.com | +1 864 569 6888
Jay Sprague holds a B.S. in Applied Economics and Statistics from Clemson Universtiy. Jay has worked at TRI since 2011, and is currently the laboratory director at TRI South Carolina in Greenville, SC and is responsible for the management of this multi-discipline materials laboratory specializing in testing and evaluations of erosion and sediment control materials, storm water quality products, geosynthetics for roadway reinforcement and paving, solid wall and corrugated plastic pipe, and ADA compliant tactile warning systems. Jay is responsible for overseeing all aspects of TRI’s state-of-the-art hydrostatic pipe testing lab at TRI South Carolina. Jay is actively involved at ASTM International in the development of standardized test methods and practices. Jay has authored multiple technical papers and scholarly articles in the field of geosynthetics and erosion control.
Mike Domingo, Senior Technician
mdomingo@tri-env.com | +1 512 263 2101 ext 185
Mike Domingo has worked at TRI since 2010? first at a lab in Canada acquired by TRI. At the request of TRI, Mike then made the big jump and moved to Austin bringing with him all the equipment and his expertise from Canada. As a senior technician, Mike is responsible for multiple technical areas and leads junior technicians by providing instruction and direction related to testing tasks. Mike is responsible of all physical Pipe testing like stiffness, impact, stub compression, and dimensions of pipe, chambers, and repaired materials.
Rick Thomas, M.S., Principal Scientist
rthomas@tri-env.com | +1 512 263 2101 ext 186
Rick Thomas holds a BS in Chemistry and a MS in Polymer Chemistry from Texas State University. He has been employed with TRI since 1986, except for three years spent with National Seal Company, a manufacturer of polyethylene sheet used in landfills and surface impoundments. He has been involved in plastic pipe since 2000. As a researcher, he has authored or co-authored 80 papers, 13 on plastic pipe, including two major reports for the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP Reports 696 and 870) on the use of recycled polyethylene in corrugated drainage pipe. Rick’s role as principal scientist of all technical groups means he carries the burden of leading investigations into any new materials, challenges, service life, or odd behavior of polymers. He performs research, writes technical papers, and conducts forensic evaluation of material failures for the multiple TRI costumers.
