Bridge Expansion Joints and Other Components
TechStar President at newly opened Modular Expansion Joint Assembly Plant in South Korea
Introduction and Company Profile
TechStar, Inc. was incorporated in the State of Ohio, USA. The founders have had a long history (100 years collectively) in the development of expansion joints and other mechanical components for bridges and structures. The company has three main stockholders, D. D. Brown, Steve Brown and W. M Brown, the latter two being the sons of D. D. Brown.
D. D. Brown was President of The D. S. Brown Company from 1950 until his retirement in 1988. Starting in 1950, D. D. Brown invented the method of neoprene extrusion that enabled a continuous piece of significant length to be manufactured. This method called LCM or liquid curing method enabled the synthetic rubber (neoprene) to be continuously extruded, in-line cured, and wound on a reel. D. D. Brown developed the technology and was the first to provide a continuous seal to the construction industry.
As the technology advanced, larger sizes and movement capabilities were required by the construction community and D. D. Brown was instrumental in being able to produce seals to accommodate the larger expansion joint openings. In 1970, D. D. Brown and Steve Brown, his oldest son, developed a modular expansion joint that sealed bridge decks with movements greater than 100 mm.
With a new generation brings new opportunities
New Generation and New Markets
Steve Brown joined his father at the D. S. Brown Company after college at the University of Pennsylvania and became the National Sales Manager under the elder Brown. In this capacity Steve Brown developed the marketing and name recognition in the bridge construction industry as well as introducing steel component fabrication, which the bridge component industry was using more frequently worldwide, into the business. Quality was and is always the keystone of success. Upon retirement of D. D. Brown, Steve Brown continued the development of the modular expansion joint. His brother, W. M. Brown, joined the re-named company
TechStar Modular Expansion Joints, a market leader and industry innovator
TechStar, Inc. and together they set forth to enhance the design of the modular expansion joint. The brothers quickly transformed the D. S. TechStar, Inc. modular expansion joint design into a state-of-the-art bridge technology and expediently gained market share in the United States. Maintaining extremely tight tolerances with materials and their supply chain, which could handle higher loads, enabled TechStar to produce the highest quality joint system available on any continent. With the experience of over 100 years of collective design and field experience, D. S. TechStar, Inc. quality is unsurpassed by any other supplier in the industry.