Things You Might Not Know About Nick
What does your workspace look like?
Organized. Everything has a place.
What do you like to do outside of work?
Anything outdoors, especially fishing.
What is your favorite type of music?
Country music.
What inspires you?
A World War II veteran: my grandpa.
If you could choose one superpower, what would it be?
Super strength.
What’s your favorite movie?
Jurassic Park.
If you could learn something new, what would it be?
Learn how to weld.
What’s your favorite food?
Breakfast.
Do you have a favorite quote or piece of advice?
Always do what is right.
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EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT: Nick Batts
Meet Nick Batts: A Mechanical Mind Geared Toward Safety
It was a satisfying moment when his son’s preschool teacher called to ask Nick Batts what he did for a living. It turns out that the four-year-old had been asking what his teacher’s spoon was made of, and the teacher suspected that this apple did not fall far from the family tree.
“I’m an engineer, and I always want to know what something is made of, so it was clear that my kids are picking things up from me,” says Nick, who continues to ask and answer similar questions every day at Industrial Inspection & Analysis (IIA).
A Mechanical Mind
After earning a degree in Metallurgical Engineering from University of Missouri Science and Technology, Nick began his career at IIA’s St. Louis Lab in 2013. With roots that date back to 1929, the lab offers diverse testing capabilities to support industries ranging from aerospace to amusement parks.
Nick still recalls the unusual scene that greeted him on his first day of work, as the metallurgical team sorted through hundreds of jars of spaghetti sauce, looking for foreign objects that were possibly missing from processing equipment. The manufacturer had asked IIA to perform testing on each jar to ensure the savory sauce did not come with any surprises.
Nick’s career journey at IIA began in the Metallurgical Testing department. Over the next decade, including five years in a leadership role, Nick tested and analyzed an incredible range of items to figure out the “why” behind failures.
“After 10 years of analyzing why things fail, I’ve seen a lot of crazy stuff — hammers and coffee pots that have shattered when used, washing machines that caught fire, and grease lines that burst.”
As a strong safety advocate — at work and at home — Nick takes lessons learned from IIA testing into his personal life, occasionally testing his wife’s patience in the process.
“I’ve always been very safety conscious, so what I learn at my job helps me in my day-to-day life, too. When we travel and stay in a hotel, I always inspect the shower to make sure it’s safe and structurally sound,” he says. “Sometimes my wife gets frustrated when we shop together. She just wants to buy what she needs and go home, but I’ve got to do research so I know how strong an item is.”
Breakin’ It
In 2020, Nick moved into his current role as Assistant Mechanical Manager, where his days are spent breaking things to better understand them.
“I break everything I touch, and I get paid for it,” says Nick with a laugh. “It goes against everything we were taught as kids, but at IIA, we break things to help make sure the part or component won’t fail and hurt somebody later.”
A form of destructive testing, mechanical testing takes a part, component, or material past its breaking point to learn its true limits. Over the years, the St. Louis Lab has used destructive testing on a laundry list of components, including washing machines, rifles, airplanes, scooters, elevators, deer stands and seat belts. Nick’s team can assess everything from the holding power of an adhesive to the resilience of a rubber band used on braces.
“I had to smash someone’s dentures once. That felt weird,” recalls Nick. “Another time, I had to test the leather seats in a new Corvette for tear resistance. I see so many strange things.”
Taking the Plunge
As a hands-on manager who welcomes unusual testing assignments, Nick was happy to oblige when asked to help with Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) testing of a pool slide. He was the ideal candidate because his stature met very specific CPSC testing parameters. Ten years later, he embraces his unofficial role as IIA’s “slide guy.”
“I never thought I’d be going down pool slides at work, but someday thousands of people are going to go down each slide, so it has to be safe,” says Nick. “Most people never realize how much design work and testing goes into a slide.”
Among other things, pool manufacturers want to make sure that when sliders exit, they don’t skip across the water or plunge straight to the bottom of the pool. They also want to protect sliders from coming up or over the side of a slide on a curve.
Nick, and the entire Lab Services team, are always willing to go the extra mile for customers. On one memorable occasion, a pool slide manufacturer came to IIA in December with an urgent request.
“This particular client was in a real hurry because they were trying to debut the slide for summer. Unfortunately, it was 20 degrees outside in St. Louis when the prototype arrived,” recalls Nick. “So, we built a pool inside our shipping warehouse and warmed up the pool so I could go down the slide.”
Geared Toward Safety
Whether Nick Batts is solving the mystery of a component failure, breaking a test item, or sliding into a pool, it’s all for the sake of safety.
“I always keep the larger picture in mind. Whatever we are testing may look like a piece of metal, but at the end of the day, it’s going into someone’s car or an aircraft or a bridge,” says Nick. “It’s better to learn how and why things might fail during testing than after, so products can be made safe. That’s why we test.”
