Auto Technology Company: Forged at the Intersection of Environment and Industry
Cleveland was destined to become the epicenter of corrosion science and the home of Auto Technology. It is the birthplace of modern infrastructure, and the natural home for the study of the forces that seek to degrade it.
To the north and west, iron ore moved through the Great Lakes into Cleveland’s furnaces, becoming the steel backbone of the industrial world. To the east, Pennsylvania’s oil fields gave rise to the modern petroleum industry. This oil did more than power engines—it birthed the chemistry of solvents, coatings, and inhibitors designed to protect steel.
Steel built the modern world. Petroleum protects it—and Auto Technology validates them all.
Foundations in Chemistry and Materials
The DNA of Auto Technology Company traces back to the Harshaw Chemical Company, a Cleveland-based pioneer in plating chemicals and petroleum-derived materials.
Harshaw thrived in an environment defined by heavy industry and the constant threat of material degradation. Over the early 20th century, the company built a global reputation for innovation, developing chemistries that extended the life of industrial products in the harshest conditions.
During World War II, Harshaw’s laboratories played a pivotal role in the Manhattan Project, developing specialized compounds for national defense.
Birth of Commercial Salt Spray Chambers and ASTM B117 Testing
While Harshaw advanced corrosion chemistry, GS Equipment was founded in nearby Brook Park, Ohio. GS pioneered the commercial manufacture of corrosion test chambers—specialized cabinets that allowed manufacturers to reproduce salt fog and salt spray test conditions in the lab.
These early cabinets helped establish the practice of accelerated corrosion testing and supported the industry’s most widely recognized standard: ASTM B117 salt spray testing, first published in 1939 and still a global benchmark today.
At the same time, America’s car culture was expanding and clear-road winter initiatives made deicing salts increasingly important to public safety. Cleveland’s location on the Great Lakes—and its access to the salt resources that would shape winter road treatment across the region—placed it at the center of the same environmental problem the corrosion industry was trying to solve.
Road Salt
As the automotive industry boomed, a new environmental variable emerged: deicing salts. Sourced from massive deposits beneath the Great Lakes, salt became essential for winter road safety but catastrophic for vehicle longevity.
Underbodies and structural components were now subjected to a brutal rhythm of:
- Salt contamination and constant moisture
- Freeze-thaw cycles
- Repeated drying and re-wetting
Early Corrosion Test Chamber — one of the early generations of salt spray testing equipment that influenced modern Auto Technology chamber design.
Uniting Chemistry and Corrosion Test Equipment
Harshaw acquired GS Equipment, bringing chemistry and machinery under one roof. For the first time, coatings and the chambers to test them were united, giving industry a complete solution: the power to create protective systems and the means to prove their strength.
By this time, salt spray chambers had become essential tools for quality control in automotive and industrial labs around the world. Cleveland’s industrial ecosystem—steel, chemistry, and salt—was now officially linked to the world’s most advanced testing equipment.
Rise of Cyclic Corrosion Testing Standards
Industry leaders were realizing that steady exposure didn’t tell the whole story. The real culprit was cyclic corrosion—the transition between states that drives rapid degradation. The challenge was clear: design materials that could survive these cycles and build the technology to prove they could.
Ownership changed—Gulf, Kaiser, Engelhard, Atotech—but the drive to improve corrosion technology pressed forward. Industry demanded methods that better mirrored real-world conditions: salt on winter roads, drying in the sun, condensation at night.
Engineers responded with cyclic corrosion chambers capable of shifting between environments to replicate the rhythm of nature itself. These methods were not developed in isolation—they were the result of long-term collaboration between automakers, steel producers, and corrosion researchers working to better match laboratory results to real-world vehicle performance.
Key contributors to this effort included Auto Technology President, Kevin A. Smith, whose work appears in multiple SAE and corrosion research publications tied to the development and refinement of cyclic corrosion methodologies. [1] [2]
This period saw the launch of important new standards, including ASTM G85 (modified salt spray, 1985), DIN 50018 (acidified SO2 testing, 1980s), and SAE J2334 (automotive cyclic test, 1990s).
International collaboration also produced ISO 9227 (neutral, acetic, and copper-accelerated salt spray tests, 1990), while ASTM B368 CASS grew in adoption for decorative coatings.
OEM-specific cyclic methods also emerged, including GMW 14872, which explicitly references chamber systems developed and supplied by Auto Technology in its implementation and validation framework. [3]
- SAE-related publications and corrosion research by President Kevin A. Smith
- SAE J2334 development and laboratory correlation work (JSTOR archive)
- GMW 14872 reference document referencing Auto Technology supplies
Early Atotech CCT-P Cyclic Corrosion Chamber — an early-generation corrosion testing unit that helped shape today’s Auto Technology chamber designs.
Digital Salt Spray Chambers and Global OEM Standards
At the turn of the century, local leadership and investors carried the business forward under a new name: Auto Technology. Chambers evolved rapidly: digital controls replaced manual switches, sensors tracked every variable, and software allowed complex cycles to be programmed and repeated with precision.
Our systems are widely used for OEM and global standards such as GMW 14872, GMW 3172, IEC 60068-2-60 (mixed flow gas, 1995), IEC 60068-2-52 (salt mist, 1996), and Ford L-467.
A Global Leader in Testing and Services
In 2008, Auto Technology expanded its mission. Beyond building the world's best chambers, it began operating them at an unprecedented scale.
The ATC Test Lab grew into one of the largest independent corrosion testing facilities in the world. Today, the lab serves as a critical partner for the aerospace, energy, electronics, and automotive sectors, running everything from standard ASTM B117 tests to highly specialized customer programs.
Auto Technology’s Role Today
With over 125 years of corrosion science in its DNA, Auto Technology represents the ultimate convergence of materials science and environmental simulation. We provide the systems, services, and expertise that allow the world's most critical industries to build things that last.
Automotive
OEM qualification, supplier screening, cyclic corrosion, gravelometer work, coated panels, plated parts, trim, fasteners, underbody systems, and related assemblies across GM, Ford, Stellantis, Volkswagen / Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, Kia, Tesla, and other OEM requirements.
Aerospace
Corrosion-sensitive finishes, metallic materials, environmental exposure, and specification-driven qualification work for severe-service environments.
Coatings Manufacturers
Performance testing, weathering, adhesion, abrasion, product characterization, quality-control support, and comparative coating evaluation.
Plating & Finishing
Salt fog, CASS, AASS, humidity, corrosion evaluation, and screening of plated or conversion-coated systems.
Electronics
Connectors, terminals, assemblies, and pollutant-driven atmospheric corrosion testing using mixed flowing gas and related gas-corrosion methods.
Oil & Gas
Protective coatings, immersion testing, Atlas Cell and cathodic disbondment work, chemical resistance, and corrosion evaluation for pipelines, tanks, process equipment, and related infrastructure.
Infrastructure & Industrial
Protective coatings, structural slip coefficient support, immersion and weathering evaluation, durability qualification work, and prep-related testing tied to field exposure concerns.
Government & Defense
Programs requiring standards-driven environmental exposure, corrosion evaluation, and disciplined documentation practices.
Failure Investigation
Troubleshooting support, comparison studies, service-environment simulation, and investigation-driven testing where the right method must be selected carefully.