That looks very similar to my dad's old lab. Once I saw the Instron tester, I started paying a little more attention. He works with FiberGlass when it was first coming out. (First Fiberglass Baseball bat, Hockey Stick, Canoe, Bathtub, LightHouse, BobSled, etc etc).
The Instron is used to stress test by pulling or pushing at crazy strengths to determine how the object under test stretches/shatters. You usually adhere strain gauges to the object to track any changes from it's original form while tracking how much strain the Instron is putting on it. Depending on the types or gauges, you'd need a variety of electrical units to power them.
For the Sharps container, he used to use syringes to inject resins into the test pieces for various tests. To properly dispose of them, he had to put the spend needles in the sharps containers.
Many times, he needed to testify at courts about his theories on how a (insert something made of fibreglass) failed. For instance, McDonanlds used to use Fiberglass tanks to hold the catalyst to make their soft serve congeal (just because it would break down metal - similar to CocaCola).
That setup looks very similar to the setup we had in our basement, but a much larger scale.
My guess is that companies would send them samples to test and provide assurances that the sample could survive certain stresses.
This was a very cool post for me. Brought back a lot of great memories.
Good that you liked it, many times these posts can stir old memories that are shut away and otherwise lost. It makes a change from the usual kind of wrecks that I visit.