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Canada Invests $4.6 Million in Nano Coatings, Tooling for Joint Strike Fighter
The Canadian Government will invest in nanotechnology coatings for the multinational Joint Strike Fighter program, a U.S.-led multinational effort to build affordable and multi-role fifth-generation stealth fighter aircraft.
Canada’s Minister of Industry Jim Prentice, Minister of Industry, announced a $4.6 million joint R&D program with Integran Technologies Inc. of Toronto, a privately-owned company with 35 employees.
The JSF nano-coatings project aims to develop a hard metal coating called Nanovate NVTM (Nanovar) to apply to aerospace tools to improve tool lifespan and durability, and to achieve cost savings. The project will also expand Integran's technological capabilities in composite tooling.
Integran is developing Nanovate NVTM (Nanovar), a very hard nanometal surface coating for carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) aerospace tools, designed to protect them from damage. These CFRP tools will be used to form and shape the various parts of an airplane. The coating will be very useful to the JSF program, since the coating is intended to improve the durability and lifespan of composite tooling and to reduce costs.
The aerospace industry requires a large investment in tooling to manufacture advanced structural CFRP components, and the projected outcome of the Integran project is to provide long-term reliable service to the aerospace and defense industries. The technology has the potential to move the aerospace composite industry into the next generation of composite molding capabilities.
"As a research-based company, Integran is committed to staying at the forefront of nanostructured material technologies," said Dr. Gino Palumbo, President and CEO of Integran. "Our partnership with the federal government and the JSF program will help us sustain our position as a leading international player within the growing nanotechnology sector."
Integran will also collaborate with University of Toronto graduate students on this innovative nanotechnology R&D project, supporting knowledge transfer in the region.
The investment is being made through Canada’s Strategic Aerospace and Defense Initiative (SADI), which supports strategic industrial research and pre-competitive development projects in the aerospace, defense, space and security industries. SADI is managed by the Industrial Technologies Office, a special operating agency of Industry Canada, whose mandate is to advance leading-edge R&D by Canadian industries.
The Government of Canada's participation in the JSF program makes it eligible to benefit from preferential conditions and advantages reserved for JSF partners; however, this participation does not commit it to purchase the aircraft.
The JSF nano-coatings project aims to develop a hard metal coating called Nanovate NVTM (Nanovar) to apply to aerospace tools to improve tool lifespan and durability, and to achieve cost savings. The project will also expand Integran's technological capabilities in composite tooling.
Integran is developing Nanovate NVTM (Nanovar), a very hard nanometal surface coating for carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) aerospace tools, designed to protect them from damage. These CFRP tools will be used to form and shape the various parts of an airplane. The coating will be very useful to the JSF program, since the coating is intended to improve the durability and lifespan of composite tooling and to reduce costs.
The aerospace industry requires a large investment in tooling to manufacture advanced structural CFRP components, and the projected outcome of the Integran project is to provide long-term reliable service to the aerospace and defense industries. The technology has the potential to move the aerospace composite industry into the next generation of composite molding capabilities.
"As a research-based company, Integran is committed to staying at the forefront of nanostructured material technologies," said Dr. Gino Palumbo, President and CEO of Integran. "Our partnership with the federal government and the JSF program will help us sustain our position as a leading international player within the growing nanotechnology sector."
Integran will also collaborate with University of Toronto graduate students on this innovative nanotechnology R&D project, supporting knowledge transfer in the region.
The investment is being made through Canada’s Strategic Aerospace and Defense Initiative (SADI), which supports strategic industrial research and pre-competitive development projects in the aerospace, defense, space and security industries. SADI is managed by the Industrial Technologies Office, a special operating agency of Industry Canada, whose mandate is to advance leading-edge R&D by Canadian industries.
The Government of Canada's participation in the JSF program makes it eligible to benefit from preferential conditions and advantages reserved for JSF partners; however, this participation does not commit it to purchase the aircraft.