SCRA-LED Composites Industry Consortium Recognizes Excellence in Manufacturing Technology
March 28, 2012
Two Teams Win Achievement Awards for Composites-Related Projects
ANDERSON, SC – March 27, 2012 – The Composites Consortium (TCC), a composites industry leadership group, announced the winners of the group’s achievement awards. The awards, given annually at the TCC’s spring meeting, recognize excellence in advanced manufacturing technology for composite materials.
TCC provides industry participation within the Composites Manufacturing Technology Center (CMTC) of Excellence, an SCRA Applied R&D-led Department of Defense (DoD) initiative. The Center is one of nine United States Navy Manufacturing Technology Centers of Excellence currently operational within the United States. The Centers of Excellence support the US Navy’s Office of Naval Research and are internationally-recognized for their work in improving both weapons systems and troop safety for US forces, as well as processes, cost effectiveness and efficiencies for the DoD.
The Automated Fiber Placement of Out-Of-Autoclave Materials project team won for its work in manufacturing aerospace composites from the newest fiber and polymer systems. The project used advanced materials and methods, successfully manufacturing high-tech composites with reduced tooling costs. Team members include: Lockheed Martin, The Boeing Company, GKN Aerospace Aerostructures , HITCO Carbon Composites , Spirit AeroSystems , ElectroImpact , Ingersoll Machine Tools, MAG IAS, Cytec Engineered Materials and SCRA Applied R&D.
The other winning team produced outstanding efficiencies and cost reduction results using composite structures for the US Navy’s Virginia Class Submarine. The team developed several composite structural components and successfully transitioned them to the fleet. The components included fairings and other attachments to the hull that reduce manufacturing costs and require less maintenance over the life of the submarine. Team members include: Advanced Manufacturing Technology for Composites, General Dynamics Electric Boat, Huntington Ingalls Industries, Newport News Shipbuilding, Penn State Applied Research Laboratory and SCRA Applied R&D.
“We are pleased to recognize these outstanding projects and the corporate partners that comprise the winning teams,” said SCRA Vice President Marty Ryan. “The Composites Consortium has assembled high-caliber industry partners. Through their hard work, we were able to successfully modify composite structures to improve costs and efficiencies for the US Navy and the Department of Defense.”
“I congratulate the winners of The Composites Consortium’s annual achievement awards,” said SCRA CEO Bill Mahoney. “The SCRA-led Composites Manufacturing Technology Center is both nationally and internationally recognized for applying new materials and processes to achieve both improved mission fitness and economic returns. These awards represent the collaboration and teamwork required to sustain innovation, and I look forward to many future successful programs with The Composites Consortium.”
About SCRA
http://www.scra.org/
SCRA is an applied research corporation with over 29 years of experience delivering technology solutions with high returns on investment to federal and corporate clients. To fulfill our mission, SCRA has three sectors: Our Technology Ventures sector helps early-stage companies to commercialize innovations and create jobs, our Applied R&D sector manages over 100 national and international programs worth over $1.5 billion in contract value and our R&D Facilities sector builds and manages research facilities that include wet labs, secure rooms for sensitive work and advanced high-tech manufacturing shops. Economic studies show that since its inception, SCRA’s cumulative economic output represents a contribution of over $14 billion to South Carolina’s economy.
About the Composites Consortium
The Composites Consortium is an integrated team of more than 30 separate entities, including (traditional and non-traditional) defense contractors, weapons systems prime contractors, composites industry suppliers, small businesses and academic institutions (including Clemson University). The Consortium creates a cooperative environment comprised of industry, academia and federally funded facilities and laboratories that nurture development and continuous improvement of composite manufacturing processes and technology transfer. TCC harnesses members’ broad array of technical and operational capabilities to conceptualize and develop innovative composites-based solutions for improving the performance and reducing the cost of Department of Defense weapons systems.
