IDIR funded nearly $5.5 million to fix real-world industry challenges

WINDSOR, ON, May 10, 2018 /CNW/ - Roman Maev, Director General of UWindsor's Institute for Diagnostic Imaging Research (IDIR), and his research team were joined today by industry partners to announce research funding of $5,488,206 through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada's (NSERC) Collaborative Research and Development (CRD) program.

The IDIR's project, Novel Quantitive Nondestructive Quality Evaluation of Advance Joining and Consolidation Manufacturing Processes, will develop and test resilient coatings and tools for their application, as well as non-destructive ultrasonic testing methods that can be done on-site for efficiency.

The initiative, involving industry partners Bombardier; Ford Canada; Canadian ElectroCoating Ltd./Narmco; Enwin Energy; and the Consortium for Aerospace Research and Innovation in Canada (CARIC), will provide variations on the same technology to solve industry challenges specific to each company. The project has received the largest CRD funding package in UWindsor's history and is unique in that companies across varied industry sectors are collaborating to share the benefits of this knowledge transfer.

The CRD provides funding to support academic-industry research partnerships based on cash and in-kind contributions from industry partners. In addition to monetary contributions, companies can offer research support by providing space, expertise, and the use of tools and equipment, among other things.

"Through negotiation with all of our partners we've been able to use the same technology to find ways for each of the companies involved to benefit from non-destructive testing of materials and the use of coatings to protect materials from degradation," said Dr. Maev.

"Being able to diagnose and fix flaws in machinery on-site will also save time and money. This is the ideal – clustering the technology so it serves many needs is a more efficient use of research resources and it benefits the most users. This project is unique because each industrial partner has it own independent interests, priorities, IP, and management style. It's a complicated project arrangement that requires vast knowledge and experience, as well as the faith and cooperation of all partners."

Partners will use the IDIR's technology in the following ways:

Bombardier is expected to benefit from significant cost savings in the area of fuselage skin and wing/tail leading edge repair through the use of new coatings which will be developed by the IDIR and tested at Bombardier. The technology will also be used as a maintenance checkup procedure.

Ford Canada is expected to benefit from the development of advanced thermal barrier coatings which have low heat conductivity and the ability to withstand large stress variations. The coatings will be tested at Ford Canada.

Canadian ElectroCoating Ltd. (CEL) Narmco is expected to benefit from effective real-time monitoring of welds through the development of an advanced portable inspection system. The system will be tested at CEL/Narmco.

ENWIN Energy is expected to be able to improve the conductivity of electrical connectors through the IDIR's development of improved metallic components and their application. Electrical connectors are universally used in power transmission and their failure represents the weakest link in the power delivery chain. Failing connectors cause power interruptions and waste power in the form of heat loss.

CARIC supports the combined efforts of academia and industry. The research resulting from the scientific and technical contribution from the partners in this project and the work of graduate students will provide added value to industry -- including the aerospace industry – and will contribute to strengthening the country's national innovation network in aerospace.  

"NSERC is proud to support this Collaborative Research and Development project that supports strong R&D collaboration and dynamic interchange between academia and partners," said Dr. Marc Fortin, Vice-President, Research Partnerships, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

"Achieving the goals of this project under a cluster model will deliver versatile solutions which will help address advanced manufacturing needs and provide benefits across industries, as exemplified by the diversity of the partners."

For more information on the IDIR visit: http://www.uwindsor.ca/idir/

SOURCE University of Windsor

Lori Lewis, Manager, News Services, University of Windsor, Welcome Centre, 2nd Floor South, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, Ontario N9B 3P4, 519-253-3000, ext. 3241