Governement of Canada Invests in Aerospace Nanotechnology

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Ottawa, Ontario | June 27, 2005

The Honourable Roy Cullen, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, and Member of Parliament for Etobicoke North, on behalf of the Honourable David L. Emerson, Minister of Industry, today announced a $3.4 million investment in the development of new nano-technology-based coatings for the aerospace industry which will advance more environmentally sound technologies.

This Technology Partnerships Canada (TPC) investment is part of an $8.6 million research and development initiative being undertaken by Toronto-based Integran Technologies Inc. through the multinational Joint Strike Fighter program.

"This initiative is advancing a technology with the potential to deliver substantial economic and environmental benefits across a range of industries," said Minister Emerson. "By encouraging innovation in Canada’s industries, we are creating jobs, economic growth and ensuring a better quality of life for all Canadians."

"Transforming ideas and knowledge into new products, processes and services is the key to productivity growth, and to a stronger Canada," said Roy Cullen. "This investment will substantially contribute to the research in advanced coating technologies and in strengthening Canada’s research and development capacity."

In the aerospace and defence industry, coatings offer metal surface protection against corrosion, wear, and extreme temperature environments for landing gear and jet engine components. Current coatings technologies use hard chrome plating; hazardous to health and the environment, this method is also expensive to manufacturers.

Integran will develop its unique nano-crystalline cobalt-phosphorous coatings and deposition process technologies as an environmentally friendly and a commercially viable alternative to the current hazardous hard chrome plating process. The nano-technology coatings will have applications on the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program and other aerospace and defence platforms. This technology also holds the potential for broad applications in automotive, biomedical, and other industrial sectors.

"The breakthrough technology under development by Integran is a clear example of the advantages of collaboration between university and the public and private sectors," said Dr. Uwe Erb, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Toronto. "This alliance will not only substantially contribute to research in advanced coating technologies, it will help bring this technology one step closer to industrial applications."

Technology Partnerships Canada is a key instrument for advancing research and development toward commercialization. Working in partnership with innovative companies across Canada, TPC shares in the cost of private sector technology projects in aerospace and defence, in environmental technologies, in enabling technologies like information and communications technology (ICT ), and in biotechnology.

For more information, please contact:

Christiane Fox Office of the Honourable David L. Emerson Minister of Industry (613) 995-9001

Media Relations Industry Canada (613) 943-2502

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