Physics professor Roman Maev, director general of UWindsor’s Institute for Diagnostic Imaging Research (IDIR), and his research team were joined Thursday by industry partners to announce research funding of $5,488,206 through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s 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; 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.
CRD funding supports 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 its 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.”
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