Singapore, 5 September 2008 - Singapore Technologies Kinetics Ltd's (ST Kinetics) joint venture company, Advanced Technology Research Centre (ATREC), and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) today officially opened Southeast Asia's first research and development centre in Cold Spray technology. The Cold Spray Research Centre (CSRC) which serves to advance the knowledge and application of the leading-edge technology was opened by Professor Bertil Andersson, Provost of NTU.
Through the combined strengths of ST Kinetics and NTU, this research collaboration aims to use the cold spraying platform to spin off niche industry applications for Singapore, specifically, new bio-nano-technologies for defence and biomedical applications such as anti-microbial coatings and smart devices.
Unlike conventional coating processes that require sprayed materials to be preheated, cold-spray processes are typically carried out at ambient room temperatures and utilising high speed spray to achieve metallurgical bonding. This eliminates undesirable chemical changes caused by conventional techniques. Additionally, cold-sprayed materials display higher densities and thermal and electrical conductivities that are preferred. The cold spray method can potentially be applied across a wide range of industries including aerospace, biomedical, oil & gas, automotive and chemical.
The CSRC was conceptualised between ST Kinetics and NTU in late 2006 and started operation in July 2007 to spearhead cold spray research in Singapore. Significant progress has since been achieved in the understanding and application of the technology. Specific studies carried out to date include wear resistant (WC-Co) coating application by ST Kinetics and anti-bacterial (Al/ZnO) coating by NTU researchers.
"Research and development in advanced technologies is a key component to building innovative solutions for our customers. ST Kinetics is proud to have this opportunity to collaborate with NTU on the CSRC to explore ways to better the performance of our products through superior coating technologies."
~ SEW Chee Jhuen
President, ST Kinetics
"We are glad to see local industry embracing advanced technologies and committing their resources to R&D. In so doing, the resulting knowledge would not only lead to innovative applications, it would also benefit other industries. We are glad to be working with a forward looking organisation such as ST Kinetics and we hope to see more of such partnership in the future."
~ Professor Bertil Andersson
Provost, NTU
The 3-year collaboration is a combined commitment of half a million dollars in equipment and infrastructure development by both organisations. The ST Kinetics-NTU Cold Spray Research Centre is a state-of-the-art robotic-controlled joint research laboratory located in ST Kinetics Plant. The centre houses a sophisticated cold spray facility, where substantive research outcomes in metallic and polymeric-based ceramic nanocomposite coatings have already been achieved.