S.C. research authority secures $10 million contract for ATI program

Advanced Technology Institute of North Charleston, one of the affiliated research and development companies working with the South Carolina Research Authority, has been awarded a $10 million cost-plus-fixed fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for its Next Generation Manufacturing Technologies program.

ATI will complete basic research and development to address the common requirements of government agencies and U. S. industry to accelerate development and implementation of next generation manufacturing technologies.

“What makes this program interesting is that it’s working on new manufacturing techniques that will allow us to compete with the Chinese,” said SCRA President Bill Mahoney. “They primarily use ‘no-touch’ manufacturing technologies, which are techniques that use no humans in the manufacturing process.”

The program’s aim is to advance the state-of-the-art and increase knowledge and understanding in the following focus areas: develop a strategic investment plan for manufacturing; implement a national strategic investment plan; and transition manufacturing technology.

“In terms of a global technology process, this will really catapult us ahead,” said Mahoney. “There are several departments of the government looking at these techniques. It’s competitive but also low cost.”

One example of technologies that has come out of the Next Generation Manufacturing Technologies program can be found with ESAB Welding and Cutting Products in Florence, Mahoney said.

“They’re doing something called ‘fusion stir joining.’ The remarkable thing about this is that it accomplishes the same outcome as welding but without an electro-arc to do the welding. You just heat and treat the two surfaces and put them together in a mildly vibrating chamber, which is particularly good for compound metals. These are breakthrough technologies.”

Work performed in North Charleston is expected to be completed by November 2007. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

ATI is a private, nonprofit corporation located in the Trident Research Center in Charleston. It offers effective solutions for all aspects of collaboration formation and management. Its core strengths are consortia leadership and building teams from industry, government and academia for collaborative research and development.

ATI forms and leads strategic teams to work on key technology initiatives in the shipbuilding, information technology, product data, information system protection and health care industries.