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.

Backgrounder

Government of Canada Invests in Aerospace Coatings Technologies

Technology Partnerships Canada (TPC) is making a strategic investment of $3.4 million with Integran Technologies Inc. in the development of new coatings technologies for the aerospace industry. Through this $8.6 million project, Integran Technologies Inc. will proceed with the development of nano-technologies based, environmentally sound, coatings.

The technology under development at Integran uses advanced metallurgical nano-technologies to produce a coating that is cobalt-phosphorus based. Stronger and lighter than traditional hard chrome plating technologies, when combined with an enhanced deposition technology process, this new coating will reduce the health and environmental risks associated with traditional plating technologies, and significantly reduce the costs related to the coating process. Integran's nano-structured coatings also provide superior sliding wear resistance, a lower coefficient of friction, and superior corrosion resistance compared to hard chrome.

The TPC contribution to this initiative is part of the Government of Canada's overall commitment to the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. The goal of this United States (U.S.)-led program is to develop a new multinational family of fighter jets that is inexpensive to build and to operate. Canada has joined the JSF program to provide the Canadian aerospace industry with access to the largest international military procurement program in U.S. history. Through this agreement, Canadian companies are able to compete for JSF contracts in the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase of the program.

Integran Technologies Inc. is a privately owned, metallurgical applications engineering small or medium-sized enterprise (SME), with business operations in Toronto, Ontario. Integran is a leader in advanced metallurgical nano-technologies, providing a broad international base of customers with advanced process and product design solutions.

The news release and other documents are available on the Technology Partnerships Canada Web site at www.tpc-ptc.ic.gc.ca