Canadian additive manufacturing (AM) firm Burloak Technologies has signed a development and technology licensing agreement with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) – the Canadian Government's largest research organisation.
Under the agreement, the NRC will provide Burloak with exclusive access to patented technology developed for directed energy deposition (DED) using a laser consolidation AM process.
Burloak intends to develop and commercialise a new multi-axis DED system to deliver previously unseen capabilities in terms of surface finish, material properties and material combinations for highly complex geometries.
In addition to working with the NRC, Burloak has also entered into several commercialisation agreements with major aerospace customers that will use this technology to create flight components for serial production.
‘We are excited to partner with Burloak Technologies, a world leader in AM, to aid in advancing the industrialisation of this technology by offering our support and expertise,’ said Iain Stewart, president of the National Research Council of Canada. ‘We look forward to working with Burloak to develop a revolutionary, made-in-Canada technology for the country.’
‘We are pleased to have reached this agreement with the NRC and to collaborate on further development of the technology as we move towards its commercialisation,’ added Peter Adams, president and co-founder of Burloak Technologies. ‘With its DED system, the NRC has developed a truly revolutionary technology that will allow us to deliver additive components with never-before-seen resolution, accuracy, speed and material choice along with superior material properties.’
Burloak Technologies was also recently awarded the Canadian Space Agency’s Space Technology Development Program (STDP) project 'Large Scale Additive Manufactured RF Satellite Communication Sub-Systems'. In partnership with space and defence firm MDA, Burloak will, within this two-year project, scale up the application of AM to develop more complex components specifically targeting the sub-system level – further leveraging the gains that AM offers to the design and manufacture of complex, lightweight systems. Burloak will apply its recently flight certified material processes for aluminum and titanium, along with its Invar and copper processes, to bring a best-in-class solution to the project.
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