Shared Replicators and Swiss chemical company form strategic alliance to produce new class of advanced composite materials
TULSA, Okla.-Shared Replicators, Inc., Tulsa, Oklahoma and Rapid Prototyping Chemicals, Ltd ("RPC") headquartered in Marly, Switzerland have entered into a strategic alliance agreement to develop a totally new class of advanced composite structures for use in the aerospace, automotive and consumer products industries.
Shared Replicators and its subsidiary, Freeform Composites, Inc. is the beneficiary of a two-year applied research grant from the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology ("OCAST") to develop and commercialize a revolutionary new method of designing and manufacturing products built in part or whole from advanced materials such as carbon fiber. RPC is a leading supplier of photo-curable polymer resins used to produce models, prototypes and other articles directly from computer designs using a process called "stereolithography".
"We are delighted that a firm of RPC's stature in the international scientific community has elected to join us in our effort to bring our revolutionary method of composite manufacturing to the market" Ronald D. Jones, Shared Replicators President, said.
Developed with active support and involvement by Oklahoma State University's Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering Department, the Freeform Composite Manufacturing Process promises to reduce manufacturing costs for products made from advanced composites by as much as 30% and project time by over 50%. The process uses specialized resins that will be developed by RPC in Switzerland.
"We are very impressed with Shared Replicators' facilities in Oklahoma and are excited about becoming a part of the composites research team and actively participating in this challenging and very promising project," Dr. Bettina Steinmann, Rapid Prototyping Chemicals, Ltd. President, said.
Shared Replicators operates a world-class Solid Imaging Laboratory on Tulsa Technology Center's Lemley Campus in Tulsa, OK. The privately owned company uses advanced technology to prototype new products and document existing products in 3-D Computer-Aided-Design. Through its subsidiary, Freeform Composites, Inc., the Company is developing a range of Smart-Composites ä to be used initially in the fabrication of aircraft flight structures and high performance auto bodies and chassis.
RPC is a privately owned dynamic company based in Marly, Switzerland. Its collaborators have extensive experience in the field of thermosetting materials, photopolymers and laser technology. Since the start of the company in 1997, they have developed a complete range of stereolithography resins and are actively participating in various international research projects.
More information may be found at the following web sites: www.sharedreplicators.com and www.rpc.ch
For more information about the rp-ml, see http://ltk.hut.fi/rp-ml/
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