NBIF $500K Investment To Help Develop New Aerospace Materials

FREDERICTON, NB—To continue its efforts to develop more commercially-driven research in the province, The New Brunswick Innovation Foundation (NBIF) today announced the investment of $500,000 in the work of Dr. John Spray at the University of New Brunswick. The funds will be used to support the construction of a high-speed impact laboratory and technology facility.

“Whether it’s space junk hitting satellites or birds striking airplanes, this facility will allow Dr. Spray to better understand the damage it does and develop new materials to prevent damage,” says NBIF vice president of research Roger Gervais, “Dr. Spray’s track record and deep ties with industry, NASA, the Canadian and European Space Agencies show the importance of this applied research and its potential for industry in New Brunswick.”

Now under construction, at the university’s Planetary and Space Science Centre, where Dr. Spray is Director and Canada Research Chair in Planetary Materials, the laboratory will increase the province’s research capacity by offering services to other researchers and companies that require the analysis of the high-speed impact of objects.

“The goal is to better understand the interaction of shock waves with materials, and to provide impact testing and materials evaluation services to the aerospace and defense sectors across the country and abroad,” says Dr. Spray, “Canada currently has no high-speed impact research technology or launch equipment that covers a comprehensive range of impact velocities, and with this new facility, we will.” Dr. Spray says that this will allow the test facility to be commercially independent in five years.

The new facility will include four launchers capable of accelerating projectiles at subsonic (<250 metres per second), supersonic (>350 metres per second) and hypersonic speeds (>1.75 kilometers per second), safely contained within protective screens or ballistic tanks, plus a host of sophisticated electronic instruments and computer software systems.

The New Brunswick Innovation Foundation is an independent corporation that supports the development of innovation and entrepreneurship in New Brunswick.  The Foundation’s mandate is to strengthen the innovation capacity of New Brunswick by making investments in applied research and in new, growth-oriented businesses.

For contact information or more about the Foundation and Dr. Spray’s research, contact:

Chet Wesley, Director of Communication

1-877-554-6668

researchservices@nbif.ca