November 25, 2006 — McMaster University in Hamilton, ON, has opened a new Light Metal Casting Research Centre, which will work with private industry and government bodies to “advance automotive casting research for engines and body panels, and to develop a skilled workforce for the automotive casting sector.”

David Braley, president of Orlick Industries, a producer of high-pressure aluminum diecastings that is one of the LMCRC project partners, stated: “This Centre is critical to Canada’s leadership in automotive manufacturing. Companies like ours, which make parts that are used around the world, need the absolute newest research and expertise, and this is where we’ll get it. The Centre will quite literally revolutionize new materials, design capabilities, and manufacturing processes, and in doing so it will ramp up competitiveness, and make cars cleaner and greener.”

Other project partners include Alcan International, Burlington Technologies, General Motors, and Magna Powertrain.

LMCRC is one of a series of research centers comprising the McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute (MMRI), one of Canada's largest university manufacturing research institutes. MMRI was established in 2000 to pursue research in advanced polymer processing and design, machining systems, metal forming, micro-manufacturing, robotics and manufacturing automation, and thermal processing.

“A key mandate of the Centre is developing highly qualified researchers and employees to boost continued innovation in Canada,” according to the founding director of the LMCRC, Sumanth Shankar, who is Braley-Orlick Chair in Advanced Manufacturing at McMaster University. “This will boost opportunities to attract and retain expertise in Canada and expand innovation.”