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| August 2009
Welcome to The CTMA Connector, a monthly newsletter designed to provide news and ideas about the Commercial Technologies for Maintenance Activities (CTMA) program. The CTMA program is a joint Department of Defense/National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (DoD/NCMS) effort promoting collaborative technology development between industry and the DoD maintenance and repair facilities. This newsletter highlights ongoing projects, serves as a forum for promoting new project ideas, and provides other news of interest to the program. Our goal is to stimulate your participation and solicit your input. Feel free to submit items for the newsletter as well as any suggestions to make it more useful. More information about the program can be found at http://ctma.ncms.org/. To subscribe or unsubscribe to the CTMA Connector, send a message to listserv@listserv.ncms.org with “subscribe CTMANewsletter” or “unsubscribe CTMANewsletter” in the message body. We welcome the following companies into NCMS: DIT-MCO International Inc. (www.ditmco.com) DIT-MCO Internationals proven automated product testing solutions for wired assemblies provide reliable service to industrial, commercial, and military customers. Aging Aircraft Consulting, LLC (www.agingaircraftconsulting.com) Aging Aircraft Consulting LLC (AACL) is a Full Life-Cycle Business Process Solutions company specializing in Engineering, Logistics, and Technology support services that address both strategic and tactical needs and objectives. Altair Engineering, Inc. (www.altair.com) With a 20-year-plus track record for innovative product design and development, advanced engineering software and grid computing technologies, Altair has more than 3,000 corporate clients representing the automotive, aerospace, government and defense, and consumer products verticals. L&L Products, Inc. (www.llproducts.com) L&L is a provider of engineered sealing and structural solutions for the worldwide automotive and aerospace industries. R Systems NA, Inc. (www.rsystemsinc.com) R Systems provides high-end computing resources for research. Three CTMA Events Heating Up Tobyhanna Army Depot Technology Showcase, Wednesday, October 14, 2009 NCMS has made arrangements with the Tobyhanna Army Depot (TYAD) to sponsor an onsite Technology Showcase. This unique opportunity to present innovative technology solutions and meet directly with maintenance personnel is only available to NCMS members. Tobyhanna Army Depot (TYAD) is the largest, full-service electronics maintenance facility in DoD and employs over 5700 workers.. TYADs mission is total sustainment, including design, manufacture, repair and overhaul of hundreds of electronic systems that include satellite terminals, radio and radar systems, telephones, electro-optics, night vision and anti-intrusion devices, airborne surveillance equipment, navigational instruments, electronic warfare and guidance and control systems for tactical missiles. The displays will be strategically located in Maintenance Building 1C offering the opportunity for Army personnel to visit with the various companies throughout the day. The event will conclude with a networking reception for depot personnel and participants. For more information please go to http://www.ncms.org/09Tobyhanna Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony at the Fleet Readiness Center East (Cherry Point), Tuesday, November 17, 2009 (tentative date) The CTMA project, Laser Paint Stripping of Composite Helicopter Blades, has successfully installed the paint stripping unit at Cherry Point, which is currently being certified for production use (expected mid-September). We welcome people interested in seeing this unit work in production as we celebrate with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Cherry Point, North Carolina. The NCMS contact is Lee Patch, leep@ncms.org, 734-995-4972. Save the Date: 2010 CTMA Symposium “Achieve Technology Collaboration”, March 22-25, 2010. Location: The Clubs at Quantico, Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Virginia. Expect to learn about the services technological needs, discuss the new technology roadmap now under development, and to review current CTMA project efforts in addition to tabletop displays and extensive networking opportunities. Stay tuned for more information. The NCMS contact is Debbie Lilu, debral@ncms.org, 734-995-7038. CTMA Emerging Projects Seek Participants:IUID Marking of Legacy Parts NCMS seeks participants for a new forming project, IUID Markings for Legacy Parts. The project will demonstrate a system that can locate dataplates on raster images of 2D part drawings, determine a location for placing a 2D data matrix marking, create a pdf overlay of the new marking location, and create an AutoCAD Engineering Change Order for delivery to the cognizant engineering authority for action. Imaginestics is the technology provider. The Air Force is the primary sponsor but both Army and Navy entities will participate. As with all CTMA funded projects, additional participants are welcome but must bring something of value to the collaboration. The NCMS Contact is Tony Haynes, tonyh@ncms.org, 734-995-4930. Photo-Chemical Paint Stripping The Photo-Chemical-Green paint removal process is an effective and environmentally friendly method to remove coatings including CARC paint. This technology has potential uses on a variety of metal and composite substrates. Extensive testing in composites has demonstrated that paint can be successfully removed with the proper process parameters and controls. Operators would not need to use masks or HEPA filters for protection and the removed coating can be easily collected in a tray for safe disposal. Additionally, it was demonstrated that this green-technology reduces the exposure to hazardous materials, decreases the repair cycle time and increases parts availability with an estimated 50% increase in throughput. Initial test runs achieved 97% coating removal on H-60 rotor blades. The NCMS Contact is Debbie Lilu, debral@ncms.org, 734-995-7038. We appreciate your feedback. Please contact Chuck Ryan with suggestions or input on other topics that would be of interest to you in this newsletter. The CTMA Program is sponsored by the Department of Defense; the content of this newsletter does not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the government; no official endorsement should be inferred. |
