2022/07/29
Advanced manufacturing research facility
The new National Research Council of Canada’s (NRC) advanced manufacturing research facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba, has been built to meet the needs of local industries, businesses and academic communities as well as to increase the NRC’s research and development (R&D) capabilities in digital manufacturing and sustainable food packaging.
Designed and operated as a hub for the integration and demonstration of advanced technologies targeting the sustainability of various manufacturing sectors, the research facility specializes mainly in the development of technologies to support the Canadian manufacturing industry. The facility also houses some of the resources, equipment and expertise required for the delivery of R&D activities for the NRC’s Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster Support program.
Hosting collaborative R&D partners
The NRC will partner with industry, academia and other government departments to establish and operate a national platform supporting and undertaking foundational research of new advanced manufacturing solutions and transitioning them to industrial use.
Our capabilities
Various industrial sectors will benefit from the activities conducted at the facility, including automotive, transportation equipment, aerospace, construction materials and general consumer goods production. The expertise developed in digital technologies will be applicable to any industrial manufacturing process.
The research facility focuses on two main areas of activity: advanced digital manufacturing and sustainable food packaging. The NRC’s team of researchers and experts in materials and processes, engineering, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and technology transfer can address complex challenges in advanced manufacturing development and commercialization through research and technology development (R&TD) spanning 3 core platform technologies:
- Additive manufacturing technologies in support of manufacturing applications
- Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF)
- Binder injection manufacturing
- Robotic polymer and composite 3D printing
These technologies will be used to develop processes, precursor materials, products or applications in the Advanced Manufacturing program’s areas of metal transformation as well as composites and polymers.
- Process digitalization technologies for the development of digital twins and machine learning
- Design for additive manufacturing
- Process simulation and modelling
- Statistical process modelling
The same technologies will be developed as physical platforms for the development of digital twins in the NRC’s Advanced Manufacturing program’s digital technologies area. The work done on these different platforms will serve as a demonstration to support and accelerate the integration of digital technologies in the manufacturing industry.
- Sustainable food packaging and reclamation of products from biomass transformation
- Eco-responsible materials
- Efficient packaging manufacturing
- Smart packaging
- Packaging end of life
Sustainable food packaging design and manufacturing technologies will be used to develop new products with potential for biomass and recycled plastics reclamation. Biodegradability and life cycle assessment measurements will be used to make the best choices.