Turning research into reality
In the Microcellular Plastics Manufacturing Laboratory (MPML), we strongly believe that scientific excellence and commercial viability should converge to facilitate technological advancement. In 2004, we took a great step forward by initiating and heading the Consortium of Cellular and Microcellular Plastics (CCMCP), which includes leading plastics manufacturers who want to improve their product quality and to decrease their production costs. In conjunction with the Consortium, the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), a federal funding agency, and the Ontario Research Fund (ORF), a provincial funding agency, have provided generous funding to help support various MPML research projects.
The industrial members have all agreed that we should focus on scientific understanding and technological development. So the research structure for the Consortium concentrates on the following two areas:
- Development of industrially viable processing technologies for foaming
- Improved understanding of foaming technologies
To this end the Consortium has successfully identified the scientific issues relevant to the complexities of foaming technologies and has demonstrated how improved understanding of these issues can lead to technological improvements. At the Consortium’s semi-annual meetings, the 20+ industrial partners, are exposed to the latest scientific and technological developments. These regular meetings facilitate constructive discussions and offer great social networking opportunities.
The Consortium also provides highly qualified personnel (HQP) with an outstanding opportunity of working with industrial companies. Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows make formal research presentations and interact with industrial representatives. Often times, they get relevant comments and feedback from the technical experts in some specific areas. Their research focuses on the fundamental scientific aspects of foaming technologies, but industrial relevance is the major criterion that guides their research directions and choice of topics.
With the help of a growing number of government and industry partners, we strive to fulfill MPML’s mission to provide global leadership in advanced foaming technologies and processing techniques. Our research activities are extending the frontiers of materials science. Working with industrial partners, the MPML is transforming fundamental scientific discoveries into technological advances in the areas of thin-walled electronics, lightweight automotive parts, as well as in the making of energy-absorption materials. Based on scientific improvements, the MPML continues to advance the technologies of extrusion foaming, bead foaming (EPP, EPS), MuCell technology, and structural foam molding. The MPML has established new research projects on scaled-up plank foam and sheet extrusion foaming, which is a major step forward in the quest to coordinate science and technology. The recent CFI-LEF award ($9.2M) will enable the MPML to construct the industry-scale equipment needed to further bridge the gap between lab-scale research and industrial processing technology.
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