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Presentation of Papers
Fraunhofer USA Transfers Its Metal Foam Technology to Alulight of America  

 

Plymouth, Michigan,   December 10, 2004

 Fraunhofer USA, Inc. has transferred its metal foam technology to Alulight of America, L.P. Developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Materials Research (IFAM) in Bremen, Germany and the Fraunhofer USA Center for Manufacturing and Advanced Materials (CMAM) in Newark, Delaware, the technology will result in products for the industrial and defense sectors.  Alulight of America, through its parent company Alulight International GmbH, located in Ranshofen, Austria, has developed process technology for manufacturing metal foam materials and is scaling up a manufacturing process for high-volume production.

Alulight is a subsidiary of Ecka Granules, the world leader in non-ferrous metal powder production. Metal powder is the raw material used in production of metal foam materials and components.  Alulight and Ecka customers include car manufacturers such as BMW, as well as a large number of OEM companies supplying to the automotive industry.  Dr. Thomas Trendelenburg, President of Alulight of America stated “We are excited about expanding our research base in metal foam technology and we look forward to creating a production facility in Delaware”.

Ecka /Alulight already has manufacturing in plants in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.  Transitioning of the FhUSA CMAM Center into metal foam manufacturing  fits very well into Ecka’s strategy to go into higher value-added metal powder products and increased presence in North American Markets.

Alulight of America has also established a strategic partnership with LightWeight Solutions, Inc., a Newark, DE start-up company headed by Dr. Dennis Claar, former Director of the FhUSA CMAM Center.  LightWeight Solutions will collaborate with Alulight of America in metal foam product and applications development, prototyping, and marketing activities in North America, thus contributing to the strength of the new business venture.

FhUSA CMAM, supported by Fraunhofer USA, Inc. and the Delaware Department of Economic Development (DEDO) specialized in adapting steel and aluminum foam to applications, such as absorption of blast energy in armored vehicles and impact energy in high-speed trains.