Quickstep secures climate ready grant for fuel efficient transports

Advanced materials company Quickstep Holdings Limited has secured a A$2.6 million grant under the Australian Federal Government’s A$75 million Aus Industry Climate Ready Program as part of a new program designed to achieve the mass production of a new generation of lightweight, low-emission vehicles – primarily aircraft and land based vehicles; as unveiled on June 18,2008.

The funds – provided over a three year period – will be used for the development and commercialisation of one of Quickstep’s leading edge composite manufacturing technologies known as Resin Spray Transmission (“RST”).

RST is focused on reducing part costs and manufacturing times by the semi and full automation of composite component production and the reduction of material and labour costs.

Targeted at the mass production of light weight parts for the aerospace and automotive sectors, RST could expand the Quickstep curing process to higher volume low cost field’s not normally associated with premier quality parts.

The Climate Ready Program – which is part of the Australian Federal Government’s Clean Business Australia initiative – is a competitive program providing grants ranging from $50,000 to $5 million on a matched funding basis. This combined with tax rebates could see up to 80% of the $5.2 million project being supported by the Federal Government.

The initiative should see Quickstep participate in the global push to achieve reductions in CO2 emissions from both the aerospace and automotive sectors through “light-weighting” and importantly component cost reductions needed to see the comprehensive uptake of advanced composites in vehicles.

“The benefits of using advanced composites have been known for many years, however the traditional barriers to a more widespread adoption of these materials have been low production rates and high costs. Our RST manufacturing technology has the potential to break these barriers, which would create a paradigm shift in how all types of vehicles are designed, manufactured and ultimately perform,” said Quickstep’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Philippe Odouard.

“In the automotive industry this could facilitate the widespread manufacture and adoption of automotive components which could be up to 70% lighter than conventional steel parts by removing traditional prohibitive barriers such as the high labour cost and slow cycle times needed to create composite parts,” Mr Odouard continued. “RST is the only composite technology that can be mass produced and which could deliver an A Class finish necessary in the car industry.”

“If widely adopted, this has the potential to make a substantial contribution to addressing the impact of climate change by making low-cost, light weight composite parts widely available for automotive vehicles and the aerospace sector,” he continued. “It is widely recognised that CO2 emissions are reduced by lowering vehicle weight through the use of composites.”

“We are extremely pleased to have received the support of the Commonwealth Government to develop our unique Resin Spray Technology which may ultimately allow for the production of lower cost composite components that could dramatically improve fuel efficiency and reduce carbon emissions produced by a vehicle.”

About Quickstep Holdings Limited
Quickstep is an Australian-based company which is at the forefront of advanced materials manufacturing and technology transfer for the global aerospace and defence industries.

The use of advanced composites is growing at an extraordinary rate with carbon material usage planned to increase at an average rate of 20% per annum for the next 10 years underwritten by high use carbon fibre commercial aircraft such as the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350. Light weighting of vehicles is the prime driver with commercial aircraft and military equipment leading the charge.

Quickstep has significant capabilities and expertise in the production of aerospace-grade composite components using both conventional autoclave-based manufacturing and leading edge out-of-autoclave production technologies, including its proprietary Quickstep Process.

In early 2009 the Company commissioned a A$10 million manufacturing facility located in North Coogee, Western Australia now one of the most advanced composite aerospace manufacturing facilities in Australia with the second largest production capacity in the nation.
Quickstep has established strong working relationships with several major aerospace groups and Tier One Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM’s) to the aerospace and defence sectors, and is also pursuing a range of commercial opportunities through its global network of subsidiaries (located in Dayton, Ohio; and Munich, Germany), as well as through Alliances with Universities (Manchester, UK and Geelong, Victoria, Australia) and a number of Teaming Arrangements.

The Quickstep Business Model is based on generating revenue and income by:
• Technology transfer through the provision of the proprietary Quickstep Solution and production equipment with technical support and maintenance services provided under a ongoing support agreements or via joint venture arrangement;
• manufacture of composite components, out of its Australian facility, for aircraft OEM’s and Tier One suppliers as Build to Print or Build (and design) to Specification contracts; and
• conducting paid or self-funded Research & Development on new composite structures and material in the aerospace and defence sectors.

Source : Quickstep

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