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Conference to Discuss New Materials Processing Technology

1 June 1998

Conference in Dearborn, Michigan to Review Progress Toward New Materials Processing Technology

    DEARBORN, Mich., June 1 -- Progress toward commercial
applications of a new materials processing technology that can bring major
cost and product improvements to numerous manufacturing industries will be
reviewed at a three-day technical conference here June 2-4.
    Known as PBII, for plasma-based ion implantation, the new technology
increase surface hardness, durability and corrosion resistance of a variety of
materials.
    It has the potential of multi-billion dollar benefits for numerous
manufacturing industries.  It can be applied to metals, glass, plastics and
ceramics without the drawbacks of conventional hardening processes, and it is
a clean, environmentally benign process.  It eliminates harmful emissions
generated by more conventional treatment processes, and it does not use or
produce toxic gases, liquids or solids.
    Research scientists from corporations, government laboratories and
universities in 11 nations will present more than 30 papers during the
conference at the Dearborn Inn.
    The conference is sponsored by the General Motors Research and Development
Center, the Environmental Research Institute of Michigan (ERIM), and four
companies which are developing capabilities as service providers of the
technology to manufacturing companies: Diversified Technologies, Inc.,
Bedford, Massachusetts; IONEX, of Bellaire, Michigan; Litton Electron Devices,
San Carlos, California; and PVI, Oxnard, California.
    "The development of this cost-effective technology can have a
multi-billion-dollar impact for the auto industry alone," says Mike Dudzik,
director of the Automotive & Transportation Center at ERIM International in
Ann Arbor.
    For example, industry analysts estimate that extending the life of
manufacturing tools and dies could save the domestic auto industry more than
$1.2 billion annually, and the nation's car makers could save nearly $200
million with the substitution of durable, lighter weight alloys for cast iron
and steel in high-wear engines.
    An elite group of U.S. companies is partnering with the government and
universities in a multi-million-dollar international race to commercialize the
new technology.  Similar competing efforts are underway in other countries
including Germany, Japan and Korea.
    The U.S. effort is supported by a $7.7-million National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST) Advanced Technology Program (ATP) grant from
the U.S. Department of Commerce.  It is directed by a team of researchers,
including scientists from Los Alamos National Labs and the University of
Wisconsin, and is administered by ERIM.
    Members of the research consortium now include General Motors,
Harley-Davidson, Boeing, DuPont, Empire Hard Chrome (Chicago), A. 0. Smith
Corporation (Milwaukee), ABB High Power Semiconductors (Pittsburgh),
Diversified Technologies (Bedford, MA), 4th State (Belmont, CA), IONEX
(Bellaire, MI), Kwikset Corporation (Anaheim), Litton Electron Devices (San
Carlos, CA), NANO Instruments, Inc. (Oak Ridge, TN), and PVI (Oxnard, CA).