Illinois Technology grants to fund heat treatment and vacuum casting projects.

A heat treatment demonstration facility and vacuum casting Of Composites are among 36 programs being funded under the Illinois Technology Challenge Grant Program.

Illinois Gov. James R. Thompson announced in late 1990 that more than $12.3 million has been awarded in grants to help the state's businesses and institutions further technology research and development.

"An increasingly global economy creates both challenges and opportunities," Thompson said. "Illinois' ability to compete successfully in this global economy depends largely upon our commitment to nurture that development and commercialization of technology-based research."

The 36 grants represent the second round of funding under the Technology Challenge Grant Program, authorized by the 1989 Technology Advancement and Development Act.

Foundry-related programs funded by the grant are:

*Establishment of a Heat Treatment

Demonstration Facility to Improve Productivity and

Quality of Manufacturing

in Illinois: Some $1 million (leveraged

by $6 million in federal money) has

been granted to IIT Research institute 

of Chicago to establish a center to

improve heat processing of metals by

determining what factors cause quality

problems and high costs. An education

program also will be formed to

help solve the critical shortage of

trained heat treatment engineers and

operators. This project will lead to

substantial improvements in metal

fabrication-particularly for small- to

medium-sized manufacturing concerns

in Illinois. Partners in the project

are the Defense Logistic Agency and

the instrumented Factory for Gears.

*Vacuum Casting of Composites: Aurora

Industries, Inc., Montgomery, Illinois,

has been awarded $250,000 in

matching funds for this project. The

project's designed to bring the Illinois

foundry industry into the advanced

materials and processing arena in order

to promote economic growth and

worldwide competitiveness. Objectives

of the project are to expand the

knowledge of metal composites in

vacuum casting, to process variables

for use by the manufacturing community

and to develop a metal composites

vacuum casting process model

for component selection for manufacture.

The Technology Challenge Grant Program is administered by the Dept of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA) Small Business Assistance Bureau (SBAB), with assistance from the Governor's Science Advisory Committee and The Illinois Coalition.

The grants will be matched with funds from public and private sources, said Steven D. McClure, DCCA director.