Equispheres has received a $5 million investment from Lockheed Martin, a global security and aerospace company in Bethesda, Md., under the Industrial Regional Benefits (IRB) and Industrial Technological Benefits (ITB) Policy. This investment enables Equispheres, an Ottawa, Ont.-based materials science company, to accelerate its growth in the provision of high-quality materials required for advanced technologies such as additive manufacturing, 3-D printing, and cold spray deposition.
Each of these technologies requires a unique spherical metal powder in the manufacturing process. Equispheres has created a method for producing perfectly spherical metal powder with specific characteristics desired within the aerospace and automotive industries.
Lockheed Martin's investment is in direct support of the ITB obligations associated with Canada's purchase of 17 CC-130J Super Hercules aircraft, which were delivered to the Royal Canadian Air Force in 2010. Lockheed Martin also delivers continued in-service support for the CC-130J fleet. This investment will allow Equispheres to grow from an existing workforce of 20 to more than 200 employees over the next five years.
Equispheres successfully developed the technology to atomize aluminum alloys. Lockheed Martin's investment enables the company to conduct the R&D and design work to build reactors that will produce powders of higher-strength material such as INCONEL® alloy, steel, and cobalt chrome.
