John Osborn of rural Boone County and John Hurd and Kanwar Singh both of Rockford started a company, Rockford Engineering Associates LLC, last March to research and develop ways to fix problems they encountered in their careers at the now defunct Ingersoll. "We worked a lot on titanium, and Ingersoll was responsible for some of the better advancements," Osborn said. "But we never could make that big breakthrough."

Together, Osborn, Hurd and Singh spent nearly 80 years at Ingersoll, which went under in 2003, and whose three divisions are thriving under three different owners.

Rep. Don Manzullo, R-Egan, announced the grant Monday morning at EIGERlab on Fulton Avenue, where Osborn, Singh and Hurd and their staff of seven engineers will research, build and test the machine.

The implications are major for the machining industry if the three are successful. Titanium is lighter than aluminum and stronger than steel, but both the cost of raw titanium and the process of turning it into parts is much more expensive. That is why you see titanium in specialized, expensive products such as artificial limbs, golf clubs and airplanes. The new airplanes being developed by Boeing and Airbus are made up of titanium and carbon fiber composites because the combination will be much lighter, making the airplanes more fuel-efficient.

There are other efforts under way to create a more plentiful supply of titanium. Osborn said their idea is to develop a machine that can cut and shape titanium at super high speeds with limited to no vibration. Both titanium and ceramics are hard to machine because when machines cut at high speeds, the alloys tend to weld themselves to the cutting carbide. To combat that, the machines in use now cut at slower speeds, which lead to greater vibration and more tooling breakdowns.

Osborn said they will develop the technology and then license it to other machining companies. They do not intend to become titanium manufacturers. In terms of an immediate effect on the local economy, Osborn said all of the grant, which is coming from the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute for Standards & Technology, will be spent locally, with tooling coming from local shops and testing done by local engineers.

Osborn said about 600 companies applied for grants and his group was one of just 56 to receive funding.

"It's going to be huge. The expected use of titanium is expected to triple or even quadruple," Osborn said. "Look at cars. If (automakers) could afford to use titanium they would, but it's too expensive right now. We're hoping this can bring the cost down at least on larger components. If you use titanium in cars you are saving about 50 percent of the weight."

Source: Rockford Register Star