Aerojet Rocketdyne Expands Membership Role In Commonwealth Center For Advanced Manufacturing

FARNBOROUGH, England, July 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- FARNBOROUGH INTERNATIONAL AIRSHOW -- The Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CCAM) today announced that Aerojet Rocketdyne, the missile propulsion and launch system manufacturer, is expanding its membership role in the collaborative research center.

"This is an exciting next step in our ongoing partnership with The Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing," said Warren Boley, President of Aerojet Rocketdyne. "We have had great success in advanced manufacturing techniques and their application to our aerospace and defense product lines.  This expanded partnership with CCAM will afford Aerojet Rocketdyne even greater opportunity to innovate and evolve our advanced manufacturing capabilities."

CCAM is based at a state-of-the-art facility in Prince George County, Va., and is equipped with computational and engineering research labs, high bay production space and commercial scale equipment, and specialized equipment and tooling for research in surface engineering, manufacturing systems, additive manufacturing, machining technologies, composite materials processing, and welding and joining.

Based on affiliation level CCAM member companies may collaborate on generic research and conduct proprietary research to innovate manufacturing practices, resulting in new techniques and processes.  Aerojet Rocketdyne became a CCAM Tier 2 member in 2011 with non-exclusive royalty-free license to use Intellectual Property from CCAM generated collaborative research.  

As an Organizing Industry Member Aerojet Rocketdyne now will perform proprietary research at the CCAM facility and retain IP ownership of the developments.

Speaking about today's announcement, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe said, "The Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing is a world-class research facility that is transforming the future of advanced manufacturing.  Today's announcement that Aerojet Rocketdyne will expand its CCAM membership is a tremendous example of the mutual benefit attained by leveraging the talent and resources within CCAM and Virginia's top universities.  Aerojet Rocketdyne is a valued asset to Virginia, and we look forward to the company's results and success to come as an Organizing Industry Member of CCAM."

Joseph F. Moody, CCAM President and Executive Director, said, "Aerojet Rocketdyne has gained appreciable benefit from CCAM membership and now is expanding its role to become an Organizing Industry Member. We are pleased that Aerojet Rocketdyne will derive even greater benefit from CCAM collaboration and manufacturing breakthroughs."

With nearly 20 member companies, NASA Langley Research Center, and Virginia's leading universities, CCAM bridges the gap between research and commercialization, accelerating new developments to market.

CCAM industry and government members include Canon Virginia Inc., Chromalloy, Newport News Shipbuilding, Rolls-Royce, Sandvik Coromant, Siemens, Oerlikon Metco, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Blaser Swisslube, Hermle Machine Co., Mitutoyo, Paradigm Precision, Buehler, Cool Clean Technologies, GF AgieCharmilles, Mechdyne, National Instruments, Spatial Integrated Systems, Airbus and NASA Langley Research Center. Academic partners are the University of Virginia, Virginia State University, Virginia Tech and Old Dominion University.

About Aerojet Rocketdyne
Aerojet Rocketdyne is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader providing propulsion and energetics to the space, missile defense and strategic systems, tactical systems and armaments areas, in support of domestic and international markets. GenCorp is a diversified company that provides innovative solutions that create value for its customers in the aerospace and defense, and real estate markets. Additional information about Aerojet Rocketdyne and GenCorp can be obtained by visiting the companies' websites at www.Rocket.com and www.GenCorp.com.

About CCAM
CCAM is an applied research center that provides production-ready advanced manufacturing solutions to member companies across the globe. Members guide the research, leveraging talent and resources within CCAM and at Virginia's top universities, through a collaborative model that enables them to pool R&D efforts to increase efficiencies. Results can then be applied directly to the factory floor, turning ideas into profit faster and more affordably than ever before. CCAM is located in a state-of-the-art research facility in Prince George County, Virginia. For more information, visit www.ccam-va.com.

Media Contacts:

Aerojet Rocketdyne
Erin Dick
+818.586.4977
[email protected]

CCAM
Cathy Gedvilas
+718-974-9595
[email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140716/127649

SOURCE Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing