Dalhousie University | Advanced Manufacturing

Key facilities

Advanced Manufacturing Hub: Involves the development of advanced materials using powder metallurgy and additive manufacturing technologies, and includes facilities for metal powder production.

Thermal Analysis Laboratory: Allows assessment of multi-component reactions, advanced brazing, sintering behaviour, and thermal properties of materials.

Advanced Tribology Laboratory: The tribology facility allows assessment of the wear, erosion and corrosion responses of advanced materials.

Advanced Ceramics Laboratory: Focuses on the fabrication and characterization of advanced structural and functional ceramics, along with related coatings.

Major collaborations

Cladding and repair of Ti-based alloys: Led by Drs. Bishop and Plucknett, this work assesses use of laser-based additive manufacturing to deposit Ti alloys or metal-matrix structures onto Ti-based substrates, with the aim of component repair rather than replacement.

Powder metallurgical processing of Al-based alloys: Led by Dr. Bishop, this team of researchers and industry partners is exploring powder metallurgy approaches for forming Al-based alloys, particularly for the automotive industry.

Holistic Innovation in Additive Manufacturing (HI-AM): Led by Drs. Bishop and Plucknett (at Dalhousie), and involving numerous industrial partners, this pan-Canadian network aims to develop next generation additive manufacturing technologies and materials.

Structural brazing and processing of powder metallurgy superalloys: Led by Dr. Corbin, this research involves development and characterization of next generation aeroengine materials and components, as part of a Green Aircraft initiative.

Advanced cermets and coatings: Led by Drs. Farhat and Plucknett, this work assesses the use of advanced ceramic-metal composites (or cermets) to reduce wear and corrosion degradation, for both bulk cermets and associated thermal spray coatings.

Researchers

Dr. Stephen Corbin, Pratt & Whitney Industrial Research Chair, Mechanical Engineering: Dr. Corbin’s work is focused on powder metallurgy and additive manufacturing of titanium and nickel alloys, and brazing for joining advanced materials.
Dr. Paul Bishop, Professor of Mechanical Engineering: Dr. Bishop is an expert in powder metallurgy processing and characterisation of lightweight aluminium alloys. His secondary interests include additive manufacturing of metals.
Dr. Zoheir Farhat, Professor of Mechanical Engineering: Dr. Farhat’s research focuses on tribology and corrosion of advanced materials, in particular steels and shape-memory alloys.
Dr. Kevin Plucknett, Associate Dean of Research, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering: Dr. Plucknett is an expert on advanced ceramics, lightweight metals and high-performance coatings. His secondary research interests include additive manufacturing.

Special programs and work integrated learning initiatives

Dalhousie’s strategic research direction is grounded in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030, and features signature research clusters and two cross-cutting themes, one of which is Innovation and Entrepreneurship. (SDGs 8, 9, 16 & 17).
Dalhousie University’s Co-op Programme: To match graduates with industry (local, national and international) hiring needs, Dalhousie has a long established Engineering co-op programme. Dedicated co-op office staff assist students in finding co-operative employment opportunities with various university partners, locally and abroad.

University-industry research partnerships