News
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FT and AFWERX Collaborate on the Future of Rapid Aircraft Sustainment
Last Updated: June 18, 2019
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AFWERX awarded a Phase I SBIR contract to Fairmount Technologies this March. AFWERX is the new rapid innovation program at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). Per the contract FT met with AFSC personnel at both OC-ALC at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma and WR-ALC at Warner Robins AFB in Georgia. With assistance from AFSC depot personnel, structural airframe parts were identified and manufactured using tool-less Stretch Roll Forming (SRF) technology.
As an advanced manufacturing technology, SRF allows for one-off stretch-formed parts to be made without tooling. This innovation decreases costs and lead times while increasing aircraft readiness. FT successfully demonstrated SRF forming of OC-ALC part sets. The Phase I contract resulted in two signed MOUs from both air bases in support of an AFWERX Phase II effort for SRF testing with the goal of insertion at their depots. Success would move the Air Force closer to its goal of 100% parts availability as part of its Rapid Aircraft Sustainment Efforts.
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WSU Senior, Colby Camp presents at Engineering Open House (left). WSU Senior Design team presents their Joggling project in class (right).
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FT Sponsors WSU Senior Design Team
Last Updated: May 11, 2018
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The Fairmount Team had the opportunity to sponsor a WSU Senior Design Project Team during the Spring 2018 semester. The team consisted of four mechanical engineering students: Yucai Bao, Max Brandt, Colby Camp and Jia Koh. Their project focused on the joggling of aluminum extrusions, which is the process of press forming an aluminum piece in opposite directions to allow multiple parts to fit together. Joggling is used to form aluminum for the structure of nearly every aircraft. The goal of the project was to understand and develop a streamlined joggling process.
The senior design team presented their project at the WSU Engineering Open House on Friday, May 4th. The team was awarded third place for Best Design Project and Poster, and second place in the WSU Society of Manufacturing Engineers student chapter.
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Encountering Innovation
Last Updated: November 28, 2017
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The Fairmount Team was given the opportunity to showcase our Stretch Roll Forming technology at the Encountering Innovation Week, hosted by the Kansas Small Business Development Center at WSU. This conference provides innovators the opportunity to present and pitch their technologies. The conference included key note speakers, exhibits, pitch sessions and networking events. The Fairmount Team took part in the exhibit hall (picture below); this gave us the opportunity to present our technology to other innovators, Depart of Defense (DoD) Tech Scouts, industry professionals and resource partners.
Our Marketing Manager, Hal Pluenneke, was invited to pitch for DoD Tech Scouts. His pitch focused on the applications of SRF as a way of doing field and depot repair of aircraft structural components. A quad chart detailing the benefits and applications of the technology is provided in the button below.
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Grant of the Month
Last Updated: November 16, 2017
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Fairmount Tech was featured in WSU President, John Bardo's October newsletter as the Grant of the Month. This article further details the Department of Defense contract we were awarded in April, which was previously featured in the Wichita Business Journal.
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First Dollar Innovation Awardee
Last Updated: November 7, 2017
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On October 24, 2017, we were awarded the "First Dollar" Innovation Award by WSU Ventures. This award came one month after we manufactured and delivered our first set of revenue-producing parts to a customer.
As an awardee of WSU Venture's Third Annual Innovation Awards, we are proud to be recognized as an organization focused on innovation. After years of research, and developing our patented Stretch Roll Forming process, this is a major accomplishment for our team!
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AS9100 Certification Achieved by Fairmount Technologies
Last Updated: August 15, 2017
We are excited to announce that Fairmount Technologies now operates an AS9100C and ISO 9001:2008 Certified Quality Management System. This marks a new achievement for Fairmount Tech, the developer of the Digital Forming Process known as Stretch Roll Forming (SRF).
Our SRF process has now matured to the point of producing Stretch Formed components to aerospace tolerances and specs. This, combined with the quality assurance, ensures that the parts produced will meet your standards for accuracy, on-time delivery, and cost.
The scope of our certification is applicable to the “Design and Manufacturing of Component and Assemblies for Aerospace and Defense Industries.” This achievement for Fairmount Tech marks a new phase in our development.
We are commercially ready to supply stretch-formed parts and part-forming services. We are continuously looking for new business opportunities and to expand our capabilities.
Think of us for your rapid prototype and one off spare production needs.
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PS: Coming soon: CNC Form- a full service parts forming and finishing company.