We provide leading edge research, technical and engineering services, and develop innovative technology solutions to meet materials and manufacturing challenges to help Canada be more competitive through innovations in mobility and manufacturing excellence. We assist industries in increasing their productivity and agility, decreasing product time-to-market, and advancing sustainable development strategies.
With a multidisciplinary team of over 300 specialized staff, AST offers the expertise and key infrastructure needed to prosper into this new era of smart mobility and advanced manufacturing.
Services and information
Facilities
- Advanced manufacturing research facility (Winnipeg, MB)
- Aluminium technology centre (Saguenay, QC)
- Compression and tension testing facility (Ottawa, ON)
- Design systems and modelling software (Boucherville, QC)
- Fuel cell development and testing (Vancouver, BC)
- Climatic testing research facility (Ottawa, ON)
- Heavy vehicle tilt facilities (Ottawa, ON)
- Heavy structural dynamics research facility (Ottawa, ON)
- Laser processing and surface modification facility (London, ON)
- Magna-NRC composites centre of excellence (Concord, ON)
- Manufacturing and Automotive Innovation Hub (London, ON)
- Pilot-scale battery manufacturing line facility (Boucherville, QC)
- Polymer, composite and biomaterial processing and testing (Boucherville, QC)
- Powder metallurgy and spray coatings (Boucherville, QC)
- 0.9 m wind tunnel research facility (Ottawa, ON)
- Rail vehicle impact ramp research facility (Ottawa, ON)
- Wheel bearing and break research facility (Ottawa, ON)
- 2 m x 3 m wind tunnel (Ottawa, ON)
- 3 m x 6 m icing wind tunnel (Ottawa, ON)
- 9 m wind tunnel (Ottawa, ON)
Research programs
Research projects
Applications and tools
Industrial R&D groups
- International Collaborative Research Initiative on Rolling Contact Fatigue and Wear of Rails and Wheels
- LiBTec (Lithium battery technology)
- METALTec (Metal fabrication)
- RailWheelS
- SIGBLOW (Special Interest Group in Blow Moulding)
- SNAP Composites (advanced thermoset composites)
- STAMP Composites (Stamping technology for automotive manufacturing)
- Surftec (advanced surface technologies)
Technology licensing
- Fire-resistant cellulosic material
Expertise
- Vehicle lightweighting
- aluminium forming
- multi-material assembly
- low-cost, high-performance composite manufacturing
- sustainable and eco-friendly polymers and composites
- Digital manufacturing
- design-to-manufacturing
- modeling and process simulation
- dynamic and structural computer modeling and analysis
- Additive manufacturing and surface engineering
- laser additive manufacturing
- cold spray additive manufacturing
- thermal spray coating
- powder metallurgy manufacturing
- Vehicle electrification
- safe, low cost energy storage technologies
- battery material development
- improved fuel cell manufacturing
- low-cost electric motors
- Fleet management and heavy-duty vehicles
- intelligent transportation systems
- safety, security and operational efficiency
- bluff-body aerodynamics
- Rail technologies
- wheel/rail interactions
- rail vehicle engineering for value-added railcars
- track maintenance planning
- high performance rail
Why work with us
We collaborate with the industries coming from all across the supply chain, looking for research expertise, specific facilities and technologies to advance their manufacturing processes, product development and de-risking development of new technologies as well as joining the global value chain in the transportation sector. We also work with academia and government to research, discover, de-risk, develop and commercialize innovations in surface transportation and manufacturing excellence.
Our capabilities:
- Rail technology - more than 50 years of experience;
- Blow moulding - more than 30 years playing a lead role in the field
- Additive manufacturing – recognized worldwide experts;
- Converging technologies:
- lightweight materials;
- digital manufacturing;
- automation;
- electrification;
- connectivity; and
- autonomous vehicles.
We work with all players in the transportation and manufacturing industries, in Canada and internationally:
- Start-ups
- Small and medium sized enterprises
- Multinationals
- Research organizations
- Academia
- Other government departments
- Regulators
Contact us
David Fraser, Director, Business Development
Telephone: 613-991-9972
Email: David.Fraser@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
LinkedIn: David Fraser
Our experts
Related links
- Advisory Board members
- 360° video: Manufacturing and Automotive Innovation Hub research facility
- 360° video: Battery Prototyping Laboratory
- Video: Cold spray of permanent magnet
- 360° video: Climatic Testing Facility
- Shaping the future of plastics with simulation software
View all AST Research Centre stories
Research publications
- Formulation and characterization of novel polyetherimide composites for fused filament fabrication
- Novel high-strength Al-Si-Mg filler wires for aluminum welding
- Biosynthesis and properties of polyhydroxyalkanoates synthesized from mixed C₅ and C₆ sugars obtained from hardwood hydrolysis
- Development of an efficient multi-scale model to predict residual stresses and distortion in the laser powder bed fusion process for Inconel-718
- Process development of compression resin transfer moulding of a complex demonstrator part