Partnerships

The field of materials science is quickly evolving. Computing power, quantum mechanics, AI, and other advancements allow scientists to study metals at an atomic level and see how they act in real time. By conducting research in partnership with top universities and public organizations, Constellium is taking full advantage of this exciting era. 

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Our C-TEC R&D center maintains around 50 scientific partnerships with leading names in the U.S., the UK, and Europe. Universities provide first-rate researchers, as well as equipment (e.g., 3D atom probes) that we might not have. C-TEC's Scientific Director, Timothy Warner, says these partnerships are beneficial to both sides. "Constellium brings an understanding of industrial challenges, and our partners bring the ability to translate those industrial challenges into fundamental scientific questions."

From one lab to another

Constellium's partnerships involve different kinds of exchanges. Around 50 of our employees work on a permanent basis in the labs of our biggest academic partner, England's UTC Brunel, exploring topics from strengthening mechanisms to recycling. And recently, one C-TEC engineer spent several months at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which then sent two post-grads to do research with our teams at C-TEC.

A range of applications

Research with our partners covers the breadth of Constellium's applications. Our MIT collab is studying the interface between aluminium crystals and the resistance of aerospace alloys. With Düsseldorf's Max Planck Institute, we aim to predict the bendability of packaging alloys. Our common lab with SIMaP (Grenoble INP, CNRS, and UGA), called 3ALP, is using AI to analyze how impurities from recycling affect crashworthiness and other properties of automotive body sheet alloys.

Combining recycling and performance

Recycling is a key topic in metallurgy today—how to make alloys with higher recycled input that deliver the same properties. Warner says this gives deeper meaning to C-TEC's work: "It's motivating for students and young people to realize that a lot of industrial research is trying to reduce our carbon footprint." In turn, Constellium gains access to some the world's best and brightest minds.

Some of our partners:

• United States: Clemson University, MIT, Northwestern University, University of Michigan, University of South Carolina, Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
• United Kingdom: Brunel University London, University of Manchester, University of Oxford, Cranfield Aerospace Institute, University of Warwick.
• France: CNRS with laboratories in Paris, Grenoble, Nancy, Saint-Etienne, and Toulouse; IRT M2P (Metz); IRT Jules Verne (Nantes).
• Germany: RWTH Aachen, German Aerospace Center (DLR), University of Stuttgart, Dresden Technical University, Paderborn University.
• Switzerland: EPFL Lausanne.
• Netherlands: TU Delft.