IUCRC Phase III Colorado School of Mines: Center for Advanced Non-Ferrous Structural Alloys (CANFSA)

The Center for Advanced Non-Ferrous Structural Alloys (CANFSA) at Colorado School of Mines (Mines) and Iowa State University (ISU) is the only university-led consortium performing non-ferrous alloy physical metallurgy research, from lightweight magnesium to high-temperature refractory alloys. CANFSA generates and applies new knowledge to solve challenging problems identified by university, government, and industry stakeholders via pre-competitive research, supporting faculty, and building a student workforce pipeline trained in areas of strategic importance to U.S. manufacturing, especially relevant to aerospace and defense.

CANFSA investigates industrially-relevant processing-microstructure-property-performance relationships with state-of-the-art experimentation and modeling, trains the next generation of non-ferrous physical metallurgists, and supports students, faculty, and curricula in physical metallurgy.

CANFSA’s thrust areas include lightweight, high temperature, and other materials, including coatings, spanning the aerospace, energy, defense, national security, infrastructure, automotive, and biomedical sectors. Colorado School of Mines has the equipment, infrastructure, and expertise to support research in non-ferrous physical metallurgy, with complementary expertise in materials characterization, processing and deformation to tackle difficult problems through basic and applied science with state-of-the-art experimentation and modeling and application- and manufacturing-based insights.

CANFSA projects are structured to leverage the capabilities and personnel at both IUCRC sites (Colorado School of Mines and Iowa State University), along with industry partners and national laboratories.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.