SCRA, composites and the U.S. Navy

The South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA) is a Columbia, S.C.-based tax-exempt organization created by the S.C. General Assembly. Through its Advanced Technology International (ATI) affiliate, it manages collaborative applied research programs for the federal government.  ATI manages two of the nine Centers of Excellence chartered by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), including the Center for Naval Shipbuilding Technology (CNST, Charleston, S.C.) and the Composites Manufacturing Technology Center of Excellence (CMTC, Anderson, S.C.). The CMTC applies composites technologies to naval systems, including aircraft, surface ships, submarines, land vehicles, and associated weapons and missiles. It accesses ONR funding, information, technology and ManTech team members through The Composites Consortium (TCC), which lists 37 members on its Web site, including BGF Industries Inc., The Boeing Co., General Dynamics, GKN Aerospace Structures, Goodrich Corp., HITCO Carbon Composites Inc., Northrop Grumman, The Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State, Seemann Composites Inc., Triumph Group Inc. and many others. These TCC team members execute the TCC-managed ONR ManTech projects. TCC also manages aerospace composites development programs for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).