Exclusive: Foundation Alloy Raises $7.5M for Advanced Metals Manufacturing
Summary
Foundation Alloy CEO Jake Guglin told Tectonic in an exclusive interview that the company will use the funding to ramp up production of its ultra-efficient metals.Tougher stuff: You might be sitting here thinking, is metal really a thing that needs revamping? Well, according to Guglin, we havent.At this point, a lot of what is considered the state of the art is the same stuff that took us to the moon, and the core processes behind that havent really changed since we first started melting things together 7000 years ago, he said. The core of the process is known as mechanical alloying, which basically means that different metals are forced to bind together physically, rather than being melted together. Most immediately, he said they could revamp toolingthe instruments necessary to make the big, scary defense systems we all know and love. [Tooling] is not sexy, but is ultimatelyone of the most fundamental inputs to production quality, to production rate, to production efficiencies and costs, he said.He said the metals could also change the game for engines, planes, and ships.For example, if we can create a metal that has a hundred degrees, or a couple hundred degrees, higher operating temperature than whats possible today, that translates to jet engines that are more powerful, that can go faster and further, and that are more efficient, he added.Looking ahead: And on the horizon?