"Duh"
Posted on 06/14/2011 7:58:11 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo
John Bourque believes he's onto something big. Really big.
Now he just has to convince the rest of the world.
The carpenter-turned-inventor says his Tucson company's patented nano- technology can turn aluminum into a nearly impenetrable, lightweight armor for bodies and vehicles.
The technology - with the sci-fi name of Kryron - also can create ultra-conductive and corrosion-resistant wire and electrical components, or help form tough metal plating on plastics and other non-metals, says Bourque, founder and CEO of Bourque Industries Inc.
But it's one thing to have a great idea; it's quite another to bring it successfully to market.
After eight years in research development, Bourque is trying to break into production of its first commercial products, a line of body armor for soldiers, police and security, and armor plate for vehicles.
Bourque is finalizing certification of its aluminum alloy body armor under national standards and awaiting key testing by the Army, aiming to start production of its first product line in Tucson.
A self-described "military kid" whose father was a missile technician, Bourque believes his armor is superior to the ceramic-based plate that is the current Army standard.
"All we want to do is create jobs and save lives … regardless, the money will come," said Bourque, who frequently uses language that can be described as more than a little salty. "People are dying from crappy body armor."
The unapologetically brash Bourque came up with the idea for what eventually became Kryron around 2003, as a way to plate plastics.
Bourque, 47, was a union carpenter until a fall in 2002 during a job at Denver International Airport robbed him of the balance he needed to do his job. He came to Tucson after marrying his wife, a Tucson native and retired military member, in 2000.
He was running a local satellite TV and scooter shop near downtown when he set about to find a way to chrome-plate plastics and rubber.
Bourque, who holds no technical degrees, later recognized that his method for combining carbon nanotubes - tubelike molecular structures - could create alloys with super strength and conductivity.
"I just knew what would work and what wouldn't work. I don't have anybody telling me 'no,' engineers telling me, 'you can't do that,' " Bourque said as he dragged on a cigarette during an interview at the company's nondescript offices and shop in an industrial park on East 44th Street.
Working with local companies, including nanotube vendor MER Corp., Bourque initially began experimenting with different alloys to develop highly conductive, corrosion-resistant anodes for an electrical copper-extraction process called electrowinning.
Realizing the strength the Kryron process could bring to metals, he focused on developing an aluminum alloy for body armor. He came up with armor using Kryronized aluminum as a lightweight core, with layers of ballistic fabric to help catch bullet fragments.
Bourque initially wanted to license the technology to a major armor maker, such as BAE Systems, and focus his efforts on developing mining and electrical products.
But the big companies shut him down.
"They pretty much told me to (get lost)," he said, actually using unprintable language.
Bourque decided to try to develop the armor on his own, showing off the technology to police SWAT departments in live-fire demonstrations filmed by local TV news crews in Washington and Tucson.
The videos show the Kryron armor taking high-powered rifle and pistol rounds without allowing penetration.
While ceramic armor tends to break with the first shot, Bourque's Terminator armor can withstand repeated hits with large-caliber, high-velocity bullets, Bourque said. It also reduces spall, or flying bullet fragments, and ricochet, Bourque said.
Looking to get his product to market, Bourque sought advice from Mayor Bob Walkup, a retired Raytheon engineer and an advocate of high-tech development.
Walkup, who still does the occasional consulting job, said he was approached by Bourque about a year and a half ago and agreed to study the product and potential markets.
In his final report, Walkup said he concluded that Bourque needed to get formal certification under the National Institute of Justice 2006 standards, the prevailing standard for body armor.
Walkup said he examined Bourque's alloy armor but didn't witness any live-fire tests - partly because he didn't want to seem to be endorsing the product as mayor - or review any test data.
"If it's true that he's developed a lightweight, high ballistic coefficient material, then the world's waiting for that," Walkup said. "But you've got to have the bug - you've got to have the thing that says it's real."
Bourque said the company is now in its second round of trying get that NIJ certification, which costs about $180,000.
Bourque won his first patent last August and two more in January. He expects to be issued two more patents soon, with more in process.
In September, Bourque merged his company with Eloy-based Global Platinum + Gold Inc., a metals extraction firm whose stock was traded over the counter.
Bourque is the majority owner of the merged company Bourque Industries, which became Global's new name. The company's pink-sheet stock closed at $1.80 per share last week and has been as low as 65 cents and as high as $3.89 in the past year.
The company recently reported a successful "proof of concept" test and is awaiting testing by the Army Research Laboratory in Aberdeen, Md.
The market for body armor is big - estimated at nearly $2 billion annually overall for military and police. The U.S. Army was expected to buy $6 billion worth of body armor and related products from 2009 through 2015.
But it's also a crowded market, with major competitors including defense giant BAE Systems supplying much of the ceramic military armor and dozens, if not hundreds, of smaller companies focused mainly on the police tactical market.
That doesn't deter Bourque, who plans to open a plant in Tucson to produce the body armor.
"One thing about a bullet: It doesn't lie - you either stop it or you don't," Bourque said. "And you only get one shot in this industry, so you better do it right."
I first read about Bourque here on FR, and bought a good chunk of stock in the company back in April.
For our troops’ sake, let’s hope this armor lives up to all the hype!
Still, impressive. Classic ceramic armor would have shattered to gravel.
The guy better watch his back. Apparently possession of body armor in Tucson is a capital offense. Hope he doesn’t own a Border Patrol hat...
"Duh"
This is not a current article. Somebodies re-posted an earlier article from 2010. Zep whats up here Buddy?
This is awesome news. Will definitely keep an eye on this.
Bourque Industries’ Kryron Excels in Electrical Conductivity Testing
Kryronized aluminum outperforms C11000 copper in standardized test at GE labs
This does look like an interesting investment. otc BORK
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