WEG, em 08/08/2013
WEG accepted the technological challenge to manufacture component for the largest scientific equipment ever made in Brazil. The Sirius Project will be the new machine to accelerate electrons up to speeds close to the speed of light, which will produce a new intense light source with high penetration power. Like a giant microscope, the accelerator produces the so-called “synchrotron” light, which the scientists use to reveal the atomic structure of materials.
Developed by the National Laboratory of Synchrotron Light (LNLS), Sirius is part of the third generation of this kind of machines and will be one of the best synchrotron light sources in the world.
WEG will make the accelerator electromagnets that guide the travel of the electrons. The manufacturing quality of such components is essential for the Sirius to reach the expected performance of one of the best machines in the world.
According to physicist Antonio José Roque da Silva, director of the LNLS, this type of partnership generates different impacts on the companies. “For a large company, the interaction is beneficial because it involves its teams in sophisticated challenges and it qualifies it as a supplier of the accelerator market”, he explains.
With a budget Around $310 million US Dollars, Sirius is being financed by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) together with funding agencies and other institutions.
WEG is the first consolidated partner to supply component parts. The Cooperation Protocol between the National Center of Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) and the company was signed on June 28 at the workshop “Sirius Partnerships”, which presented the technological challenges of the project to 50 companies.
“The manufacture of electromagnets is a challenge for WEG, since they are not a typical product for our production lines. We have always been driven by challenges in the technological area and our engineers are very motivated to develop this solution here in Brazil “, says Antônio Cesar da Silva, Marketing and Institutional Relations director of the company.
