SINGAPORE, Feb. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU) today announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore the science of nanotechnology, with special focus on nanocopper and related technologies for the commercial market.

Lockheed Martin and NTU will set up a joint research laboratory at NTU's Yunnan campus. The lab will allow NTU students and faculty to work directly with Lockheed Martin scientists on developing the nanocopper CuantumFuse™ technology platform, which can be used for a variety of high-tech applications.

Nanocopper is the main ingredient in a revolutionary electrical interconnect material, or solder. Known as the CuantumFuse™ solder, this material is expected to produce joints with up to 10 times the electrical and thermal conductivity compared to tin-based materials currently in use.

The collaboration was inked today by Professor Freddy Boey, NTU Provost and Dr. Kenneth Washington, Vice President of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Advanced Technology Center.

"This collaboration is a good example of how NTU can connect to global industrial partners to collectively develop innovative solutions to many global challenges faced today," said Professor Boey. "We hope that in the near future, scientists from both institutions will continue to explore other research topics of joint interest in areas such as satellite technology, interactive media and perhaps even deep sea mining."

The NTU-Lockheed Martin Joint Laboratory will have an initial fund of $10 million over the next four years, and will employ up to eight scientists working on collaborative research projects. It will provide a platform to allow the exchange of researchers and knowledge between the two institutions, as well as to produce various prototypes and to host prototype demonstrations.

"The collaboration we are beginning today is an enormous step forward in moving our revolutionary CuantumFuse™ technology out of the laboratory and into the marketplace. We look forward to working with our colleagues at NTU to identify specific commercial target markets and applications for both Lockheed Martin and NTU's intellectual property," said Dr. Washington. "There's so much we can learn from each other, this collaboration is hopefully just the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship between Lockheed Martin and the University."

About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs about 120,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products, and services.  The Corporation's net sales for 2012 were $47.2 billion.

About NTU
A research-intensive public university, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has 33,500 undergraduate and postgraduate students in the colleges of Engineering, Business, Science, and Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences. This year NTU will enroll the first batch of students at its new medical school, the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, which is set up jointly with Imperial College London.

NTU is also home to four world-class autonomous institutes – the National Institute of Education, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Earth Observatory of Singapore, and Singapore Centre on Environmental Life Sciences Engineering – and various leading research centres such as the Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute (NEWRI), Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N) and Institute on Asian Consumer Insight (ACI).

Media contacts:
Buddy Nelson
Lockheed Martin Corporation
Tel: (510) 797-0349
Email: buddy.nelson@lmco.com

Lester Kok
Nanyang Technological University
Tel: (65) 6790 6804; Mobile: (65) 9741 5593
Email: lesterkok@ntu.edu.sg

SOURCE Lockheed Martin