New Star Metals Changes Name to Material Sciences Corporation

Chief Commercial Officer Michael Noble concurred with Murley in an interview with SMU. “It became apparent quite quickly, that the brand recognition was superior to that of New Star, and it just made sense.”

MSC is a global provider of innovative solutions in lightweighting, acoustic treatment, coating applications, metal processing, laminated products and supply chain management.

The company acoustical metals have been used in applications in the automotive, appliance and construction industries to reduce noise and vibration. Quiet Steel is an engineered laminate that improves acoustical performance. In simple terms it is plastic material placed between pieces of sheet metal used to reduce noise and vibration.

Noble said fuel efficiency standards have opened new commercial possibilities for lightweight acoustical metals, like Quiet Steel and Quiet Aluminum. Reducing weight on vehicles may help with fuel economy but it also makes them noisier. In the past, the problem has been treated by rubber adhesive coatings that end up adding weight. MSC’s innovative products provide sound dampening while maintaining the benefit of a lighter material. Ford uses the product and inroads have been made with automotive manufacturers around the world. Implementation of the product will be seen in 2016 platforms. The material is also used in construction, such as HVAC applications.

The breadth of applications of MSC’s products is staggering. In the construction industry, coated coils are used to create products such as ceiling grids, doors, furniture, fixtures, metal roofing and siding. Consumer products utilizing MSC material include bakeware, electronics, containers and munitions coating. There is even a coating application that is permanently bonded to metal substrate to produce a material that increases reflectance up to 97% in light fixtures.

A MSC testing facility in Canton, MI is able to test materials for noise, vibration and harsh temperature changes. Noble said that when a potential application of an MSC product like Quiet Steel or Quiet Aluminum is considered, the company engineers a unique core for the product depending on what it will be used for. It is then run through a battery of tests that to see how it responds to temperature, vibration or sound. Sometimes a stamped section of a product is tested and other times a whole vehicle may be put through the testing procedure. Noble said that it is worth a visit to the facility. One mill tech, in the industry over 30 years, said it was “the coolest thing I have ever seen.”

MSC is headquartered in Canton, Mich., near Detroit and has operations in Canfield, Ohio; Walbridge, Ohio; Elk Grove, Ill., and East Chicago, Ind.