The Center for Advanced Non-Ferrous Structural Alloys (CANFSA) is a new (founded in 2011) Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) with an emphasis on conducting state-of-the-art research related to non‐ferrous structural alloys. Established by faculty at the Colorado School of Mines and the University of North Texas, this center is focused on combining computational modeling (various length and time scales) and experimental approaches (alloying, processing and microstructure/property characterization) in order to advance industrially-relevant projects in an efficient and effective manner. The emphasis is on structural Al, Mg, Ti and Ni-base alloys and their composites and on industries that develop, manufacture and use these alloys. A primary goal of the center is to educate students in areas that have become increasingly rare in materials science and engineering departments around the country, namely, traditional physical metallurgy combined with computational modeling approaches.

The goals of CANFSA are to:

1. Perform industrially relevant research that addresses the technological needs in commercial non-ferrous alloy systems.
2. Combine integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) approaches with advanced processing, testing and characterization methods to more rapidly advance the state-of-the-art in non-ferrous alloys.
3. Better prepare students for jobs in the industries that develop, manufacture and use non-ferrous alloys.
4. Become the center that industry looks to for resolution of all of their non-ferrous structural alloy problems.