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CERAC, inc. Awarded Small Business of the Year by United Space Alliance

May, 2003 – Milwaukee , WI

CERAC, inc., manufacturer of specialty inorganic chemicals and thin film materials, has been awarded “2002 Small Business of the Year” by the United Space Alliance (USA).  The award, presented during the 2003 Space Shuttle Suppliers Symposium, was for the manufacture of Tetraboron Silicide (B₄Si), a material necessary in the development of the protective coating on the space shuttle tiles. 

During the awards presentation, CERAC was praised by Michael H. Jones, Director of Procurement at USA for a willingness to tackle the painstaking and lengthy process of reproducing a custom material that had not been manufactured in over 15 years.  “Even though this has been a difficult endeavor for CERAC…they understand the need for it in the Human Space Flight Program”. 

CERAC’s commitment to the space shuttle program began during the early development of the tile coatings when their technical team worked closely with NASA engineers to come up with a material that would meet such extreme requirements.  Years later, the two organizations again partnered to review and fine tune the technical specifications and reproduce the custom material, without which the shuttle program would come to a halt.  Said Jones, “CERAC’s nomination resulted from their performance as a true team member, their ability to meet and exceed requirements and their willingness to perform”.

One of those team members was Dr. Ron Coates, who had been the main technical contact at CERAC during the original project.  When the call came from USA , Dr. Coates resumed his role as technical liaison between CERAC , USA , Boeing and NASA and because of his outstanding work, was personally selected by then Space Shuttle Program Manager Ron Dittemore to receive one of only eight Star Awards.  The award was presented to Dr. Coates by Dittemore at the Space Shuttle Suppliers Symposium.

CERAC is proud to play a key role in the advancement of human space flight and is deeply honored to have received these prestigious awards. 

Media Contact

Nora Biersack
Marketing Administrator
CERAC, inc.
Tel: 414-289-9800 x206  
Fax: 414-289-9805
ceracmarketing@beminc.com

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Phone:  414-289-9800 /  FAX: 414-289-9805  /   ceracinfo@beminc.com