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Gardner Intelligence’s Michael Guckes to Present Composites Industry Economic Forecast

IACMI’s Fall 2020 Members Meeting, which kicks off October 7, will feature Michael Guckes, Chief Economist and Director of Analytics at Gardner Intelligence. He’ll provide insight of the current climate in the composites industry, as well as a look at what to expect in the months ahead.

Guckes has 20 years of experience in forecasting and modeling using advanced statistical techniques and is a favorite of IACMI members.

During his presentation, Guckes will:

Present what the Composites Business Index has to tell about the health of the industry and what actionable insights are available from the data
Provide a deep dive macroeconomic perspective with an emphasis on COVID-19’s effects on the composites industry
Highlight the aerospace market’s unique challenges and opportunities to regain previous build rates and what that timeline looks like now

Guckes has successfully applied his expertise at multi-billion dollar companies in the construction, banking and insurance fields. Since 2016, he has worked with CompositesWorld magazine to provide actionable business insights to domestic and global fabrication companies. Michael received his BA in Economics and Political Science from Kenyon College and his MBA from The Ohio State University.

Our Oct. 7-8 agenda showcases more high-level speakers, including Bloomberg’s Julia Attwood (Growth Markets for Composites Post-COVID) and Lanxess Technical Director and Chair of the American Chemistry Council Automotive Team Jose Chirino (Transitioning to a Circular Economy for Automotive Plastics and Polymer Composites), as well as industry panel discussions, working group sessions and networking opportunities.

University of Tennessee (UT) Assistant Professor of Architecture Maged Guerguis, left, and IACMI Chief Technology Officer Uday Vaidya display the UT Shield in the IACMI-supported Fibers and Composites Manufacturing Facility and extra layer of defense against the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

IACMI Supports Production of 50,000 Face Shields
for University of Tennessee Students, Faculty and Staff

In August, when students, faculty and staff returned to the University of Tennessee campus for the beginning of fall semester as many as 50,000 uniquely designed protective face shields were ready for distribution to help provide an extra layer of defense against the spread of COVID-19. Learn how IACMI and multiple university and community partners worked together under a tight deadline to bring such a large volume of face shields from conception to distribution. Full story here.

DOE Issues Request for Information for Materials that Withstand Harsh Environments

  On Aug. 19, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a request for information (RFI) about advances in components, systems, and products that can withstand harsh environments and extended service lifetimes.

Equipment used in the American energy production, transportation, and industrial sectors regularly operates under conditions that are high-temperature, corrosive, oxidizing, mechanically wearing, embrittling, or that involve thermal cycling. These environments present material stability and durability challenges that constrain the implementation of energy-efficient, cost-effective, and high-performance products and processes.

DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office and the Advanced Energy Systems Division within the Office of Fossil Energy issued this RFI.

IACMI intends to submit a response before the deadline on Sept. 21. If you would like to be included in the IACMI response, please submit comments to IACMI Technology Impact Manager John Unser at Junser@IACMI.org by Wednesday, September 16.

Read the full story here.

Composites Manufacturing Magazine:

The Technology Behind Bigger Innovation

Industry leaders are able to scale up from lab-scale-size parts to full-scale prototypes without companies having to invest millions in technology production equipment thanks to IACMI’s Scale-Up Research Facility (SURF) in Detroit, which is managed by Michigan State University.

BASF’s Performance Materials division wanted to develop a prototype for a new part over 10 feet in size, and it knew compression molding would be the ideal production method. But BASF pondered how to get an entirely new component ready for full-scale testing and validation without a customer risking the expense of an unproven technology.

Read more on how SURF assists in speeding up the path to commercialization.

University of Kentucky, ORNL partner to turn coal into high-value carbon fiber

The University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research (UK CAER) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory are teaming up on a $10 million project to transform coal into high-value carbon fibers and composites. The project was funded by the DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy, and the collaboration will allow both organizations to maximize their respective expertise in the field.

According to UK CAER, the project, titled: “Coal Conversion for Carbon Fibers and Composites,” seeks to develop the fundamental and translational science and engineering necessary to create energy-efficient and cost-effective processes for manufacturing carbon fibers with tunable properties.

“This is a strategic win for two of our core innovation partners UK and ORNL and aligns with IACMI’s strategy and roadmap to develop and validate new materials and processes that enable new, broader, and more impactful market application of advanced composites,” IACMI CEO John Hopkins said.

Read the full story here.

IACMI Workforce Director Participating in ASC’s Composites Education Panel Discussion

IACMI Workforce Director Joannie Harmon will be among the presenters at the American Society for Composites’ (ASC) 35th Technical (Virtual) Conference on Thursday, September 17. Panel discussions will focus on workforce development and certification opportunities in composites. ASC’s 35th Technical (Virtual) Conference will be September 14-17.

National Laboratories selected to establish battery manufacturing industry partnerships to spur innovation

Congratulations are in order as several IACMI members were selected as part of a U.S. Department of Energy announcement of 13 projects through a Battery Manufacturing Lab Call with combined funding of almost $15 million over three years. The call sought proposals from National Laboratories to establish public-private partnerships that address engineering challenges for advanced battery materials and devices, with a focus on de-risking, scaling, and accelerating adoption of new technologies.

IACMI members Saint-Gobain Ceramics & Plastics, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and PPG Industries, Inc. were chosen for these projects. Read more here.

Utah selected as a Defense Manufacturing Community by U.S. Department of Defense

The Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) announced the state of Utah was selected as one of six Defense Manufacturing Communities in the nation as part of the Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program managed by the U.S. Department of Defense.

GOED leads the Utah Defense Manufacturing Community (UDMC) with IACMI member the Utah Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Initiative (UAMMI) as the initiative’s sub-lead. Supporters include more than 70 organizations and will implement the programs developed by the UDMC. Advisors will provide a national perspective, including America Makes, American Manufacturing Community Collaborative (AMCC), IACMI, and Idaho National Labs among others.

Utah’s application touted the state’s robust aerospace, defense, and composite manufacturing industries and outlined a plan to implement an integrated strategy to support the regional defense innovation ecosystem, focusing on carbon composites and advanced materials. Read more here.

CAMX 2020 announces conference program

CAMX 2020, North America’s largest composites and advanced materials industry event, announced its live and on-demand virtual conference program, boasting more than 100 technical paper presentations and education sessions. The general session and keynote speaker will feature Airbus’ Material Fast Track leader and general advisor for Materials Technology to the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Isabell Gradert, with insights on Airbus’ sustainability plan to be the world’s first aircraft manufacturer to market a zero-emission aircraft by 2035. She will explore how Airbus will get there and the role materials and composite technologies will play. Read more here. Register for CAMX 2020!

CW Carbon Fiber Conference Nov 17-19, 2020

CW's Carbon Fiber conference goes digital for 2020. The 2020 iteration of the annual Carbon Fiber conference, originally scheduled to take place in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.,will be presented entirely digitally, online. The digital version of the conference, called Carbon Fiber NOW, will be presented Nov. 17-19. Read the full story here.

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