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IACMI honored with

SAMPE 2021 Organizational Excellence Award

The Society for the Advancement of Materials and Process Engineering (SAMPE) North America announced IACMI - The Composites Institute as a winner of the SAMPE 2021 Organizational Excellence Award. The award recognizes organizations from industry, academia, and/or government that exemplify the best of SAMPE from within the advanced materials and process community as a whole.

Founded in 2015, IACMI has built a strong collaborative ecosystem across the composites community that brings researchers together to advance manufacturing and applications of new composite materials. Since being launched, IACMI has managed over 50 collaborative and industry-led technical projects, with more than 90 IACMI members participating on those projects, and with more than $150 million in research and development value. More than 15 new products are now commercially available and over $400 million has been invested in a broad system of open access facilities for demonstration at scale in eight states. IACMI has engaged more than 9,000 people in composites training and STEM outreach, and placed more than 100 university interns with industry collaboration.

"This is a fantastic recognition as IACMI continues its evolution and creates innovation and workforce impact for its member community and the broader U.S. composites manufacturing markets," said John A. Hopkins, IACMI CEO.

Through collaboration with industry, academia and national laboratories, IACMI projects have demonstrated faster cycle times and lower costs for composite materials and structures, decreased carbon intensity, and increased recyclability of composites.

“IACMI has set a high standard for innovation and creativity in advancing material and process engineering,” said Jerome Berg, President of SAMPE. “Earning this award is a testament to the skill, dedication, and professionalism of its winners.”

IACMI workforce partner Davis Technical College was also named a winner of this prestigious honor for its Composite Materials Technology program. IACMI is deploying Davis Tech's training program in select community colleges across the country as part of the Advanced Composites Career Pathways (ACCP) program.

SAMPE will present the awards at CAMX - The Composites and Advanced Materials Expo 2021 in Dallas in October.

Read the official announcement here.

Member Spotlight

Now's your chance to register for

IACMI's August Quarterly Working Group Meetings

Working Group leaders will be convening throughout the month of August to share the exciting developments happening in their technology areas, and registration is open!

During our six Working Groups you'll hear from a variety of speakers, as they focus on a broad array of topics giving you opportunities to dive deep into areas of interest. IACMI's Working Groups are a key value of the IACMI Consortium.

Our Working Group schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, 8/10 at 1PM ET Simulation/Digital Twin Working Group
Wednesday, 8/11 at 1PM ET High Rate Aerostructures Fabrication Working Group
Thursday, 8/12 at 2:30PM ET Wind Energy Working Group
Tuesday, 8/17 at 1PM ET Infrastructure & Construction Working Group
Wednesday, 8/18 at 1PM ET Future Mobility/Vehicles Technology Working Group
Thursday, 8/19 at 1PM ET Recycling/Circular Economy Working Group

Working Group meetings emphasize market-driven themes, advanced technology, group objectives, and ways to make an impact. Get involved in Working Groups that you already participate in, as well as in other areas of interest to you!

Save the Date for IACMI's Fall 2021 Members Meeting!

Make plans to join us in-person once again October 5-7 for the Fall 2021 Members Meeting happening in Detroit, Michigan!

This IACMI Members Meeting will feature high-level speakers, panel discussions, project reports, and breakout sessions. Working Group meetings will focus on market-driven themes and advanced technology.

Plenty of networking opportunities with other attendees will be available – a key aspect of every successful IACMI Member Meeting experience.

Save the date as registration will open soon! We can't wait to see you!

Patrick Blanchard of Ford, at right, describes how the SURF is enabling collaborations on full-scale automotive components.

IACMI SURF showcases extensive scale-up capabilities,
advanced equipment during MSU Provost Visit

The IACMI Scale-Up Research Facility (SURF) recently hosted Michigan State University (MSU) Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Teresa K. Woodruff. Woodruff joined MSU as provost in August 2020.

Provost Teresa K. Woodruff

In May, the provost was able to tour the Corktown facility located in the heart of automotive R&D in Detroit. “MSU continues to be an engine for economic development in Michigan, and the IACMI is leading the way in advanced composite manufacturing,” said MSU Provost Teresa K. Woodruff, Ph.D. “The leaders of the institute, the facility itself, and the opportunities for our MSU engineering students create a synergy that is driving many fields, including the important automotive industry in Detroit and elsewhere.”

Among those joining Boeman to support the provost visit was MSU Associate Dean of Engineering Research John Verboncoeur, IACMI CEO John Hopkins and IACMI members and partners Patrick Blanchard with Ford Motor Company and Elvira Stresikova with BASF.

Learn more about the provost’s visit to SURF here.

IACMI welcomes material, specialty chemical

consultant FX Consulting, LLC as member

IACMI would like to officially welcome Joe Fox of FX Consulting, LLC to our 150+ member community of industry, academic institutions and government agencies leading innovation and workforce development initiatives to drive the adoption of advanced composites and strengthen U.S. manufacturing competitiveness.

Joe Fox is a consultant for the specialty chemicals and materials industries. He is a chemist by training and has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Lehigh University and a PhD in chemistry from Penn State. He is a 40-year veteran of the chemicals industry, having worked at Standard Oil of Ohio, BP America, Ashland Chemical and INEOS Composites.

Joe has broad technical expertise spanning organic polymers, inorganic materials, organometallic catalysts, ceramics, and composites. He has led successful efforts to develop and commercialize advanced ceramics and thermoset resin technology for fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite, adhesive, foundry binder & coating applications. Joe has an extensive network of companies, universities, federal laboratories and open innovation intermediaries. He has created and managed complex industry-university-federal laboratory partnerships that bring together the skill sets necessary for success and that leverage federal and state funding.

Joe Fox, PhD

"I am a firm believer in the approach IACMI has taken to spur the use of advanced composites," said Joe Fox. "The way they connect companies, universities and federal laboratories to address key techno-economic challenges is impressive, and I am particularly excited about IACMI's future in the Infrastructure space."

Are you interested in becoming an IACMI member? Click here to learn more.

Congratulations Jeff Sloan! 175 CW editorials and counting

IACMI salutes CompositesWorld Editor Jeff Sloan on his 175th editorial for the magazine. All total, Jeff’s editorial word count stands at 104,322 after 15 years. Quite a milestone. Be sure to check out his 175th editorial and clever word cloud that Jeff created to “identify some of the recurring terms and ideas that have received attention” in his editorials over the years.

Milestone Alert! ACE CNC online machining training

tops 1,500 registrations, in-person bootcamps continue

This week, registrations totaled 1,511 for the online CNC machining training program that is part of America’s Cutting Edge (ACE), a national initiative to restore the prominence of the U.S. machine tools sector through advances in training and technology. Part of the ACE effort is an IACMI program that uses virtual training and machining simulation to teach essential manufacturing skills.

In addition to the online training, IACMI continues leading in-person bootcamps this summer, including a weeklong ACE Composites Workshop taught by Dr. Uday Vaidya, IACMI Chief Technology Officer and UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair for Advanced Composites Manufacturing. The July 19-23 workshop will benefit high school, community college and university students, and early career professionals interested in advanced materials and manufacturing.

“The ACE Composites Workshop will provide exposure to holistic steps in developing a composite product using a range of machine tools,” said Vaidya. “These activities include computer aided design (CAD), tooling, materials selection, manufacturing (injection or compression molding), composites machining and quality inspection.”

ACE is funded by the Department of Defense Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) Program from the Office of Industrial Policy and brings together IACMI partners the University of Tennessee, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Pellissippi State Community College.

Learn more at www.iacmi.org/ace.