JEC World 2017 and JEC Innovation Awards
EC Group celebrates composite innovation at JEC World 2017 and hands out JEC Innovation Awards to 13 “Composite Champions”
While this year’s show will take place from March 14 to March 16, 2017 at the Paris Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre, Paris, France. JEC Group is proud to also unveil the names of the 13 winners of the JEC Innovation Awards.
The JEC Innovation Awards reward the best composite breakthroughs based on their technical interest, market potential, partnerships, financial & environmental impact and originality.
Composite innovations in the spotlight at JEC World
This year, the submissions for the Innovation Awards programme were impressive, both in quantity and diversity, and more importantly in quality.
“Manufacturing processes for large series are growing in importance this year. This movement is expected to trigger a more massive use of composites. Therefore, we could see a change of scale in our industry, particularly in certain mass production sectors such as the automotive sector, for example, where the supply chain is reconfiguring through mergers and acquisitions, the upstream integration of automotive suppliers and the downstream integration of raw materials producers.” says Mrs Frédérique Mutel, JEC Group President & CEO.
Just as last year, a high number of submissions came from the automotive industry, thus perfectly illustrating the current market trends. Process improvement was also one of the most represented themes, highlighting the importance of cycle time reduction.
With 13 categories ranging from raw materials to process, to applications in various fields such as Aeronautics, Automotive, Construction, Marine and Better Living, the winning projects offer a complete overview of the composite value chain, and the many future opportunities that are still to be taken in the field of composites.
The JEC Innovation Awards ceremony will highlight 13 innovators on stage and will take place on Wednesday, March 15 at 5:00pm at JEC World (Paris Nord Villepinte – France).
All exhibitors and visitors are welcome to attend the ceremony.
The 13 “Composite Champions” winners of the JEC Innovation Awards
– Aeronautics – IHI Corporation (Japan): Innovative composite fan system for aero-engines
– Automotive, Structural – Forward Engineering GmbH (Germany): T-RTM
– Automotive, Exterior – LG Hausys (South Korea): One-piece roof rack
– Construction – ACCIONA Construcción SA (Spain): Innovative composite panels, an alternative to steel and concrete for high-speed railway tunnel construction
– Process – IRT M2P (France): Fast RTM
– Manufacturing – Voith Composites GmbH & Co. KG (Germany): Voith Roving Applicator
– Sustainability – Faurecia (France): NAFILite™ microcellular foamed material
– Marine – VABO Composites (The Netherlands): “Plug-and-play” composite ship door
– 3D Printing – +LAB – Politecnico di Milano University (Italy): Smart manufacturing of continuous-fibre composites: Atropos
– Software – e-Xstream (Luxembourg): Digimat AM
– Sports – Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V. (IPF) (Germany): Recurve bow riser
– Raw Materials – Covestro Deutschland AG (Germany): Desmocomp® – a novel solution for composites
– Better Living – Brødrene AA (Norway): Vision of the Fjords, Ship of the Year 2016 in Norway
The conference programme
The global composite materials market is projected to hit over USD 105 billion by 2021 which represents a strong and steady increase in demand and opportunities to use the many properties Light-weighting, reducing processing times, making affordability a priority, and finding solutions to pressing environmental concerns by making composites more sustainable, all represent oncoming challenges in need of innovative advancements.
The JEC World conference program aims to educate and provide the latest information, trends and experience feedbacks to professionals willing to improve their knowledge and seize the consequent networking opportunities. In 2017, the JEC World conferences will cover thermoplastic composites, braiding, and production technologies as well as several major industries such as Automotive, Aeronautics, and Construction and offer a complete overview of the value chain and the ever- expanding use of composite materials composite materials offer.
The variety of applications in which composite materials have found a valuable place will only be getting wider as technologies improve and industrials realize the full potential of using them. In order to meet market expectations, new developments will come from all fronts.
On the raw material side, GFRP composites have a bright future thanks to their constant expansion in several key industries such as Construction and Infrastructures, with renovation playing a big part, and Automotive. The competition with carbon fibre is a powerful incentive to develop advanced glass fibres, with a focus on increased tensile strength and modulus. Resins also need to be taken into consideration when it comes to performance, with thermosets being more widely used but thermoplastics quickly gaining ground thanks to recyclability properties and reduced costs.
Transportation remains the largest industry for composite materials and as such is a constant source of innovation in order to fulfil market expectations related to more lightweight parts, reducing costs and increasing recyclability. Carbon fibre has infinite potential in building and construction applications thanks to the rehabilitation needs of infrastructures, specifically in the U.S.
“Current Trends in the Automotive Industry”, “Aeronautics: Multiscale Modeling for Behavioral Predictions”, “Composites as a Worthy Alternative to Traditional Materials in the Construction Industry” and “Production Technology for Multi-Material Lightweight Components” are only a few of the topics we are dedicating to these very issues, as they aim to answer the most pressing questions.
With presentations coming from over ten different countries, the worldwide impact of composite materials will be well illustrated.
With 6 sessions and over 45 speakers, 35 presentations will take place during JEC World 2017. Several guided booth visits organized along with specific conference sessions (Thermoplastics, Braiding, and Production Technology) will supplement the technical content from the presentations with concrete examples and the possibility of having a privileged contact with the visited companies.