JEC World 2018, closed its doors on March 8 with a record increase in attendance resuming 3 days of vibrant networking and knowledge sharing
The event confirms its leading position of JEC Group as number one organization for the promotion and development of the composites industry. Indeed the show 
welcomed more than 1,300 exhibitors from every continents and counted 42,445 professional visits from 115 countries. “The ability of JEC Group to gather the whole composites Industry under one roof over 3 days lies in the fact that we always initiate new precursory programs to the service of composites professionals.” says Ms. Frédérique Mutel, JEC Group President & CEO. “This year we initiated new programs, for instance the Composite Challenge allowing 10 PhD students to pitch their thesis in front of the industry, thus facilitating connections between students and industrialists. In the same spirit, we increased in power our Start Up Booster and Innovation Award Programs to accelerate relations between young or innovative companies with investors or established enterprises. We also introduced one new planet called “Make it Real” along with the Aero, Auto and Construction planets. In this planet, we could discover astonishing futuristic products for example the Aeromobil, a flying car that would revolutionize urban transportation in the near future,“ she adds. “We launched our new Book on Natural Fibers: Flax and Hemp. We had strong communications on Composites Environmental Input and Recycling.”
The event was the first event to promote and host the new “French Fab”, a French government initiative to internationally promote the French Industry and Manufacture. Also, JEC World welcomed the French Secretary of State to the Minister of Economy and Finance Ms. Delphine Gény-Stephann, visit that demonstrates the growing role of composites in the industry.
Inspiring keynotes to foster composites disruption
Dirk Ahlborn, CEO of Hyperloop opened the Startup Booster ceremony by supporting the spirit of ingenuity in the Industry. Dayton Horvath, industry expert and consultant in additive manufacturing presented his vision of how to apply artificial intelligence to composite Materials and Manufacturing. Finally, Yves Rossy, the “jetman” using the latest carbon-fiber wings for flight introduced the JEC Innovation awards ceremony, motivating the audience to pursue their dreams and explaining how composites could made his dreams come true.
The “Public Choice Award”
A first at the show this year was the introduction of the public votes to elect their favorite projects among two JEC programs promoting innovation. “The goal to create the “public choice awards” was to involve and embark our community to make their innovation loud. Our vision at JEC is to demonstrate and to make understand towards a broader scope the vast range of possibilities that composite materials offer.” comments Ms. Anne-Manuèle Hébert, Director for JEC World and European Events for JEC Group.
PUBLIC CHOICE AWARD FOR STARTUP BOOSTER: Inca-Fiber (Germany) with 62.36 % of the 2,221 votes
PUBLIC CHOICE AWARD FOR JEC INNOVATION AWARDS: Infusion technology for an aircraft wing by AeroComposit JSC (Russia) gaining 20.96 % of the 4,126 votes.
JEC Group is a global information and connection company in the composite sector, with a network of 250,000 professionals. Using its information services and its local and international networks, the Group represents, promotes and develops the markets for composite materials. Under the effect of steady growth over the past twenty years, JEC Group has forged an international reputation, opening offices in North America and Asia. The company is wholly owned by the Center for Promotion of Composites, a non-profit organization. The Group’s policy is to systematically reinvest its profits into the creation of new services of benefit to the composite sector. After winning over the composite industry, JEC Group would now like to extend its scope of action to new segments of the value chain, in particular manufacturers and end users. JEC Group’s experts bring specialized knowledge and an extensive network into play to propose a full range of products and services: JEC publications (strategic studies, technical works, and JEC Composites Magazine), the “World Market News” weekly international e-letter, and the French-language “JEC Info Composites” e-letter. JEC Group also organizes trade shows that include JEC World in Paris (the largest international trade show dedicated to composite materials – four times larger than any other similar specialized event), JEC Asia in South Korea, and The Future of Composites in Construction in Chicago. Additional services include the website http://www.jeccomposites.com, the JEC Composites Conferences, Forums and Workshops organized in Europe, Asia and North America, and the JEC Innovation Awards program (Europe, Asia, North America, India and China).
The composite sector employs 550000 professionals worldwide. In 2017, it generated EUR 83 billion euros in sales.