Informing and educating the advanced materials and process engineering community.
Each conference category includes a variety of programs that inform and educate materials and processes professionals, including engineers, product managers, technicians, sales and marketing personnel.
Eric Moussiaux
Vice President Technology | Exel Composites
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Eric Moussiaux holds a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the Free University of Brussels and a postgraduate Master of Science from Virginia Tech in composites and adhesives. He is currently vice president technology at Exel Composites, after previous positions in R&D, sales and marketing and business unit management in the field of pultrusion.
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Eric Moussiaux is one of the founders and long-term Board Member of the European Composites Industry Association EuCIA. He also holds board positions in the European Pultrusion Technology Association EPTA, which he chaired from 1996 until 2005, and the Belgian technology federation Agoria Flanders. He is the liaison officer for EuCIA in CEN TC250 WG4 writing the Eurocode for composites.
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Privately Eric Moussiaux has a special interest in education, teaching his own course on ‘Design of light weight composite structures’ at the Free University of Brussels as guest professor, and having a seat in the Board of a group of 28 schools in the South-West region of Brussels.
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Composites Sustainability : The EuCIA Perspective
Tuesday, May 21, 2024| 1:00 pm – 1:40 pm
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The European Composites Industry Association, EuCIA, has recently updated its mission statement and strategy. EuCIA has been at the forefront of European composites sustainability work and will be even more so in the future. The paper will provide a composites industry top-down perspective towards the many facets of sustainability. It will highlight EuCIA’s activities, present and future in this domain, and will strongly emphasize clear and consistent communication.
Ned Patton, Ph.D., P.E.
Senior Technical Professional | Patton Engineering and Consulting
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Ned Patton, Ph.D. lives and works in Sunnyvale California. He has more than 40 years of experience in research and technology development, and has been involved with and has been a proponent of composites for over 35 of those years. Currently working at Northrop Grumman Marine Systems as a senior technical professional, he is actively developing composite material parts and structures for use undersea. He recently wrote a book about composites – “The String and Glue of our World – Understanding Composite Materials”, and has given talks recently about composites and sustainability in the industry to both technical and industry groups.
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Close the Circle - A Roadmap for the Composites Industry
Wednesday, May 22, 2024 | 8:00 am – 9:00 am
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Join us as we chart a course towards sustainability in the composite industry. The purpose of this presentation is to provide a roadmap for all of the elements of the industry to create a truly sustainable future for the composites industry. Starting with the current state of the industry - a linear economy - and describe what a circular economy means in terms of precursors, fiber and resin processing plants, and even the fabrication process and what to do with end of life composite structures. There is a path that if followed by all of the actors in the industry can get us to a truly sustainable circular economy for composites. This talk will provide that roadmap at a high level with a few details and pitfalls to watch out for along the way. Bottom line - we need to stop sending composites to landfills. And, grinding up composites to make lower performance materials is not a long term sustainable solution. We also need to move away from petroleum based materials and processes. The roadmap that will be presented shows the way to the future. Together, let's redefine composites for environmental stewardship.
Rudolph A. Olson III. PhD
Director | CONSOL Innovations
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Rudy received a BS in Ceramic Engineering from the University of Illinois and a PhD in Materials Science from Northwestern University. He has been conducting materials related R&D for 30-years in systems such as concrete, ceramic proppants, and ceramic, carbon, and metal foams, largely within manufacturing companies taking new products from concept to market. Over this time, he worked at Argonne National Lab, CARBO, Owens Corning, SELEE, CFOAM, and now CONSOL Innovations. During his 17-years at SELEE, he led the development efforts for their new primary aluminum and iron foundry filters, which won the corporate 2009 Environmental and 2017 Technical Achievement Awards, respectively, from the American Ceramic Society. After leading many successful new product development projects, he believes the development of carbon products created from coal has tremendous potential.
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Using COAL to Produce Advanced Carbon Products for Application in Aerospace, Military, Energy and other Industries
Wednesday, May 22, 2024 | 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
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CONSOL Innovations LLC, with locations in Triadelphia, WV and parent company CONSOL Energy Inc in Canonsburg, PA, is exploring the potential for using coal as a raw material to produce carbon-based products. Concepts range from filler for polymer deck boards, conversion of coal to graphite, production of electrodes for batteries, and the use of carbon foam tooling for carbon-fiber composite parts. These efforts are being conducted at both R&D and commercial levels, and several aspects of this work will be discussed.
Dr. Yadira Gochi-Ponce
Research Professor | Instituto Tecnológico de Tijuana (Technological Institute of Tijuana)
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Y. Gochi-Ponce received her degree as Chemical Engineer at Michoacan University of St. Nicholas of Hidalgo in 2000. Following her graduate studies, she obtained her Master’s Degree and PhD in material science at Advanced Materials Research Center, S. C., in Chihuahua, Mexico. Following the receipt of her PhD, she went on to study electrocatalysis at the Universitè of Poitiers, France and electrochemical methods at the University of Texas at Austin.
Dr. Gochi-Ponce has been in the National Technological Institute of Mexico since 2007 and worked at Technological Institute of Oaxaca until 2015. She has worked as thesis director for 20 Postgraduate Science students and 20 chemical engineering students. In Mexico, she is a level-2 member of the National System of Researchers of the National Council of Humanities Sciences and Technologies (CONAHCYT).
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Dr. Gochi-Ponce has published more than 30 indexed articles and one book chapter on polymeric membrane fuel cells and is currently research professor at Technological Institute of Tijuana. Her research focuses on the study of composite materials, on the development of novel energy materials and devices, cathodic electrocatalysts of fuel cells, on synthesis and characterization of carbon nanostructures and on metallic nanoparticles as catalysts in specific chemical reactions.
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Mexico: Leading the Advancement in Multifunctional Materials
Thursday, May 23, 2024 | 11:15 am – 12:00 pm
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Tailoring carbon nanostructures for multifunctional applications is a dynamic area of cutting-edge research in Mexico. However, it is not just research for its own sake. The research is geared toward developing many commercial applications. Just a few years ago nanoscience was something of a curiosity with a lot of grand promises, but today it has become better-established science with a growing list of applications in materials science. This has added novel tools to a wide array of engineering disciplines and provides real value to a number of industries including aerospace, automotive, life sciences and earth sciences.
Today there is a broad range of carbon nanostructured materials that exhibit novel properties. A nanomaterial might be added to a polymer matrix to increase strength or improve the thermal conductivity or boost the electrical conductivity. Finding the right nanomaterial and giving it the proper treatment might even do all three.
It is in this context that Dr. Gochi-Ponce will discuss current applications development being pursued at the National Technological Institute of Mexico/Technological Institute of Tijuana.
Dr. H. Felix Wu
Technology Manager | U.S. Department of Energy
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Dr. H. Felix Wu holds a Ph.D. from Cornell University and a M.S. from Northwestern University. He has more than 23 years of program management and leadership experience working in Federal government with broad-based expertise in fiber-reinforced composites, manufacturing, multifunctional materials/structures, structural health monitoring/NDE, and civil infrastructure. Currently, he is a Technology Manager in Vehicle Technologies Office at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) where he oversees Low-cost Carbon Fiber and Polymer Composites R&D in lightweighting materials subprogram, targeting DOE’s mission to improve fuel efficiency and reduce carbon footprint.
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In 1997-2012, Dr. Wu was a Senior Program Manager in Advanced Technology Program (ATP) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) where he managed numerous ATP-funded high-risk, high-payoff projects working with various industries and academia. He funded numerous research in Composite Materials ($140 million) and created a national critical need area in Civil Infrastructure ($150 million). Since 2002, Dr. Wu has been active in SPIE Smart Structures/NDE Symposium on SHM technologies applied to advanced materials, aerospace, civil infrastructure, and transportation.
Prior to his government career, Dr. Wu worked in industry for over 14 years including ALCOA and Owens Corning. While he was with ALCOA, Dr. Wu was the key contributor leading the development of Design Allowable for a new family of fiber-metal laminates (ARALL and GLARE). Currently, GLARE has been implemented onto the fuselage of Airbus A-380 and ARALL being implemented by Boeing (formerly McDonnell Douglas) on C-17 transport aircraft cargo door skin.
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Dr. Wu was an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University while he was on his industry/Federal jobs and was the Senior Director in the Office of Research and Economic Development at the University of North Texas mentoring faculty and students.
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Dr. Wu has published over 250 papers in scientific journals, technical conferences, and technical reports. While he was with NIST as a Program Manager, his vision in initiating a critical national need in civil infrastructure, Dr. Wu was recognized by the international Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) community, and the recipient of the Hans-Juergen Schmidt Award of the 7th International Workshop of Structural Health Monitoring in 2009. While currently with DOE, Dr. Wu’s vision on the utilization of the multifunctional composite materials/structures has led him to win the newly-created prestige Multifunctional and Intelligent Composites Award in the 14th International Workshop of Structural Health Monitoring in recognition of his outstanding leadership and efforts in advancing SHM technologies in industry and government.
Dr. Wu is a SPIE Fellow, a U.S. Department of Commerce Science and Technology Fellow, and a Fellow of the Ohio Academy of Science.
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Enabling of Lightweight and Multi-functional Composites for Electric Vehicles in the Transportation Sector
Thursday, May 23, 2024 | 11:15 am – 12:00 pm
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Last year, vehicles transported over 11 billion tons of freight, more than $32 billion worth of goods each day, and moved people more than 3 trillion vehicle-miles. One of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) missions is to achieve net-zero by 2050 that requires dramatic energy efficiency and emissions improvements in vehicle and the overall transportation system. The DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) provides low cost, secure, and clean energy technologies to move people and goods across America. Advanced polymer composite materials are essential for boosting the fuel economy of modern automobiles while maintaining safety and performance. A 10% reduction in vehicle weight can result in a 6%-8% fuel economy improvement, since it takes less energy to accelerate a lighter object than a heavier one. Using lightweight vehicle components enabled by lightweight materials in one quarter of the U.S. fleet could save more than 5 billion gallons of fuel annually by 2030. One of the lightweight materials candidates such as advanced polymer composites in these vehicles can offset the weight of power systems such as batteries and electric motors, improving the efficiency and increasing their electric vehicles (EVs) driving range. Alternatively, the use of lightweight materials could allow for the use of a smaller and lower-cost battery while keeping the all-electric range of plug-in vehicles constant. VTO supports research, development, and deployment of efficient and sustainable highway transportation technologies that will improve fuel economy and enable America to use less petroleum. These technologies, include batteries & electrification, materials technology, and mobility systems will increase Americans’ mobility and energy security, while lowering costs and reducing environmental impacts. VTO collaborates with industry, academia, and national laboratories to develop and deploy advanced vehicle technologies. Such technologies can lead to a game changer in setting the foundation for clean, efficient, sustainable, and cost-competitive vehicles. This featured presentation will provide a vision and overview of science and innovation of our ongoing Composites Core Program, as well as share the VTO composites strategy and portfolio. New research utilizing advanced polymer composites to reduce manufacturing cost and weight of EVs with added multi-functionalities to reduce embodied energy of components, reduce battery volume through increased vehicle efficiency as well as decrease carbon emissions will be discussed. Such lightweight and multifunctional composite materials and structures with electric and autonomous vehicles (AVs) health management could significantly transform the current EV/AV platform.
Jan-Anders Mansson
Distinguished Professor of Engineering, Schools of Materials and Chemical Engineering Manufacturing Design Laboratory (MDLab) and Ray Ewry Sports Engineering Center (RESEC), Purdue University
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Jan-Anders Mansson is a distinguished professor of Engineering at Purdue University. He holds a PhD in Polymer and Composites from Chalmers University in Sweden and has held leadership roles and professorships at several prestigious global institutions, including vice president of EPFL and President of AISTS in Lausanne, Switzerland. His extensive research portfolio spans over 400 publications, several books, and multiple patents, all of which have made a significant impact in the field. His research focuses on the development of innovative materials and their applications, with a broad range of interests spanning from aerospace and automotive to sports and bio-engineering. Dr. Mansson has been a pioneer in the sports engineering field and used his knowledge and research to establish the Ray Ewry Sports Engineering Center at Purdue University (RESEC). He also works closely with several international sport organizations including the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Dr. Mansson is member of the Engineering Science Academies of Sweden (IVA) and Switzerland (SATW), and fellow in numerous professional societies. Dr. Mansson's research is recognized internationally for its impact, making him a mentor and source of inspiration to many young researchers in the Engineering and Science of new materials, manufacturing and their applications.
Sports - A Cradle for Composites Innovation
Tuesday, May 21 | 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
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The use of new materials to enhance sports performance is inevitable, and the development of sports equipment and apparel stands as a significant industry. Frequently, cutting-edge materials like composites find extensive use in sports equipment and are often introduced on the playing field long before they make their debut in industries like aerospace or automotive. This complementarity and synergy in implementation dynamics create significant opportunities for efficient technology exchange, mutually benefiting the industrialization of new innovative materials and technologies.
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Furthermore, the introduction of adaptive “smart” and functional materials, embedded sensors, along with data management systems and Machine Learning control, has recently reached new heights when incorporated into apparels and equipment. This innovation has not only enhanced performance but also introduced exciting new features for real-time control and experience. These developments and implementations are constantly evolving and providing mutual benefits with other industrial areas.