International Conference on Automotive Technology on development of Composites Materials

Following its strategy to address each composites end-using market specifically, the JEC Group launches an international event entirely dedicated to Composites in the Automotive Industry. This 2-day conference will take place next October 13 and 14, 2016 in Knoxville, Tennessee, home to one of IACMI’s lead institutions (Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation), the University of Tennessee.
"We are implementing our Group strategy oriented towards end-users. In all regions where we operate, our customers will benefit from specific platforms devoted to each market. The Automotive industry remains by far the largest market for composite materials in the US, rendering it a key player when it comes to innovation and advancements in materials and manufacturing processes. The main challenges: raw material cost reduction, light-weighting, and achieving mass production, are direct consequences of environmental requirements becoming more rigorous as concern about carbon emissions grows”, says Ms Frédérique Mutel, JEC Group President and CEO.
Thus, the 25 speakers will cover topics such as "Multimaterial Solutions in Automotive” dealing with the concerns of using both composites and metal components for optimized lightweighting, toughening composites via hybridization or again replacing traditional fasteners with adhesive bonding. Also the "Incorporation of Carbon Fiber in Structural Parts in the Automotive Industry” will be discussed with focuses on measuring structure health, new repair and recycling technologies.

The second day, three workshops will encourage interaction among the participants around the subjects of affordable composites, development and industrial commercialisation of composites materials and partnerships & innovations in composites manufacturing.
"We wanted to propose an event that is tailored made for the American market and thanks to our numerous partners such as TVA, IACMI, the Tennessee state government, Oakridge National Laboratory (to name a few), we are very excited to organise a very diversified experience offering conference sessions, workshops, sites visits, a table-top area and various networking events,” adds Nicolas Baudry, Americas events director at JEC Group.