Knoxville, Tenn., Dec.19, 2017 – The Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI), a 150+ member consortium committed to increasing domestic production capacity and manufacturing jobs across the U.S. composites industry, will hosts its bi-annual members meeting in Detroit, Michigan on January 16-18, 2018. This meeting will feature automotive research and development innovations, workforce development trends, and technical updates from industry members such as Ford Motor Company, Volkswagen, and others.
This event represents the sixth members meeting since the institute’s inaugural meeting in July of 2015 and is expected to attract over 300 participants, including key supporters of the organization from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office, Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), industry partners, and others. The conference program features a keynote presentation from Greg Satell, author of Mapping Innovation, A Playbook for Navigating a Disruptive Age, a 2017 top recommended CEO read. Other program highlights include a workforce development presentation from Lucintel, a premier global market research consulting firm, to discuss the trends in hiring, job creation, and training for composites careers. IACMI technical projects and results will also be featured and include a presentation from the Composites Prototyping Center (CPC) to review the results of its project using an innovative x-ray process to create a carbon fiber Aston Martin hood. A members-only reception will be held at the historic Henry Ford Museum to give members the opportunity to network while celebrating American innovation and ingenuity.
“The IACMI members meetings are integral to catalyze industry collaboration and networking across the composites supply chain”, said John Hopkins, IACMI interim CEO. “The participant profile includes thought leaders in the industry and a diverse group of small, medium, and large companies with potential to change the entire composites landscape.”
The January members meeting will include tours of the Scale-Up Research Facility (SURF), a 100,000 square-foot state-of-the-art facility shared with LIFT-Lightweighting Innovations for Tomorrow. Michigan State University (MSU), which leads IACMI’s lightweighting in vehicle structures initiative, is a core partner and manages the manufacturing innovation hub in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit. The facility provides full-scale capabilities to augment MSU’s comprehensive composites research and development capabilities at the main campus in East Lansing. In October 2017, IACMI celebrated the official opening of the facility, which is already proving to be instrumental in training the workforce of the future and partnering with industry to enable faster and more efficient composite manufacturing processes. The city of Detroit’s recent video pitch to Amazon for its HQ2 site included footage of this world-class regional asset.
IACMI’s members meeting coincides with the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) and many attendees are planning to attend the show’s Industry Preview days to experience the latest mobility-focused technologies. IACMI will provide shuttle transportation from the auto show to the research and development facility on Thursday, January 18, 2018 in order to allow guests to have the opportunity to see the cutting-edge manufacturing technologies on guided and self-guided tours. Guests interested in touring the facility should register in advance via the Eventbrite link to secure the opportunity.
Register for Thursday, January 18, 2018 tours of the facility at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/iacmi-and-lift-joint-facility-tours-tickets-37241257604. To learn more about the members meeting, visit the event webpage at https://iacmi.org/winter-2018-members-meeting.