JEC Group’s International Conference on Automotive Technology, a two-day forum dedicated entirely to composites in the automotive industry, was held in downtown Knoxville, Tenn., October 13-14, 2016—home to one of IACMI’s lead institutions, the University of Tennessee. More than 200 industry partners attended the JEC Automotive Forums, which included tabletop exhibitions, 25 speaker presentations outlining current trends and innovations in manufacturing, and composites tours of The Fibers and Composites Manufacturing Facility (FCMF) at the University of Tennessee and the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).
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IACMI Chief Technology Officer, Uday Vaidya, discusses the importance of partnerships and innovations.
Day one topics included “Multimaterial Solutions in Automotive,” focusing on light-weighting, hybridization, and adhesive bonding; and “Incorporation of Carbon Fiber in Structural Parts,” which detailed structural strength, repair and recyclability of reinforced thermoplastics.
Day two workshops included topics on “Affordable Composites,” “Development and Industrial Commercialization of Composite Materials,” and “Partnerships and Innovations in Composite Manufacturing.” Technical Lead for Polymer Materials Research at ORNL, Vlastimil Kunc, presented on composite molds and tooling; Soydan Ozcan, Scientist at ORNL and Joint Faculty Associate Professor at University of Tennessee, spoke on bioderived polymers and composite materials’ recyclability, challenges and opportunities; and IACMI Chief Technology Officer, Uday Vaidya, closed the event by discussing the importance of Partnerships and Innovations.
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University of Tennessee Engineering students and researchers lead a tour of the FCMF.
The Composites Tour included a tour of The University of Tennessee’s FCMF, which serves as a state-of-the-art facility for design manufacturing, modeling and characterization of fiber components; and at ORNL’s MDF, where large and small-scale Polymer 3D and Metal 3D printers are in use, along with the IACMI composites laboratory. Participants were encouraged to interact with demonstrations and consider advancements in materials and manufacturing processes.
Visit jeccomposites.com to learn more about this event and other upcoming event.
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