By Dale Brosius, Exec. VP and Chief Commercialization Officer, IACMI
(November 13, 2023) I will be in Salt Lake City November 28-30, and while the slopes are expected to be open, I won’t be there for the “Greatest Snow on Earth.” Instead, I’ll be attending the 26th edition of CompositesWorld’s Carbon Fiber Conference, where I will be getting caught up on the state of the carbon fiber industry, the outlook for key advanced composites markets, and learning about new technologies that will transform businesses.
Of the 25 previous events, I estimate I have been to roughly 20 of them, and have only missed one in the last 15, I believe. I’ve been a speaker at five or six, an exhibitor at many, and an avid attendee at all I’ve been present. Here are the three main reasons why I make this conference a priority each year:
First, I like that’s a very focused and a single-track conference. There is no need to triage between competing sessions like at SAMPE and CAMX. The flow is well organized and touches on both well-established and emerging market sectors, as well as addressing important topics like recycling and sustainability.
Second, it’s intimate and full of decision makers, making it a perfect place to engage in productive conversations and discover opportunities. In the several years where I was a speaker, I was able to leverage those appearances into revenue producing opportunities, both at my former employer as well as at IACMI. While we were in the early stages of setting up IACMI, one of the speakers was from a European company developing a high-rate tape lamination machine aimed at automotive applications. Further discussions led to an opportunity to help define performance requirements for this new process. Today, IACMI’s Scale-up Research Facility in Detroit operates the first Fill Multi-Layer machine in North America.
Third, it’s a good way to close out the year. And in so doing, it provides a good opportunity to take stock of the current and forecasted market for carbon fiber and composites derived from it. I can put this into the perspectives gained from other conferences over the course of the year and it helps shape IACMI’s priorities and messaging for the following year.
So, while my deep powder turns will have to wait a couple more months to happen, I know my trip the week after Thanksgiving will be productive and well worth the visit to Utah. I hope to see many of our IACMI members and other industry colleagues there!
Register today for Carbon Fiber 2023: https://www.carbonfiberevent.com/