JEC World 2018, a leading international composites trade show, has closed its doors in Paris last week, with a record increase in attendance resuming three days of vibrant networking and knowledge sharing.

The show welcomed more than 1,300 exhibitors from every continent and counted 42,445 professional visits from 115 countries. “The ability of JEC Group to gather the whole composites industry under one roof over 3 days lies in the fact that we always initiate new precursory programs to the service of composites professionals,” commented Frédérique Mutel, JEC Group President & CEO.

“This year we initiated new programmes, for instance, the Composite Challenge allowing 10 PhD students to pitch their thesis in front of the industry, thus facilitating connections between students and industrialists. In the same spirit, we increased in power our Startup Booster and Innovation Award Programs to accelerate relations between young or innovative companies with investors or established enterprises.”

Make it Real

“We also introduced one new planet called Make it Real along with the Aero, Auto and Construction planets. In this planet, we could discover astonishing futuristic products for example the Aeromobil, a flying car that would revolutionize urban transportation in the near future,” continued Ms Mutel. “We also launched our new Book on Natural Fibers: Flax and Hemp. We had strong communications on composites environmental input and recycling.”

The event was the first event to promote and host the new French Fab, a French government initiative to internationally promote the French industry and manufacture. Also, JEC World welcomed the French Secretary of State to the Minister of Economy and Finance Delphine Gény-Stephann – a visit that demonstrates the growing role of composites in the industry.

Inspiring keynotes

Dirk Ahlborn, CEO of Hyperloop, opened the Startup Booster ceremony by supporting the spirit of ingenuity in the industry. Dayton Horvath, industry expert and consultant in additive manufacturing, presented his vision of how to apply artificial intelligence to composite materials and manufacturing.

Finally, Yves Rossy, the “jetman” using the latest carbon-fibre wings for flight, introduced the JEC Innovation awards ceremony, motivating the audience to pursue their dreams and explaining how composites helped make his dreams come true.

Public Choice Awards winners

A first at the show this year was the introduction of the public votes to elect their favourite projects among two JEC programmes promoting innovation. “The goal to create the public choice awards was to involve and embark our community to make their innovation loud. Our vision at JEC is to demonstrate and to make understand towards a broader scope the vast range of possibilities that composite materials offer,” commented Anne-Manuèle Hébert, Director for JEC World and European Events for JEC Group.

The Public Choice Award for Startup Booster went to Inca-Fiber, from Germany, with 62.36% of the 2,221 votes. Meanwhile, the Public Choice Award for JEC Innovation Awards was given to AeroComposit JSC, from Russia, for its infusion technology for an aircraft wing, gaining 20.96% of the 4,126 votes.

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