JEC Group's mission to develop end-use markets for composites has reached a new milestone with the closing of its latest JEC Forum in Chicago, IL, with more than 600 professional visits and successful B2B meetings.

The JEC Forum in Chicago is an event combining knowledge sharing and business networking. Strongly focused on innovation, the forum introduced new and featured products in the field of ground transportation (from automotive to railway, trucks and buses) and highlighted five breakthroughs, which received the prestigious JEC Innovation Awards.

Impressive line-up of speakers

The four sessions of conferences involved 24 expert speakers from companies such as Ford Motor Company, Gazelle Tech, Mercedes Benz, Owens Corning, Porcher Industries, SikaAxson, Wabash National Corporation, and more. The speakers put the stakes of mobility into perspective while highlighting the countless contributions made by composites, both now and in the future.

On the first day of the event, Martin Bigras, Senior Expert Engineer – Composite Materials at Bombardier, gave a keynote speech on New Material Development for Rail Applications, addressing how composite materials are a great fit for the rail industry, the issues faced by composites in rail applications, and the envisioned solutions to further their integration into this industry. Another keynote speech given by Greg Beiser, Director – Future Mobility/Smart Cities at Faurecia, focused on Composites in Clean Mobility. Paul Spadafora, Global Vice President of Product Development at Magna Exteriors, addressed the topic of Composites Innovations Enabling Future Mobility, focusing on connected and autonomous vehicles as an introduction to the JEC Innovation Awards.

JEC Group’s newly redesigned B2B Meetings service was also a great success considering the positive feedback and the number of meetings organized over the two days. With a 94% satisfaction rate, meetings were held on the show floor in a pleasant setting overlooking Lake Michigan.

Winners of JEC Innovation Awards

The JEC Innovation Awards ceremony, supported by Dixie Chemicals, rewarded companies who demonstrated excellence in categories ranging from passenger cars to heavy trucks, featuring namely: significant weight savings, innovative processes, unique designs, shortened process times and reduced costs. The winners are:

• Passenger Cars – Fraunhofer ILT (Germany): Hybrid Roof Bow

• Off-Road Vehicles – Faurecia (France): Lightweight Vehicle Underbody Protection

• Public Transportation – TPI Composites (USA): Design and Fabrication of an Integrated Monocoque Composite 40ft Plug-in Electric Transit Bus

• Heavy Trucks – Saprex (USA): Self-moulding, High Heat Composite Insulation System

• Sustainability – Bcomp (Switzerland): Light-weight Automotive Interior Parts with Natural Fibre Reinforcement

Next mobility meetings

Following the success of this JEC Forum on Composites in Transportation and increasing interest in the topic of composites in mobility, JEC will develop the debates and networking opportunities by organising Composites pavilions at the Paris Motor Show (2-6 October 2018), the Detroit Motor show (14-18 January 2019), and at JEC Asia in Seoul (14-16 November 2018) and JEC World (12-14 March 2019) where automotive and mobility will be a major topic of discussion.

www.jeccomposites.com