JEC first International Conference on Automotive Technology to take place in US this October
The JEC Group will be launching an international event entirely dedicated to composites in the automotive industry.
The inaugural International Conference on Automotive Technology will take place from October 13-14 in Knoxville, Tennessee, the US. Knoxville is home to one of Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI)'s lead institutions, the University of Tennessee.
"We are implementing our Group strategy oriented towards end-users. In all regions where we operate, our customers will benefit from specific platforms devoted to each market. The Automotive industry remains by far the largest market for composite materials in the US, rendering it a key player when it comes to innovation and advancements in materials and manufacturing processes," stated Frédérique Mutel, JEC Group President and CEO.
She noted that the automotive industry is facing several challenges: raw material cost reduction, light-weighting, and achieving mass production. These are direct consequences of environmental requirements becoming more rigorous as concern about carbon emissions grows.
The 25 speakers will cover topics such as "Multi-material Solutions in Automotive" dealing with the concerns of using both composites and metal components for optimized lightweighting, toughening composites via hybridization or again replacing traditional fasteners with adhesive bonding.
Also the "Incorporation of Carbon Fiber in Structural Parts in the Automotive Industry" will be discussed with focuses on measuring structure health, new repair and recycling technologies.
In the second day, three workshops will be organized to encourage interaction among the participants around the subjects of affordable composites, development and industrial commercialization of composites materials and partnerships & innovations in composites manufacturing.
"We wanted to propose an event that is tailored made for the American market and thanks to our numerous partners such as TVA, IACMI, the Tennessee state government, Oakridge National Laboratory (to name a few), we are very excited to organize a very diversified experience offering conference sessions, workshops, sites visits, a table-top area and various networking events," added Nicolas Baudry, Americas Events Director at JEC Group.
