Conference Program - CAMX | The Composites and Advanced Materials Expo

Conference Program

CAMX hosts a robust education program for the composites and advanced materials industry by providing an exciting offering of sessions with industry experts in a variety of educational settings. Below are the different programming events you can expect.

Conference Program

2020 Opening Keynote

Join the 13th Administrator of the CAMX was pleased to have the 13th Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Jim Bridenstine, as this year’s opening keynote speaker. NASA is continuing to help move the industry forward in these trying times through investments in R&D and technology. Bridenstine highlighted the connection between technology developments in advanced materials and US competitiveness in manufacturing across a range of business sectors. His presentation wrapped up in an overview of NASA’s partnership opportunities for businesses of all sizes.

View 2020 Highlights

2020 General Session

The current COVID-19 crisis has changed our world like never before. But the severe crisis hasn’t changed Airbus’ long-term ambition to be the world’s first aircraft manufacturer to market a zero-emission aircraft by 2035. Explore how they got there and the role materials and in particular composite technologies will play.

Isabell Gradert the Material Fast Track Leader at Airbus and general advisor for materials technology to the CTO was this year’s general session speaker. With 10 years’ experience in the field of Materials & Processes, Isabell is the leading cross-divisional Material Roadmap for associated technologies and guiding research projects ensuring group-wide leverage of technology synergies.

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2020 Good Day, CAMX!

CAMX concluded with Good Day, CAMX hosted by Joel Whitehouse from Hill & Smith Holdings as he discussed the outlook for the US/global economy including risks and M&A activity, followed by a Q&A panel. Register to watch this recording.

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Keynote Speaker

From the Stars to the Future: Navigating High-Stakes Environments, Social Impact, and Technological Frontiers

Join us for an inspiring CAMX keynote address by Joan Higginbotham, a trailblazing astronaut who journeyed from Earth to the cosmos and back, carrying with her a wealth of insights on conquering challenges in high-stakes environments. Through her remarkable story, Higginbotham will delve into the lessons learned during her ascent to the stars and how those lessons have propelled her success in managing demanding situations.

Higginbotham will share her hands-on experience in identifying cutting-edge technologies that bridge existing gaps and drive innovation for the future. Delving into her role in sourcing and implementing these technologies, she will underscore the importance of staying at the forefront of technological advancement to address current challenges and meet the demands of an ever-evolving landscape.

Today, Higginbotham embraces the benefits of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) space. From managing the Bioko Island Malaria Control Project at Marathon Oil and supporting communities in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico through corporate contributions at Lowe's to directing CSR at Collins Aerospace (formerly UTC Aerospace Systems), Higginbotham speaks from experience on how to create a more robust corporate social responsibility identity. She'll provide the strategies she's used to drive social impact across sectors and share how audiences can do the same.

Prepare to be captivated by Higginbotham's riveting narrative as she navigates the cosmos of high-stakes situations, champions social impact, and leads us on a journey toward the uncharted territories of future technologies. This keynote promises to inspire, educate, and ignite a passion for both personal growth and the limitless possibilities that lie ahead.

Featured Sessions

CAMX offers sessions that focus on the industry’s hottest topics and continued growth. Inspiring featured sessions are hosted live and provide the latest knowledge and information on the issues that are impacting the industry today.

2023 CONFERENCE PROGRAM

Tuesday, October 18 | 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM

Consumers and OEMs are increasingly demanding that the products and services they use conform to a host of new standards in terms of decarbonization, social equity, gender equity, waste reduction, energy efficiency and much more. The demands are flowing down the entire composites value stream, compelling material suppliers and fabricators to rethink, redesign and re-engineer how they apply and process composite materials. A sustainability strategy or roadmap is quickly becoming a must-have for anyone involved in composites manufacturing. This panel will help you understand what’s driving the sustainability movement, how it will impact your business, steps you can take to develop a sustainability strategy, and what the outlook is for sustainability’s ongoing impact.

Jeff Sloan | Composites World, Editor

Tuesday, October 18 | 3:30 PM - 4:45 PM

Composites customers across a wide range of industries have developed and announced Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and sustainability goals that extend for the next two decades or more, and material preferences are already emerging in this rapidly changing environment. As an industry, composite manufacturers and suppliers will face internal challenges to meet these requirements and new competitors will emerge that are eager to help customers reach these ambitious sustainable material goals.

In this session, attendees will have the opportunity to learn how best to position their business for success with a panel that includes representatives from leading OEMs in the transportation, aerospace, marine, and renewable energy industries. Bring your questions for this interactive panel while you learn and network with experienced speakers and inquisitive attendees.

John Busel, F.ACI | ACMA, VP, Composites Growth Initiative
Dan Coughlin | Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Leader of Industrial Collaborations

Wednesday, October 19 | 9:00 AM – 10:15 AM

Since the early days of the composites industry, resin chemistry has played an important role with meeting the needs of new markets and overcoming barriers to entry. Today, the same holds true with resins being developed for high performance, high temperature, sustainability, and other market applications and opportunities which has fostered innovation. This panel of experts will share with attendees the lessons learned from past innovations as we look forward to the future with new requirements and trends in a broad range of market opportunities. The Panelists will focus on today’s innovations and how this will ignite new markets and solving the barriers to acceptance in new markets.

Brent Strong | UAMMI, Chief Technology Officer

Wednesday, October 19 | 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Historic levels of federal transportation infrastructure investment will catalyze opportunities for the composites industry to compete in this sector that exceeds $200 billion in federal, state, and local funding each year. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) is a five-year bill that includes $47 billion in formula and grant funds for bridges alone (the largest bridge investment since the construction of the Interstate Highway System), as well as the market for other structures and concrete reinforcement that will expand opportunities for composites significantly. In addition to IIJA funding, the combination of steel prices and availability make this the ideal time to mobilize a national industry effort to engage with state departments of transportation, where these decisions are made. Gregory Nadeau will lead a discussion about the opportunities for agencies like CalTrans and DOT’s across America to build structures with composite technology that are more sustainable due to longer lifecycle and less energy consumed in the manufacturing process versus conventional materials. The many constructability benefits associated with the use of composites add to the policy case to state and local infrastructure owners that composites need to become an important element in their structures toolbox.

Gregory G. Nadeau | CEO, Infrastructure Ventures LLC ; USDOT/FHWA, former Administrator

Wednesday, October 19 | 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

As transportation and vehicles are evolving, greater attention is being given to options that are safer, more affordable, and have a reduced impact on the environment. These priorities drive both the design and the materials being use for automated vehicles. In this discussion, developers will share how composite materials enable more advanced designs and how this will change the transport of goods and people for the future.

This session is developed with the support of the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International

Wednesday, October 19 | 3:15 PM - 4:30 PM

The drive for lighter materials to withstand higher temperatures continues unabated, and has led to CMC insertion into turbine engines, primarily in the aft sections. This trend has relied primarily on three distinct manufacturing approaches – reactive melt infiltration, sintering of slurry-infiltrated prepreg, and PIP (polymer infiltration and pyrolysis) followed by sintering. The panel will discuss the processing/performance challenges, economic merits, and limitations of the three approaches, as well as the applications and material systems to which each is best suited. Potential for new/alternative processing approaches and material systems will be discussed, along with challenges that must be overcome.

Steve Nutt | University of Southern California, Researcher

Thursday, October 20 | 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM

This interactive panel will discuss a range of subjects, including adhesive selection, substrate considerations, wetting and surface energy, sustainability, and other topics. It will be a moderated discussion between the panelists and the CAMX audience, providing an opportunity for attendees to ask questions and get answers. This event will be held on the exhibition show floor.

Maggie McKenney | Bostik, Senior Technical Service Engineer

Good Day, CAMX

Navigating the Future of the Composites Industry as Only an Industry Insider Can

Don’t miss this engaging and interactive session where we flip roles and interview the interviewer Jeff Sloan, Publisher and former Editor in Chief at CompositesWorld magazine. Jeff offers a unique perspective on the evolving landscape of the composites industry and moderator Marcy Offner will ask him hard-hitting and thought-provoking questions about the current state of the industry and its promise for the future.

2023 CONFERENCE PROGRAM

Technical Papers

These 25-minute presentations include formal written research papers reviewed by industry peers. Presentations address critical areas important to the composites and advanced materials industry from business, applications, and research perspectives.

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Education Sessions

These 55-minute presentations focus on case studies, best practices, issue reviews, and more. These sessions are presented as lectures, panels, and discussions led by subject area experts, and provide valuable information in a multitude of areas.

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CONFERENCE TUTORIALS

Conference tutorials provide a collaborative learning experience that allows attendees to take a deeper dive into the topics that are most interesting to our industry. These classes connect attendees and instructors for practical, in-depth learning, with demonstrations, hands-on materials, and case studies.

View 2023 Tutorials

POSTER SESSIONS

This exciting competition attracts the next generation of researchers, engineers and industry professionals from universities and organizations around the globe. Posters are presented during CAMX and are judged on overall presentation, significance to the future of composites and advanced materials, and their commercial application. Authors will need to be available for the meet and greet held on the Wednesday of the conference.

2023 CONFERENCE PROGRAM

Wednesday, October 19 | 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

2019 Keynote Speaker

CAMX 2019 kicked off with an exciting General Session, open to all attendees and exhibitors, featuring Vicki Holt, CEO of Protolabs. Protolabs is a bold manufacturing company that is creating disruption in manufacturing with a fresh, creative business model that is digitizing traditional manufacturing processes and enabling their clients to design, test and produce parts quickly, getting to market faster with smaller runs of customized products. The company has been named one of Forbes “Best Small Companies to Work” twice and has increased revenue by 160% in recent years. Holt will share with CAMX why the way manufacturing is done needs to be rethought and approached differently in order to meet the needs of the future. From robotics and AI to 3D printing, prototyping, and employee leadership, everyone in the audience will leave impressed, inspired, and ready to think about customer service, manufacturing, engineering, leadership and management differently.

Holt has served as President and CEO for Protolabs since 2014. Prior to Protolabs, Holt served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Spartech Corporation, a leading producer of plastic sheet, compounds and packaging products. Prior to that, she worked at PPG Industries, serving as Senior Vice President, Glass and Fiber Glass.”

2019 Moderator

Our moderator, Max Thouin, Hexcel, is an engineer by trade, and a true sport enthusiast. He has a strong technical background with extensive knowledge of design, prototyping, manufacturing, testing and marketing of high-end composite products, including sporting equipment. His career has enabled him to combine his passion for both composites and sports, and he brings this passion with him to CAMX as the moderator of the Closing Luncheon. Max’s career has included time at True Temper Sports, Mitsubishi Chemical Carbon Fiber and Composites. He is currently as a sales development manager at Hexcel.

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