The National Composites Center (NCC) in Kettering, Ohio, U.S.A. has formed Vector Composites, a new business that will focus on the defense and aerospace industry. Vector already has $300,000 in ... Read More

Boeing has announced it will market the 7E7 to customers, but it will not commit to building the plane until late 2004,after it has had time to evaluate demand. The ... Read More

Lighter weight and increased fuel efficiency aren't the only benefits composites bring to Boeing's 7E7. Because composites don't corrode, humidity in the cabin could be increased, improving air quality. Fuselage ... Read More

BFG Industries plans to expand its non-wovens plant in Altavista, Virginia, U.S.A., initially hiring 25 to 30 people. The plant makes non-woven fabrics from glass, carbon and aramid for use ... Read More

Reichhold, Inc. has signed an agreement to provide NCS Resins of South Africa with selected composites industry technology and products for manufacture and distribution in specific regions of Africa. Under ... Read More

After dropping the Sonic Cruiser and 747X, Boeing had no choice but to proceed with the 7E7. Sales forecasts depend not just upon continued growth in global air traffic, but ... Read More

The 2004 Gordon Research Conference on Composite Materials will be held January 4-9 at the Holiday Inn in Ventura, California, U.S.A. The program focuses on materials science, and is organized ... Read More

The Composites Africa 2004 conference will be held August 24-25 at Caesars, Johannesburg, South Africa. Abstracts for technical papers are due January 30, 2004, and can be submitted online. The ... Read More

A Pennsylvania company is looking for a composite engineer to design new commercial, retail products. The position requires five or more years of practical experience in a manufacturing environment.

Forum reader Baywolf is laying up carbon fabric in a rounded mold. He would like the weave to show through, but the mold shapes cause distortions in the fabrics, and ... Read More

Researchers at Purdue University, US, have found that carbon nanofibre-reinforced plastic composites could be ideal for use in neural or orthopaedic implants in the human body. Not only did the ... Read More

Composites make up an increasing percentage of modern aircraft, and a decision by Boeing to proceed with the 7E7 is likely to accelerate that trend. The National Institute for Aviation ... Read More

Cincinnati Lamb has moved into a new facility that includes a bay for automated composites manufacturing. The facility includes equipment for tape laying and fiber placement. Few companies outside of ... Read More

As recently as 1992, wood decking represented nearly 98 percent of total decking demand. Over the course of the next ten years, however, the replacement of natural wood materials with ... Read More

The rapid growth in demand for wood-plastic composites (WPC) and the emergence of new processing and formulation technologies is helping to launch the second generation of WPC products, which show ... Read More

The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, on display at the Middle East International Motor Show, has a carbon composite body, like the Mercedes-McLaren Formula 1 race cars. It is also the first ... Read More

Three of the discussions this week relate to resins. First, a reader asks about using thickened epoxy as a mold surface (and one response provides a how-to document). Second, some ... Read More

A new type of plastic, called a baroplastic, has been developed at MIT. Baroplastics are molded by pressure alone - no heat is required. Like thermoplastics, they can be remolded, ... Read More

SP Systems has developed a material and processing technology that could cut the cost of carbon composite auto body shells by 75 percent. That would allow the materials to be ... Read More

Up to five different materials go into the production of an F1 chassis, including carbon fibers, resins, and aluminum honeycomb. Up to 500 ply patterns are cut on a Lectra ... Read More

Boeing has given its Bronze Award to a team of NAVAIR (Phantom Works) scientists for their work on a DARPA program to accelerate the insertion of composites into military programs. ... Read More

Bus bodies made from composites are lighter and more durable than their steel counterparts. That means they use less fuel, produce less exhaust, and reduce maintenance costs. Closed molding also ... Read More

HITCO Carbon Composites announced that it has won a four year contract to build Vapor Barrier Assemblies for sixty of Boeing's C-17 Globemaster III transport planes. Construction of this glass ... Read More

Despite Boeing Wichita's work on the 7E7 flight deck and part of the forward fuselage, local machine shops are concerned they may not receive any 7E7 subcontracts because of the ... Read More