Plastic materials supplier Composites One LLC recently took more than 150 students, academics, technicians and business owners from 23 states to school.
Arlington Heights, Ill.-based Composites One on partnered with the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI) on April 5 and 6 to present a two-day school at IACMI headquarters in Knoxville, Tenn. The event was designed to provide a better understanding of the latest developments in advanced materials and processes, officials with Composites One said in a news release.
The school featured more than a dozen sessions led by experts from Composites One, the Closed Mold Alliance, IACMI/Composites Institute, the University of Tennessee, and Magnum Venus Products. Sessions included live demos of reusable bag molding, light resin transfer molding, prepreg and high temperature compression molding, and presentations on vacuum infusion, and designing with carbon fiber.
Attendees also heard a customer case history from Scout Boats and toured the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Carbon Fiber Technology Facility, which includes an open-access, carbon fiber semi-production facility and lab.
“This collaboration reinforces our mission to accelerate the development and adoption of cutting-edge technologies for low-cost, energy-efficient manufacturing of advanced composites,” IACMI/ Composites Institute CEO Craig Blue said in the release.
Composites One distributes resins, reinforcements, gelcoats, pigments and related products from more than 450 suppliers. The firm has annual sales of almost $1 billion.