CW Blog

Automakers in most geographies face challenging 2025 mandates on reduced tailpipe emissions and/or improved fuel economy for passenger vehicles. However, developing fundamentally new automotive technology to meet these requirements is costly, so consortia to allow supply-chain members to share costs for precompetitive research are being used in many countries.

Last week NASA (Washington, D.C., U.S.) unveiled two new spacesuit designs — a new Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) and the Orion Crew Survival System (OCSS) suit — that will be used for the Artemis program moon missions. The next-generation spacesuits were presented by Amy Ross, a spacesuit engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine on Tuesday, October 15, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington D.C. The suits were demonstrated by Kristine Davis, a spacesuit engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center and Dustin Gohmert, Orion Crew Survival Systems Project Manager at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, who wore the xEMU and OCSS respectively.

The Composites Index experienced its third month of contracting activity in September, registering 47.3. Index readings above 50 indicate expanding activity, while values below 50 indicate contracting activity. The further away a reading is from 50 the greater the change in activity. Gardner Intelligence’s review of the underlying data found that the gauge for supplier deliveries was the only expanding component within the Index. Both new orders and backlog activity readings fell sharply to levels last experienced in mid-2016. The remaining components of the Index all registered mildly contracting activity levels. 

Shape Machining Ltd. (Oxfordshire, U.K.), says it has designed, manufactured and successfully tested a carbon fibre suspension link for a high-end automotive OEM.

Over the past year, composite materials have received increased consideration for infrastructure projects. New legislative efforts such as the IMAGINE Act (Innovative Materials in American Grid and Infrastructure Newly Expanded) are helping to increase awareness of the potential life cycle cost savings composite materials can provide for infrastructure projects. New bridge projects continue to provide examples of how composites and advanced materials can help rebuild crumbling infrastructure and build new lightweight corrosion-resistant, sustainable structures that can stand the test of time and the elements. Two recent projects using fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) bridge decking material from  Composite Advantage (Dayton, Ohio, U.S.) demonstrate the role composites can play in repairing and building bridges.