Employment Opportunity: Senior Applications Engineer, Materia

Materia is seeking a Senior Applications Engineer for advanced composites applications.

Materia (Pasadena, Calif., U.S.) is seeking a Senior Applications Engineer to lead the engineering, processing project support and technical project management required for new customers to adopt Materia Proxima resins in advanced composite applications. 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: 

• Serve as the engineering expert that supports new customers and development projects for advanced composite applications in major industries using pultrusion, filament winding, and HP-RTM/C-RTM processes.
• Develop process and manufacturing recommendations that enable customer adoption of Materia products.
• Collaborate closely with customer engineering teams to facilitate successful technology transfer and process scaleup.
• Coordinate and execute product trials and demonstrations at customer facilities.
• Work closely with colleagues to make test samples and provide technical feedback needed for developing new or improved resin processes and/or formulations.
• Maintain careful records, produce reports and other documents to meet technology dissemination, patent protection, and/or quality control needs.
• Work with colleagues to manage and maintain facility organization and safety.

Qualifications and Experience:

 

Education

• B.S. in engineering, material science or similar. Consideration will also be given to qualified individuals with a Certified Composites Technician Degree (CCT).

Experience

• 7+ years of relevant technical experience.
• Thorough understanding and experience with pultrusion processes and equipment for liquid thermoset resins is preferred; experience with HP-RTM, C-RTM and filament winding is a plus.
• Prior experience with direct customer interactions in a technical role
• Demonstrated technical problem-solving ability.
• Significant hands on experience and technical background related to working in laboratories and/or manufacturing environments.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Good project and time management skills.
• Travel requirement: 25-50% expected (domestic and international).
• Location: Pasadena, Calif., U.S.

To submit an application, visit https://materiainc.applicantpro.com.

 

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Solar Orbiter embarks on its mission to study the Sun

Solar Orbiter’s carbon fiber composite, titanium layered solar shield guides heat away from the spacecraft and can withstand up to 970º F (521º C).

Solar Orbiter, a collaborative mission between European Space Agency (ESA, Paris, France) and NASA (Washington, D.C., U.S.) to study the Sun, launched at 11:03 p.m. EST Sunday on a United Launch Alliance (ULA, Centennial, Colo., U.S.) Atlas V rocket from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Solar Orbiter is on a unique trajectory that will allow its comprehensive set of instruments to provide humanity with the first-ever images of the Sun's poles. This trajectory includes 22 close approaches to the Sun, bringing the spacecraft within the orbit of Mercury to study the Sun and its influence on space.

Solar Orbiter comprises a 2.5 x 3.0 x 2.5-meter box-shaped bus with two solar panel wings spanning 18 meters. A 4.4-meter instrument boom and three 6.5-meter antennas protrude from the spacecraft body.

A carbon fiber composite, titanium layered solar shield covers one side of the spacecraft. The shield has apertures for various instruments. The 324-pound heat shield reflects and guides heat away from the spacecraft and can withstand up to 970º F (521º C).  The heat shield measures 3.1 meters by 2.4 meters. The front layer — a 0.05 millimeter thick layer of titanium foil —  reflects heat. At the base of the heat shield is a 2.94-meter by 2.56-meter support panel that is about 5 centimeters thick. It is made of lightweight aluminium honeycomb with two high thermal conductivity carbon fiber skins and insulated by multi-layer insulation layers capable of withstanding 572º F (300 °C). Solar Orbiter’s heat shield is coated with a thin, black layer of calcium phosphate, a charcoal-like powder much like pigments used in ancient cave paintings.

It will take Solar Orbiter about two years to reach its primary science orbit where it will combine two main modes of study. In-situ instruments will measure the environment around the spacecraft, detecting such things as electric and magnetic fields and passing particles and waves. The remote-sensing instruments will image the Sun from afar, along with its atmosphere and its outflow of material, collecting data that will help scientists understand the Sun's inner workings.

Throughout its mission, Solar Orbiter will use successive Venus gravity assists to draw its orbit closer to the Sun and lift it out of the ecliptic plane, allowing for unprecedented views of the Sun's north and south poles.

 

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AOC Aliancys announces new company name

Beginning March 2, the global resins and gelcoats supplier will operate under the name AOC.

Global resins and gelcoats supplier AOC Aliancys (Collierville, Tenn., U.S. and Schaffhausen, Switzerland) has announced that beginning March 2, 2020, the company will operate under the name AOC, with a new logo and the tagline “Trusted Solutions.”

AOC Aliancys was created in 2018, combining U.S.-based AOC and Switzerland-based Aliancys into one global team. The company says its same commitment to customers and products will continue under the new name.

The company’s legal name will be AOC in all regions, including Europe, Asia and the Americas.

“As AOC, the company incorporates a recognized brand and a strong reputation for quality and innovation,” says Joe Salley, CEO of AOC Aliancys. “The company’s new slogan, Trusted Solutions, aptly describes how the company has, and will continue to serve as a valued partner.”

“Our entire new branding reflects the strength of all of our regions,” says Fred Norman, CEO of AOC Aliancys, Americas.

“From our name to our slogan and visuals, we are creating a new brand that reflects elements of our combined history,” says Fons Harbers, vice president of marketing & sales EMEA.

The new name and branding will be unveiled at JEC World 2020 in Paris on March 3, 2020. 

 

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Axiom Materials opens High-temperature Composite Center

The 3,500-square-meter facility expands the U.S.-based company’s CMC production capabilities to support increasing demand in aerospace and industrial applications.

Axiom Materials (Santa Ana, Calif., U.S.), which was acquired by Kordsa (Istanbul, Turkey) in 2019, has inaugurated a 3,500-square-meter facility for the development, analysis, and production of ceramic matrix composite (CMC) materials. The High-Temperature Composite Center (HTCC) is intended to enhance Axiom Materials’ CMC production capabilities to support increasing demand for high-temperature composites in aerospace and industrial applications.

The HTCC is slated to include specialized prepreg coaters designed to produce both unidirectional and woven products for high-temperature composite applications. The Center will also house dedicated quality and R&D laboratories with ceramic-capable test equipment, dedicated ISO Class 8 cleanroom for prepreg layup, and autoclave curing and sintering capabilities to produce developmental and certification panels. The facility is intended to isolate Axiom Materials’ high-temperature prepregs from other products lines, due to the special manufacturing and technical sensitivities of the products.

“...The acquisition of Axiom Materials is a major step in our growth strategy as we pursue advanced composite technologies for aerospace as well as next-generation industrial and transportation applications,” says Murat Arcan, COO of Composites, Construction Reinforcement and Business Development at Kordsa. “Axiom Materials reshapes the composite industry with their R&D activities, especially in the area of high-temperature composites. Through these contributions, the company will continue to contribute to the advanced composite technologies for next-generation industrial and transportation applications. With the full support of our composite operations and expertise, there is little doubt about that Axiom will continue to lead the way in oxide-oxide CMC and related products with the High Temperature Composites Center.”

“While oxide-oxide and related high-temperature composites have traditionally been deployed for specific requirements such as thermal resistance, weight, low creep, low corrosivity, or low dielectric properties, application engineers are now recognizing the complete value they provide, including greenhouse gas reduction, improved fuel efficiencies, noise reduction and resistance to long-term environmental degradation,” says Johnny Lincoln, Ph.D., president of Axiom Materials Inc. “These values, alongside our cost-down strategies, have created higher demand for our high-temperature composite materials. The establishment of this center shows that we are serious about our commitment to the market’s growth and toward ensuring we have the capacity, test capability and material & process engineering expertise required to continue to qualify and support future programs.”

 

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Teijin Aramid appoints new president and CEO

Peter ter Horst has been the company’s chief financial officer since 2011, and will take over his new role April 1, 2020.

Global aramid fiber producer Teijin Aramid (Arnhem, Netherlands) announced on Feb. 6 that it has appointed Chief Financial Officer Peter ter Horst as the company’s new president and CEO, effective April 1, 2020. Ter Horst succeeds Gert Frederiks, who will continue in an advisory role for a year before retiring.

Peter ter Horst joined Teijin Aramid in 2006, has held the position of chief financial officer since 2011, and held strategy and controller positions previously.

Gert Frederiks and Peter ter Horst have worked closely together since the early 2010s, and since then Ter Horst has led continuous improvements within the company focusing on cost leadership and investments in new technologies, products and capacity. Teijin says this laid the foundation for the company’s current solid business performance and opportunities for further growth, including recently announced production capacity increase in two Netherlands facilities which will contribue to 25% targeted capacity increase between 2017-2022.

“I am honored to follow the footsteps of Gert, and thank him for his leadership the past decade,” Ter Horst says. “I have been privileged to work together with him in building the business to where we are today. We continue to reinforce our customers’ businesses and create high-performance products that are stronger, lighter and more durable. I am excited to work together with all our customers worldwide. I also look forward to working with all the talents within the Teijin Group and Teijin Aramid, our partners and suppliers to reach our ambitions for stable growth and our never ceasing contribution to a sustainable world.”

Gert Frederiks has been leading Teijin Aramid since 2010. “Peter has demonstrated great leadership within the company and his appointment is a testimony to Teijin’s sustainable growth ambitions. I wish Peter every success as President & CEO, strengthening our competitive position and further growth of Teijin Aramid,” Frederiks says.

Teijin Aramid is part of the Teijin Group (Tokyo, Japan), and is a major business driver as part of Teijin’s Materials business.