ICS Launches Future 10 to Spotlight Composites Innovation
Future 10 will focus on what comes next, a new initiative available to all businesses that will select 10 groundbreaking technologies and ideas to present at ICS 2026 in London this December.
Source | ICS
The International Composites Summit (ICS) announces the launch of Future 10, a new initiative designed to identify and showcase 10 of the companies, technologies, research projects and ideas with the potential to shape the future of the sector.
Part of ICS 2026 taking place in December, Future 10 will provide a platform for emerging technologies and new thinking from across the composites and advanced materials industry, giving those selected the opportunity to present their work directly to an international audience of manufacturers, engineers, OEMs, researchers, investors and industry leaders.
Rather than operating as a traditional awards program, Future 10 will focus on what comes next. Applications will be reviewed by an industry panel, which will select 10 entries based on their potential to challenge existing approaches, solve industry problems, create new opportunities or influence how composites are designed, manufactured and used.
Successful candidates will each be given a 10-minute platform at ICS 2026, with five presentations opening the conference program on each day of the Summit. Their involvement will also extend beyond the 2-day event. Each of the Future 10 will be profiled through the ICS platform, with dedicated website content, video interviews and ongoing promotion, alongside visibility through the international ICS Innovation Hubs.
Future 10 is being developed with the support of organizations from across the composites and advanced materials community, with a limited number of additional partnership opportunities available for organizations that want to help provide a platform for the technologies, businesses and ideas shaping the future of the industry.
“There is so much innovation happening across composites that never gets the visibility it deserves,” says Gemma Hardy, managing director of Fluency Business Group and co-founder of ICS. “Some of the ideas that could genuinely change our industry are coming from smaller businesses, university teams, spin-outs and engineers developing something completely new. “Future 10 is about finding those ideas and putting them in front of the people who can help take them further. We don’t want polished corporate presentations about technology everyone already knows. We want to find the things that make people in the room sit up and think, ‘I hadn’t considered that.’”
Future 10 is open to businesses of all sizes, start-ups, university teams, researchers, spin-outs and individuals working across composites and advanced materials. Submissions could include a new material, manufacturing process, technology, application, research breakthrough or a different approach to an established industry challenge.
The International Composites Summit 2026 takes place at the Drum, Wembley, in London, from Dec. 1-2 2026.
