JEC Group announces 2020 Innovation Awards winners

Additive Manufacturing : Eurecat (Spain)

Eurecat won for its CFIP technology, a new post-processing technology that uses continuous fibers to reinforce a parts of various materials and manufacturing technologies. 

Aeronautics: Institut de Soudure Groupe & Arkema (France)

They won for their “Innovation solutions for welding of TP composites,” a new developed and patented solution allowing very high performance welding for thermoplastic composites.

Automotive: Volkswagen (Germany)

German manufacturer Volkswagen was rewarded for its Lightweight FRP center tunnel (LehoMit-Hybrid): an innovative and profitable thermoplastic structural hybrid car body component, suitable for production in large quantities, which can be introduced before cathodic immersion treatment with the corresponding assembly technology.

Construction, Infrastructures & Civil Engineering: Carbo-Link (Sweden)

Carbo-Link won for its CL RESTRAP, thin strips of pre-impregnated and hardened carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP), wound continuously in a loop to form a carbon strip flexible. This process reinforces concrete beams of any size in any infrastructure, for a reportedly unlimited lifespan.

Design & Furniture: Mecelec Composites (Finland)

The company won for its mass-produced flax fiber roofs, the first application of bulk molding compound (BMC) flax fiber for mass production. 

Maritime Transportation & Shipbuilding: Norsepower Oy Ltd. (Finland)

The company won for its Norsepower Rotor Sail Lightweight Solution, an aid for freight and passenger ships to reduce fuel costs by 5-30%, by improving the propulsion system of a ship through the use of wind as auxiliary propulsion measurement.

Process: Engel Austria (Austria)

The company won for its line for tailored thermoplastic composite blanks, an innovative element composed of a pick and place stacking cell, a consolidation unit, and heating and cooling, reportedly capable of producing a custom thermoplastic blank in a cycle of one to three minutes.

Railway Vehicles & Infrastructures: Far-UK Ltd. (U.K.)

The company won for “Project BRAINSTORM,” a lightweight tram frame composed of very light composite tubes. The frame is said to reduce investment and manufacturing costs as well as carbon emissions.

Recycling: Cobra International (Thailand)

The company won for its closed-loop recycling process for epoxy-infused RTM molding tools and watersport fins for Starboard and MFC.

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Space: Hankuk Carbon (South Korea)

The company won for its lightweight and linerless carbon subscale cryotank, which reportedly makes it possible to reduce the weight of a space launcher by 30% by replacing the current fuel tank with a carbon fiber composite cryotank without a coating.

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Sports & Healthcare: Asics Corp. (Japan)

The company won for its “Future of Springs: Spike-Less CFRTP Sprinting Shoe,” a new shaping methodology using preformed and randomly oriented ultra-thin carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic polymer (CFRTP) tapes.

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JEC Composites Magazine Special Prize: Cookson Precious Metals

The company received the award for its 3D-printed bushings for glass fiber production, which are reported to ease manufacture of glass fibers with innovative geometries.

Public Vote Award: Stratiforme Industries (France)

The company won the public vote award for its project “DESTINY Thermoplastic resin Train Front end,” which had the objective of launching a new range of components for the interior layout of commercial aircraft and rail applications based on thermoplastic composites.