SAMPE Journal - May/June 2016 - 40

Europe news

Gary Turner

European Section Editor
gt@ttrc.de

SAMPE Europe Summit 16 Paris - Conference Report

This year SAMPE Europe's main Spring event was held Monday 7 March, 2016, in a
brand new location: the Hotel Pullman Paris Tour Eiffel, near the city's landmark Eiffel
Tower. The conference program addressed M&P developments and issues for a broad range of markets. High level speakers from
renowned companies and institutes in Europe, Asia and the US presented the latest technology developments and market trends.
Also distinctive this year was that the rebranded JEC World composites exhibition took place in a new location as it moved out
of the center city area, to Paris Nord Villepinte, nearer the main airport and beginning on Tuesday. Those who arrived at the
SAMPE venue hotel before 7 PM Sunday were able to register early and enjoy a pre-conference drink at the FRA/ME restaurant
in the Pullman hotel.

Summit 16 comprised 13 papers in four blocks: Automotive, Advanced Products and Engineering (P&E), Construction in Architecture and Infrastructure, plus Aerospace. Briefly, Automotive/Block A held presentations dealing with: new automotive materials
and technology: new composite challenges in automotive lightweighting, continuous carbon/thermoplastics for cars in China, and
Toyota expectations for plastics and technology. Block B contained talks on novel lightweight automotive composites, the impact
of organization and decision-making on data management and technology insertion, wear-resistant ceramic-coated carbon fiber
for transport and industry, and The Sound of Composites(!). Block C dealt with composites in building and construction, breakthroughs for composites in infrastructure, and - from Nature: architectural fiber composite morphologies. The final Block D, began
with a presentation on and by Boeing: trends in aerospace composite structures, followed by innovative applications of prepregs
for space structures. Final paper of the day addressed ATL-SQRTM, offering advantages of both prepreg and RTM; from SONACA.
SAMPE Europe President Arnt Offringa opened Summit 16 by welcoming all, then promptly beginning the Automotive Block A,
with presentations continuing throughout the day, as noted above.
Several table top displays were set up in the rear of the conference room and were popular during the various breaks as well as
lunchtime. A panel discussion with all speakers and led by Prof.
Jyrki Vuorinen concluded the conference day. Activity here centered
on further exploration of the topics covered earlier, allowing more
time for Q&A as well as follow-up discussion on points of special
interest. In closing the conference, Arnt thanked attendees and
speakers alike, reminding all of our major Fall event: SAMPE Europe
Conference Liege, to be held in Liege, Belgium, 13-15 September. A
USB stick containing the Conference Proceedings was distributed
at the door during departure.
A full and busy day concluded with the Summit 16 dinner in the
Trocadero, the Pullman's wonderful rooftop restaurant, with a
superb view of the Eiffel Tower by night. During the dinner, Arnt
Offringa again expressed appreciation to all participants and made
a point of warmly thanking the two lady volunteers who assisted
with registration and organization. In addition to the conference,
SAMPE Europe had a booth at the new JEC show venue in Paris
Nord Villepinte, Hall 6, Stand N70, near "Auto Planet". Thanks also
to both our partners and sponsors for their continued support.

SAMPE Journal, Volume 52, No. 3, May/June 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SAMPE Journal - May/June 2016