JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #36 - October 2007 - 19

AN INTERVIEW WITH DR SCHRÖDER, CARBON COMPOSITES ASSOCIATION JEC Composites Magazine: Can you tell us why the Carbon Composites Association was created, and what its main objectives are? DR S CHRÖDER: Of course, there are always a lot of reasons for creating an association like Carbon Composites. For me, the most important reason was to help maintain and create jobs in the region. Important steps are to join forces in problem-solving, education, technology marketing, lobbying as well as development, and implementation of composite technologies. A regional network has to be created to bring together the industry, SMEs (small and medium enterprises) and academia, to share ideas, to learn from each other and to find new solutions. JCM: How did you recruit the founding members? Do they play a specific role within the Association? DR S CHRÖDER: When recruiting the founding members, we took the strongest industrial players within the Augsburg region, the city of Augsburg and the local chamber of commerce as supporters, and research institutes that together could provide the broad spectrum of research capabilities we need. To do the latter, we incorporated institutes from Augsburg and Stuttgart. The founding members play a strong role in the current build-up phase. They support Carbon Composites with their infrastructure and personal resources. With a growing number of members, the Association will have its own infrastructure and employees, and so the dependence on the founding members will decrease. JCM: Are you thinking of recruiting new members? What would be the ideal size and mix of skills for the Association? DR S CHRÖDER: In the first four months of its existence, Carbon Composites has more than doubled the number of its members. I do not have something like an ideal size in mind. I think at least three factors will influence the final size. First, only organisations will be members, not persons. Second, the membership subscriptions will serve as a certain entrance barrier. The third factor is the region in which the Association will be active. It might be wise to keep this region somewhat restricted. Travel times, travel expenses and language barriers should be low in order to allow a fruitful collaboration of all members on different educational levels. At the end of the day, it may turn out that the core region of Carbon Composites will be Southern Germany, Northern Switzerland and Austria. This, not because of intentional restrictions, but because of practical industry. It is home to well-known brands like Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Porsche. Audi recently joined the Association. This will strengthen the importance of automotive applications in the future. JCM: What projects will the Association carry out first? Have you already established an action plan? DR S CHRÖDER: Working groups have been established on "materials & processes", "automation" and "education". These working groups identify, define and monitor projects. Preform/resin infusion technology is the most important field of work. This technology is considered to be crucial by most of the industrial and academic members. Short- and medium-term projects on preform/resin injection technology already are under way. These type of projects are carried out in the framework of running programmes in order to reach common goals faster and with less resources. Long-term technology development projects are under definition. They are to be introduced into regional, national and European programmes. The long-term projects also will be centred on preform/resin infusion technology, with mechanization and automation being centres of gravity. Another "first" project is to offer a continued education programme in composite technology to the employees of Carbon Composites members. Building blocks that are available at different industrial and academic members will be brought together and offered to all members. Special needs coming from industrial or SME members will be fulfilled by special courses and seminars worked out and given by academic members of Carbon Composites. The programme will be organized by the local chamber of commerce, which is a founding member of the Association. It will start in autumn 2007. JCM: What is the Association’s general philosophy? DR S CHRÖDER: Maybe the general philosophy can be expressed by our slogan "Carbon Composites, the competence network". reasons in the decision of organisations to join. On the other hand, national and international suppliers might find it attractive to join the Association despite larger travel distances, especially when they have strong technological connections to members in the core region. Carbon Composites will be active along the entire value chain of industrial carbon fibre and carbon composites manufacturing. It will need skills in materials, processes and automation, and it will need members from industry, SMEs, research and education. In order to get cross fertilisation with ideas, different fields of application should be represented. The region of Augsburg is strong in aerospace and automation. At the time being, most of the members are active in these fields. However, Southern Germany also has a strong automotive No36 October - November 2007 / JEC Composites Magazine

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #36 - October 2007

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #36 - October 2007