JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #86 - January/February 2014 - 3

51th year

A bit more than just fibre

President and CEO/Publisher:
Frédérique Mutel
mutel@jeccomposites.com

Media director & Editor-in-chief:
Frédéric Reux
Tel: +33 (0)1 58 36 15 11
reux@jeccomposites.com

Deputy-editor & Graphic designer:
Antoine Morel
morel@jeccomposites.com

Technical & Business developer:
Kim -Oanh Truong
Tel: +33 (0)1 58 36 15 74
kim@jeccomposites.com
Thierry Saint-Martin
Tel: +33 (0)1 58 36 15 73
saintmartin@jeccomposites.com

Marketing/Communication,
Circulation & partnership:
presse@jeccomposites.com
Sandrine Dumarquez
dumarquez@jeccomposites.com

Subscriptions:
www.jeccomposites.com/magazine-subscription/
Fax: +33 (0)1 58 36 15 19
Tel: +33 (0)1 58 36 15 08
dumarquez@jeccomposites.com

Printing: SPEI - Pulnoy (54), France
Legal registration:
ISSN 1639-965X
Dépôt légal : 1er trimestre 2014

Photos & illustrations:
All right reserved, unless mentionned.
JEC Composites Magazine is published by JEC.

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Tel: +33 (0)1 58 36 15 00
Fax: +33 (0)1 58 36 15 14
www.jeccomposites.com

The reproduction, even partial, of articles
and illustrations is forbidden, unless prior
permission is obtained from JEC Composites
Magazine. The management of JEC Composites Magazine reserves the right to refuse
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Total Qualified
Circulation:
33,656 copies
BPA June statement 2013
(print circulation of 20,928 & electronic circulation of 12,728)

By

"

Frédéric Reux

Editor-in-chief
reux@jeccomposites.com

We all more or less know that composites already play centre stage in our
everyday lives - in vehicles, aircraft, building materials, boats, sports equipment,
computers, energy, the medical world,
you name it! This is true worldwide.
But composites can do even more, as
"Gold of Bengal" teaches us. This project
is led by Corentin de Chatelperron, an
outward-looking young French engineer
who is not against giving more meaning
to his life. In this case, composites and
more specifically, jute fibre, were the
starting point for some creative thought
on reaching out between continents - in
itself, an act that makes sense, but which
is not that frequent.
Corentin, who works in a shipyard in
Bangladesh, observed that jute is abundantly available there. Traditionally used
to make sacks for export worldwide, jute
has always been an important element
in the country's cultural and economic
fabric. These days, however, the sacks are
more usually made of synthetic fibre -
and not in Bangladesh.
So the use of jute has gradually dwindled. However, one sector of activity
represents strong potential: there is
considerable demand for fishing boats in
Bangladesh, which has one of the world's
largest fleets. It didn't take Corentin's
engineering mind long to come up with
an idea to help the domestic population
benefit from the potential. Something
useful requiring great quantities of this
valuable raw material... and which
could also meet the needs of the local
boat-building market. This local market,

which is now handicapped by the rising
cost of wood due to deforestation,
already uses composite materials and is
open to innovative solutions. Still, it lacked two important ingredients to make
things happen - knowledge and skills in
biocomposites, which Corentin knew
were available in France. And thus was
launched Gold of Bengal with the help
of its sponsors.
There was still a long way to go before
the idea materialized into a project, but
courage is not something Corentin lacks.
It was only a question of months before
he was sailing on his little 6.5-metrelong boat all the way from Bangladesh
to France to promote this generous
initiative and the first boat made with
40% jute fibre reinforcement.
The adventure continues today, and a
boat that is 100% jute fibre reinforced
has just been built. In the meantime, the
team has acquired composite skills and a
technical fabric has been developed for
use in the boat construction. The fabric
can also serve in future for other applications and, we hope, to provide jobs for
the local population.

"

Technical editor: Franck Glowacz
Tel: +33 (0)1 58 36 15 04
glowacz@jeccomposites.com

You can find out more by reading this
issue, which contains an article and
an interview with Corentin de Chatelperron. Here is an intelligent initiative
where composites are an essential
component. If you are interested in the
project, the boat will be exhibited at JEC
Europe 2014 in the Showcase area and
the whole team will be happy to talk to
you about it. All are welcome!

No86 January - February 2014 /

jec composites magazine 3
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JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #86 - January/February 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #86 - January/February 2014
