SAMPE Journal - January/February 2011 - 25

question. Following Sessions 1 and 2, lunch was held in the large, two-part tabletop exhibit area, which promoted both networking with colleagues as well as contacts with the exhibitors. All coffee breaks took place there as well, further facilitating such valuable interactions. After lunch, attendees boarded buses for visits to compositesoriented plants and facilities in the area, which occupied the remainder of the afternoon. They comprised: Salver - composite components, AgustaWestland - helicopters, TechnologyCom – state of the art hotmelt prepreg plant, and IAS Brindisi – UAV design and development. Following the company visits, SETEC 10’s gala reception and dinner was held at the nearby countryside hotel Masseria Marziale. A pleasant open-air reception in the swimming pool area preceded the tasty dinner indoors. Entertainment was provided by a lively group of singers and dancers presenting regional folklore.

The second conference day comprised a full program of the remaining four sessions, plus lunch and coffee breaks. With the latter two taking place in the exhibits area, all became “working sessions”, making for a high productivity event. In closing, SAMPE Italy President Rocco Rametta thanked attendees, organizers and sponsors, then Mark Erath added an earlybird note: SETEC 11 is to take place September 1416, 2011, in Leiden, the Netherlands - which promises to be quite an interesting change of venue. Please put it on your planing calender now.

From the UK
David Carlton advises that the UK and Ireland chapter’s 2011 seminar and table top exhibition is to be held on 24 February, and is: “Hands Off” – Advances in Automated Composite Manufacturing Supported by the UK Materials KTN (Knowledge Transfer Network) and held at Cranfield University. Featuring presentations from amongst others: Bombardier Aerospace, Cobham, Rolls-Royce, Princess Yachts, Sigmatex, and Vestas. For further details see website: www.sampe.org.uk

Geoff Meades - Obituary
Geoffrey Meades MBE, a founding father of the European Chapter and distinguished composites engineer, has died recently. Geoff was born in 1927 in Oxford, UK. Following training in the car industry and Loughborough University, he developed formidable production engineering skills. He became involved in the production of fibre reinforced (FRP) materials in 1957 and joined a unit developing the FRP nose radome for a UK supersonic Surface to Air missile. Geoff successfully pioneered the use of resin transfer moulding for this radome and went on to lead the development of the 3.2 metre long nose radome for the Concorde Supersonic Aircraft a decade later. This radome was at the time the largest RTM flying structure and won the Blue Riband from the SPI in Washington, USA in 1970. By this time, Geoff was leading the Radome Business unit (RMPG) for British Aircraft Corporation and he led RMPG to further success with export business across Europe. Geoff was recognized in the UK in 1976 was awarded the Member of the British Empire (MBE) by the Queen. The 1970’s saw significant advances in the development of advanced composite materials and Geoff recognized that there was not an effective forum in Europe for engineers working in advanced composites and noted the differences with the USA where SAMPE was developing quickly. Geoff started making annual trips to the USA and joined SAMPE in 1973 as a member of the New York Metropolitan Chapter. Following discussions with SAMPE, Geoff with other like minded European based members founded the European Chapter in 1979; the first off shore Chapter for SAMPE. Geoff joined the European Chapter Board from its inception and promoted the organisation of regular conferences to encourage European membership. The first meeting was in Cannes, France while Geoff organised the 3rd European Chapter conference in London, 1983. This was the first SAMPE event in the UK. Geoff became the 3rd President of the European Chapter in 1985 and during his presidency the membership grew to over 600, spectacular growth in 7 years. In recognition of his important contribution to the advanced composite industry in the pioneering work with the RTM process and the formation and development of the SAMPE European Chapter, Geoff was elected a SAMPE Fellow in 1990. Geoff retired from British Aerospace in 1988 and was involved with SAMPE in Europe for as long as he was able in retirement. We offer our sympathies to his widow Audrey and her family and friends. Report by Trevor Cook.
SAMPE Journal, Volume 47, No. 1, January/February 2011 25

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SAMPE Journal - January/February 2011

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