Composites Polycon 2006 Preview

The American Composites Manufacturer Assn.'s (ACMA) annual conference and exhibition is being held in St. Louis, Mo. this year, and will be, for the first time, combined with POLYCON, the annual cast polymer tradeshow produced by sister association, the International Cast Polymer Assn. (ICPA). COMPOSITES & POLYCON 2006 will take place at the America's Center convention complex on Oct. 18-20, 2006.

Located at the geographic hub of the U.S., St. Louis is within 500 miles of one-third of the U.S. population and 1,500 miles of 90 percent of the population in North America. ACMA says these factors should make it an ideal location for this year's show. One notable change to this year's program is the exhibit hours: Exhibits will be open on only two days, Wednesday, Oct. 18, and Thursday, Oct. 19. The exhibit hall will not be open on Friday, Oct. 20. Instead, the day has been set aside for for ACMA's Certified Composites Technician (CCT) testing and other association activities.

Sessions and demos

At the combined General Session, Stan Duobinis, Ph.D., will speak for the benefit of the show's cast polymer industry attendees on the current state of the U.S. housing market and its future. He will explore how key growth-impact factors, such as increasing energy prices and Federal Reserve interest rates, will affect the market and other related sectors. On Wednesday and Thursday, ACMA again will feature its COMPOSITES 101 educational track. These courses will focus on the basics of composites manufacturing. Successive one-hour sessions will commence at 1:00 p.m. each day. The COMPOSITES 101 program is available to new employees of composites manufacturing firms for $25 and includes a $10 lunch voucher and free access to the exhibit hall.

In addition to basic education, ACMA will host more than 70 advanced technical presentations, demonstrations and technical papers in 15 categories. Additionally, live technical demonstrations will take place on Wednesday from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Friday will feature three-hour intensive learning labs held concurrently, starting at 9:00 a.m. ACMA again will offer its Certification Examinations, providing the opportunity for enrolled and preregistered CCT trainees to become fully accredited at the show.

Opening with ACE

New to the show this year, is the Opening Reception & Awards Presentation. Sponsored by Reichhold Inc. (Research Triangle Park, N.C.), the reception will take place at the convention center one level up from the exhibit hall and is open to all attendees. The event will feature food, music and the presentation ceremony for ACMA's annual ACE Awards competition. ACE recognizes composite products that represents not only technical achievement and excellence in composites manufacturing but also showcases the newest advancements in product development in seven categories: "Best of Show," "People's Choice," "Process Innovation," "Infinite Possibility," "Superior Quality (in an open molded part)," and "Most Creative and Technical Innovation for Corrosion Application."

On Thursday, at the close of exhibit hall hours, a complete home entertainment package will be raffled off. Everyone at the show has two chances to enter, but the winner must be present at the time of the drawing to claim the prize.

COME SEE CT

If you're headed to St. Louis this year, don't forget to bring along this issue of Composites Technology, complete with a show floor map and our Exhibitor Directory, beginning on p. 22 (see CT's special POLYCON Pavilion preview on p. 29). While you're at the show, stop by booth #2237 and visit the CT staff. If you can't make the trip to St. Louis, be sure to look for CT's December issue, which will provide extensive postshow coverage of the new and innovative products and processes introduced at COMPOSITES & POLYCON 2006.

For more information about show events, dates and times, contact the ACMA, Tel.: (703) 525-0511; Fax: (703) 525-0743; Email: info@acmanet.org; Web site: www.acmashow.org.