If autocomposites were easy, it would have been done already
I was asked to moderate a five-person panel that took place on the last day of the 2007 SPE Automotive Composites Conference and Exhibition (ACCE) in Troy, Mich.: “How to market the value of composites.”
Read MoreCarbon, glass fiber mix it up
For most of the last several decades, whenever someone used the words “composites” and “boats” in the same sentence, it’s likely that you immediately thought “fiberglass.” And rightfully so.
Read MoreMansplaining composites
We had some friends over for dinner the other night. They’d read about the recent rollout of Boeing’s 787, heard that these marvelous “composites” were used extensively on the plane, remembered that I edited a composites magazine and started quizzing me about what composites are.
Read MoreThe clarity of the retrospectroscope
My mind is easily distracted and consumed by the time-space continuum. Not the Star Trek kind, but the real-life kind.
Read MorePromising, incremental change
There’s been no getting around, lately, the pre-rollout hoopla and excitement surrounding the scheduled debut of the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Read MoreWhat the 787 says about the future
My oldest son is 12. College for him is seven years away, but he’s already thinking about it.
Read MoreWhen design and engineering meet
In a designer’s perfect world, the challenge of manufacturability does not exist.
Read MoreFEA Roundup: Design, Simulation And Analysis Converge
New modeling and analysis software products increase the accessibility and reliability of finite element analysis data.
Read MoreSitting on the cusp of a paradigm shift
My wife and I had to fly to New Jersey recently. As we boarded the plane and took our seats, I pointed out the window at the wing of the jet we were on and said something about how, soon, the wing and much of the fuselage of planes like this would be made from carbon fiber composites.
Read MoreJeff Sloan's first editorial for Composites Technology
A lot of the "old guard"manufacturing processes in the U.S. (metal bending, metal machining, metal casting, etc.) grew up and prospered with the automotive industry, and it was on the coattails of these workhorses that the 20th Century American manufacturing boom rode to prominence.
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