Composites in Europe; iPod Winner

This June issue of Composites Technology contains the latest from our trip to Europe, where we attended the European Pultrusion Technology Assn.'s (EPTA) 7th World Pultrusion Conference in Amsterdam and the JEC/SAMPE Europe gathering in Paris. For those of you who did not attend the JEC event, the CT staff covers show highlights and presents some of the new products they discovered, beginning on p. 16.

Incidentally, U.K.-based Fiberforce, the big winner of the EPTA Conference awards - taking top honors in both the "Best Design" and "Most Novel Application" categories - was a big winner with Composites Technology, too. We covered the winning application in the February '04 issue (p. 12). Congrats, Fiberforce!

On the association front, the organization which had been representative of the common market countries' plastics associations, founded in 1960, has reorganized and renamed itself EuCIA or European Composites Industry Assn. (see p. 15). The new group, headquartered in Belgium, hopes to be an "association of associations" interfacing with lawmakers who draft regulations for the European Union while providing a national forum for implementation. EuCIA welcomes participation from existing EU countries but also extends a special invitation to nations new to the EU as of April 2004.

Our cover features the magnificent 143-foot-tall composite "Torre Rovira" (p. 11), a story exclusive to CT. Conceived and built under the aegis of both industry and academia, this all-composite (down to the fasteners) tower is just one example of the creativity and innovation coming out of the fast-growing Spanish composites market.

And the winner is...

The winner of the goComp.biz sweepstakes Ipod is Mr. Richard Cole from Bristol Aerospace Ltd. (Winnipeg, Canada). Hundreds of you registered to enter the sweepstakes - thanks! We plan to sponsor another sweepstakes soon, so "stay tuned" for the announcement. Meanwhile we hope you enjoy your new toy, Richard. Have a great summer.