Inaugural National Composites Week to recognize, promote and celebrate composites manufacturing

A group of composites industry leaders has announced the creation and launch of the inaugural National Composites Week, Aug. 26-30, 2019. The goal of National Composites Week is to encourage manufacturers from throughout the composites manufacturing supply chain — raw material suppliers, convertors, designers, toolmakers, fabricators, educators, students — to celebrate and bring attention to the myriad ways that composite materials and composites manufacturing contribute to the products and structures that shape the American manufacturing landscape today.

Throughout the five-day National Composites Week celebration, manufacturers in the composites supply chain will be encouraged to use social media, traditional media and in-person events to shine a light on their operations, capabilities and products. Participants will be encouraged to host an open house, reach out to national and local media outlets or reach out to local schools and universities to draw attention to the value of composites in general and the importance of composites manufacturing to the community in particular.

National Composites Week was organized and launched by braiding specialist A&P Technology (Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.), global advanced composites company Hexcel (Stamford, Conn., U.S.) and media partner CompositesWorld magazine.

Molly Dingeldein, marketing manager at A&P Technology, notes, “At A&P, we have witnessed some incredible innovations over the last 30-plus years — aerospace and automotive parts that greatly reduce emissions; state-of-the-art prosthetics, sustainable infrastructure, heightened space exploration — to name a few. Our hope is that National Composites Week will provide a format for our customers and everyone in the industry to promote their technologies and to be celebrated for their hard work and innovation.”

“It is great to see the composites industry celebrated with its own week,” says Tom Haulik, sales director – carbon fibers at Hexcel. “Our industry touches the lives of people around the world in ways most people don’t even realize. Perhaps National Composites Week will help to broaden the understanding of how composites impact our everyday lives.”

Composites industry manufacturers that wish to participate in National Composites Week can access — at www.NationalCompositesWeek.com — a Host Guide, a sample press release, a sample letter to the editor and other templates designed to help participants develop and execute events and outreach at their facilities.