ITHEC 2024 keynotes feature Boeing, HiCAM and large-scale adoption of thermoplastics

The International Conference and Exhibition on Thermoplastic Composites (ITHEC), taking place Oct. 9-10 in Bremen, Germany, has announced its keynote speakers for 2024.

Wednesday, Oct. 9: 9:30 – 10:15 a.m.

• Technology Development for Hi-Rate Composite Aircraft Manufacturing (HiCAM) — Randall Wilkerson, project stakeholder at Boeing and Richard Young, project manager at NASA

Thursday, Oct. 10: 9:00 – 9:45 a.m.

• Tenacity in Thermoplastic Composites – Paving the Way for Large-Scale Adoption — Steve Cease, Global CTO for Toray Advanced Composites

These presentations are part of ITHEC’s 2024 conference program, which features a lineup of speakers and technical presentations covering a wide range of topics including: Novel product and process technologies, airframe structures, body and undercarriage, hydrogen, material insights, sustainability and more.

Participants will gain valuable insights and knowledge from experts in the field and be able to network with top professionals, researchers and industry leaders in the field of thermoplastic composites to share the latest trends, developments and advancements in the industry.

CW will also be presenting the panel discussion, “Large-scale thermoplastic composite demonstrators — status and roadmap for certification in future airframes.” The maturity of thermoplastic composite (TPC) materials and processes is being advanced to realize weight, cost and efficiency benefits for more sustainable aircraft. This includes projects such as Clean Sky’s Multifunctional Fuselage Demonstrator (MFFD), Collins’ next-gen nacelle, Daher’s full-scale torsion box for the TBM aircraft and GKN Fokker’s ongoing work toward larger and welded/integrated structures such as fuselage panels. It also includes large-scale materials qualification and characterization programs. But how close are we to actual certification(s) and what issues and achievements remain to get TPC structures onto next-gen single aisle and eVTOL/air mobility aircraft?

Panelists represent OEMs, Tier 1s and material suppliers leading this effort, who will discuss the current status and roadmaps they see as well as future opportunities for TPC primary structures:

• Steve Cease, global chief technology officer, Toray Advanced Composites
• Arnt Offringa, director Global Technology Center Netherlands, GKN Aerospace
• Claire Steggall-Murphy, strategic technology manager, Victrex
• Michel van Tooren, senior Technical Fellow structures in composites, R&T, Collins Aerospace
• Julie Vaudour, composites expert and R&D deputy director, Daher
• Piet Wölcken, European R&T demonstrator project manager, Airbus

In addition to the conference program, ITHEC 2024 will also include an exhibition showcasing cutting-edge products and innovations from  companies in thermoplastic composites.

ITHEC 2024 will take place October 9-10 in Bremen, Germany. Don't miss out on the opportunity to register for the conference. For more information and to register, visit the ITHEC 2024 website.