Consumer

Consumer 30 Sep 2015

Football participation tops in high school

Professional American football garners much of the media limelight, but thumbnail statistics published by USA Football illustrate the potential magnitude of the football helmet market outside the pro ranks.

Weaving 30 Sep 2015

Composites tackle concussions

The launch of the first commercial composite football helmet and new research thrusts show FRPs could play a critical role in mitigating head injuries.

Marine 30 Sep 2015

CAMX 2015 Preview

ACMA’s and SAMPE’s 2nd combined event promises a conference and exhibition of unprecedented scale and value to composite manufacturers from all corners of the composites world.

Carbon Fibers 30 Sep 2015

Super "skinny" water skiff

Hell’s Bay Boatworks’ (Titusville, FL, US) latest design for a sportfishing customer does an unprecedented job of shaving weight and boosting toughness of flatboats for shallow-water operation.

Consumer 30 Sep 2015

Reformable composite equestrian saddle

This carbon fiber/polyethylene terephthalate (PET) saddle tree features an intralaminate heating element that enables horse owners to reconfigure saddle shapes as horses grow, greatly reducing long-term saddle-fitting costs.

Construction 30 Sep 2015

CW Business Index at 42.9 – Lowest since December 2012

Steve Kline, Jr., the director of market intelligence for Gardner Business Media Inc. (Cincinnati, OH, US), the publisher of CompositesWorld magazine, presents the CompositesWorld Business Index for the US composites industry through August 2015.

Sustainability 30 Sep 2015

Is a composites technical talent shortage looming?

Regular CW columnist Dale Brosius, also the chief commercialization officer for the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI, Knoxville, TN, US), calls for more schools with curricula that mint engineers with undergraduate degrees in composites.

Construction 30 Sep 2015

Selling your business, Part 1: The best price with the best deal

Adrian Williams, co-founder and managing director of Future Materials Group (Cambridge, UK), begins a two-part advisory for owners of composites manufacturing businesses interested in placing their companies on the market.

Mass Transit 31 Aug 2015

CW Business Index at 48.0 – Lowest since July 2013

Steve Kline, Jr. is the director of market intelligence for Gardner Business Media Inc. (Cincinnati, OH, US), the publisher of CompositesWorld magazine. Here, he presents the CompositesWorld Business Index, a measure of the relative health of the US composites industry, for the month of July 2015.

Marine 31 Aug 2015

Some thoughts on the M&A "heat wave"

CompositesWorld's editor-in-chief Jeff Sloan takes some admittedly educated guesses at the significance of the six momentous acquisitions that were announced in the short space from mid-July through early August in the composites industry.