#Composites

2025-12-04

JEC World 2026 reveals the list of finalists for the Innovation Awards

Each year, the JEC Composites Innovation Awards recognize collaborative, innovative, and ambitious projects that illustrate the potential of composite materials. Created in 1998, this benchmark program aims to identify, promote, and reward the most innovative composite solutions worldwide. In 28 years, the JEC Composites Innovation Awards have attracted more than 2,200 participating companies from around the world. A total of 269 companies and 811 associated partners have been recognized for the excellence of their innovations.

The competition is open to companies, universities, or R&D centers with a compelling concept or collaborative innovation to present. The JEC Composites Innovation Awards also offer a leading international platform, allowing the selected innovations to benefit from increased visibility among a professional audience attentive to new trends in composites.

For this edition, 154 applications were submitted, of which 33 finalists were selected, and a winner will be chosen in each of the 11 categories:

Aerospace – Parts (DAHER, Flying Whales, Spirit AeroSystems)

Aerospace – Process (Airborne, CTC GmbH - An AIRBUS Company, Leibniz University Hannover)

Automotive & Road Transportation – Parts (ENGEL Austria GmbH, BMW Group, M GMBH, Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.)

Automotive & Road Transportation – Process (University of Technology Chemnitz, Gestamp Autotech Engineering Deutschland GmbH, Cygnet Texkimp)

Circularity & Recycling (IDI Composites International, Toray Advanced Composites, Angeloni Group)

Digital, AI & Data (Purdue University, The University of Southern Queensland, AIMEN Technology Centre)

Maritime Transportation & Shipbuilding (Ampelmann Operations, Loiretech Ingénierie, Carbo-Link AG)

Pipes, Tanks & Hydrogen (TWI Ltd, COVESS, CTC GmbH - An AIRBUS Company)

Railway Vehicles & Infrastructure (Stratiforme Industries, Composite Braiding Ltd, G12 Innovation)

Renewable Energies (Synthesites, CSSI New Composite Products Development, METYX)

Sports, Leisure & Recreation (bespline, Toray Carbon Fibers Europe, fenix composites)

Projects will be evaluated by an international jury.

The winners of the JEC Composites Innovation Awards 2026 will be announced at the JEC World Premiere on January 12, 2026, in Paris. This event will also present the highlights of JEC World 2026 and announce the 20 startups selected for the JEC Startup Booster competition.

JEC World Première will be live-streamed online on January 12, 2026.

JEC Forum Southeast Asia 2026 highlights Taiwan as a strategic hub for the global composites industry

The third edition of JEC Forum organized in Southeast Asia brought together 350+ participants from 22 countries for three active days of high-level Business Meetings, conferences, and networking, emphasizing Southeast Asia’s growing role in the global composites market. Held for the first time in Taipei from 23 to 24 June 2026, following the successful first editions in Bangkok, JEC Forum Southeast Asia 2026 confirmed its position as the region’s leading business platform dedicated to the composites industry.

JEC World 2026 confirms its standing as the unmissable event for composites and their applications

JEC World 2026 confirms its position as the leading global event for the composite materials industry and its applications across multiple sectors, bringing together the entire composites ecosystem in Paris for three days of business, innovation, and collaboration. True to its Pushing the Limits motto, the 2026 edition delivered outstanding results despite travel disruptions worldwide. The numbers speak for themselves: more than 1,400 exhibitors from over 50 countries, including over 150 first-timers, presented a global panorama of products, equipment, and services across the entire composites value chain.

JEC Composites Startup Booster: 2026 winners announced

The leading global startup competition for composites and advanced materials has crowned its 2026 champions, ahead of a landmark 10th anniversary edition next year. The winners of the JEC Composites Startup Booster 2026 were announced on Wednesday, 11 March, at JEC World, recognizing the most promising emerging companies reshaping the future of composites and advanced materials.

JEC WORLD 2026 opens: Paris becomes the World Capital of composites

JEC World 2026 opens tomorrow, March 10, at Paris Nord Villepinte, bringing together the entire composites ecosystem for three days of exhibitions, conferences, technical sessions, strategic industry gatherings, and business meetings. As the “festival of composites”, JEC World is also a destination for a broad spectrum of other professional visitors, eager to discover how these advanced materials can offer sustainable solutions to their industries.

Fewer pores, greater impact tolerance: Peter Dornier Foundation Prize 2026 honours material research on fibre-reinforced composite components for aerospace industry

Microscopically small pores that form during manufacture, or barely visible impact damage, can severely impair the load-bearing capacity and service life of fibre-reinforced composite components. Two young researchers have presented groundbreaking work in this field and will both be awarded the 2026 Peter Dornier Foundation Prize: Dr.-Ing. Benedikt Neitzel from the Technical University of Ilmenau for his doctoral thesis on pore minimisation in the RTM process, and Johanna Buschmann, M.Sc., for her master’s thesis, completed at the German Aerospace Centre, on the improved impact tolerance of 3D fabrics compared to 2D laminates.

MEL Composites supports ELA Aviation with advanced composite materials

MEL Composites is supplying advanced composite materials and process consumables to ELA Aviation for the production of its next-generation gyroplanes. The collaboration underlines MEL Composites’ growing role in advanced aerospace mobility, providing lightweight materials designed to improve aircraft performance, manufacturing efficiency and structural reliability.

DYNEEMA® and NP Aerospace advance personal protection for military servicewomen

Dyneema®, owned by Avient Corporation, an innovator of materials solutions, is supplying its high-performance unidirectional (UD) materials to world-leading armor manufacturer NP Aerospace, enabling the production of armor systems designed specifically to fit the female body. With 2,000 new armor systems, including 4,000 plates, made in the United Kingdom (UK) and delivered in June 2026, this collaboration addresses a long-standing lack of high-quality personal protection specially built for female defense and security personnel.

Rieter sees Barmag integration on track as orders and sales rise

The first half of 2026 was shaped by the successful completion of the largest acquisition in Rieter’s history. The Man-Made Fiber Division enables entry into the growth segment of man-made fibers and sustainably strengthens Rieter’s market position in the Asia region. The expanded Group is now the world’s leading system supplier for the processing of natural and man-made fibers. In the first half of the year, initial cost savings in material costs and operating expenses have already been realized. The targeted synergies are expected to amount to at least CHF 20 million by the end of the 2028 financial year. Due to the completion of the acquisition on February 2, 2026, the first half of the year for the Man-Made Fiber Division only amounts to five months.