There’s now less than four months to go before JEC World opens the doors to the 2024 edition, held in Paris Nord Villepinte, from March 5-7, 2024.

Well known globally as the main composites event, and a place where business meets inspiration and innovation, the show expects to gather the whole composites community and more.

Historically, composite parts have already shown their value in making many end sectors more sustainable thanks to their intrinsic properties. But the challenges that the composites industry needs to tackle to reach its sustainability goals are still high and will be at the centre of the conferences and panels this year. They will explore material solutions, such as natural fibres or recycled products, as well as processes, among which the use of automation and digitalization.

At JEC World 2023, end-user applications attracted hundreds of participants looking to learn about the latest trends of their industry sector of interest. Gathering research reports, real industry case studies and forecasts, these JEC conferences will comprise Wind, Aerospace and Transportation as main topics.

Also in 2024, three Country on Stage are confirmed to take place on the Agora stage giving attendees the opportunity to get to know characteristics, trends and strategies in Italy, Michigan and in France.

For more than 25 years, the JEC Composites Innovation Awards have celebrated cutting-edge collaborative projects of the composites industry. All year long, they aim to identify, promote, and reward the most innovative solutions worldwide and enhance their public exposure while contributing, as one, to the evolution of the composite industry.

All companies, R&D centres and their partners can apply before November 26th. For the third year, the winners will be revealed during a ceremony a month prior to JEC World, on February 8th in Paris.

The jury for the 2024 Innovation Awards:

- Hüseyin Ates, CTO & Compounding BU Leader, Kordsa

- Alan Banks, Innovation & Industrial Engagement Supervisor, Ford Motor Company

- Christophe Binetruy, Professor, Centrale Nantes / Nantes Université

- Tamara Blanco, Composite Materials & Processes Engineer & Expert, Airbus

- Dale Brosius, Executive VP/Chief Commercialization Officer, IACMI - The Composite Institute

- Michel Cognet, Chairman of the Board, JEC

- Karl-Heinz Füller, Manager Future Exterior and Materials, Mercedes-Benz

- Sung Ha, Professor, Hanyang University

- Guy Larnac, Technical Domain Coordinator for Materials, Structures and Industrialisation JTFR, Ariane Group

- Véronique Michaud, Head of Laboratory for Processing of Advanced Composites (LPAC), EPFL

- Kiyoshi Uzawa, Professor/Director, Innovative Composite Center, Kanazawa Institute of Technology

The JEC Composites Startup Booster

The leading startup competition in the world of composites and advanced materials gathers each year the boldest entrepreneurs, SMEs, startups and academic spinoffs working on avant-garde projects. At stake: international visibility and a chance to bring their business to the next level.

The call for entries is open until December 3rd. Following this, 20 startups will be selected by JEC and its partners Airbus, Owens Corning and Mercedes-Benz. Out of the 20 finalists, three winners will be selected during the pitching sessions of the show: one in a ‘Materials & Products’ category, one in a ‘Process, Manufacturing & Equipment’ category and a special ‘Sustainability’ award.

The jury of this year Startup Booster contest:

- Jelle Bloemhof, Head of Composites Manufacturing Technologies, Airbus

- Karl-Heinz Füller, Manager Future Exterior and Materials, Mercedes-Benz

- Raphaele Leyendecker, Managing Director, Techstars

- Chris Skinner, VP Strategic Marketing, Composite, Owens Corning

Industry focuses on the floorplan

With 8 out of 10 participants visiting these highly inspiring areas in 2023, participants are now aware of the JEC Innovation Planets where the most innovative applications are displayed “in the flesh”. In 2024, the Mobility planet will be back featuring ground transportation, aerospace or railway solutions, while the Building & Infrastructure Planet will make its debut, bringing insight into a growing composites market.

Other dedicated areas will be shedding a light on certain aspects of the industry with the Natural Fibres Village, the Campus Village, the Startup Booster Village, the SME Village, and as a novelty, the Live Demonstration Area. Finally, the Discover Composites area will cover the history of composites in the sports industry.

www.jec-world.events