September 27, 2016 (Anaheim, Calif.) – The American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA) is proud to announce the winners for the Awards for Composites Excellence (ACE), sponsored by Composites One. ACE is a prestigious composites industry competition that recognizes outstanding achievement and innovation in technology, manufacturing and product development. On September 27 at 2 p.m., during the third annual CAMX – The Composites and Advanced Materials Expo, the ACE Pavilion (booth B106 of the Exhibit Hall) will showcased the winning entries.
“Composites One is committed to sponsoring ACE, and has for nearly 20 years, because we believe in innovation and the future growth of our industry,” said Marcy Offner, Director of Marketing Communications for Composites One.
In the design category, the Most Creative Application Award is given to the composites product that showcases composites use in a unique, new application. This year, the award was presented to Strongwell for using pultruded FRP to replace aluminum for the silver flow.
In the manufacturing category, the Equipment and Tooling Innovation Award is given to the equipment, tooling, production aid, or software that is designed to improve manufacturing production, environmental sustainability or product quality and performance in composites manufacturing. This year, the award went to Composites Alliance Corp. for its innovative robotic preform cell providing 3D stacking and control.
The manufacturing category also features the Materials and Process Innovation Award, which recognizes a material or process that best contributes to efficient manufacturing and product sustainability. This year, the award went to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which worked in collaboration with The Boeing Company, Cincinnati Incorporated, TechmerPM, BASF, NAVAIR, TruDesign and Ford on 3D printing of high temperature thermoplastic molds.
In the market growth category, the Infinite Possibility Award is given to the composites product that demonstrates the potential to significantly increase the use of composites in existing markets or generate the greatest impact to open new and emerging markets for composites. This year, the award went to Ashland Performance Materials for its sheet molding composite in the truck bed of the 2017 Honda Ridgeline.
“Composites manufacturers are true entrepreneurs who understand how our products can be used to build new and exciting things, often replacing more traditional materials. Every year we look forward to seeing how they envision new uses of composites and advanced materials to make better more innovative products,” said Offner.
For more information, visit https://www.thecamx.org/awards-competitions/.
