Composites Weekly

On this episode, we're looking at a project that could say a lot about where advanced manufacturing is headed next. America Makes has awarded UDRI $450,000 for its AACAMS (Affordable and Agile Composite Additive Manufactured Structures) project, focused on pushing forward the integration of additive manufacturing and advanced composites for aerospace and defense.

The DOD has prioritized continuous fiber additive manufacturing (CFAM) for its ability to produce strong, lightweight parts by reinforcing polymers with continuous carbon or glass fibers for high-performance applications.

Steven Floyd and Clark Patterson join the show to discuss the details of the project.

You can learn more by visiting https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=gGWnnqHHCUCj4FsTAqdg5koHgAfVuEJJoOmkPSbaEpVUREhPRlVXSEhKTE5ZNk9VMzJPQkdOS05TVC4u.

On this episode, we feature more interviews from the 2nd day of JEC World 2026. These include a mix of Innovation Award winners, and Startup Booster finalists.

On this episode, we feature several interviews from day one of JEC World 2026, including some Innovation Award winners, and Startup Booster finalists.

On this latest episode, Lisa Anderson, President of LMA Consulting Group joins the podcast. Lisa is one of the most respected voices in manufacturing strategy, supply chain transformation, and SIOP. She's the author of a recently released book titled AI & Advanced Technologies in Manufacturing, where she explores how manufacturers are using AI and advanced analytics to drive real, measurable results—from demand forecasting to optimized production planning.

She'll be sharing how AI is actually improving manufacturing supply chains, where companies are seeing real value versus hype, and what leaders need to get right to turn technology into predictable performance.

You can learn more about her company at https://www.lma-consultinggroup.com.

On this episode, Bryan Hassin, CEO of DexMat joins the show to discuss Galvorn - a next-generation conductive material designed for high-performance, weight-constrained applications across aerospace, defense, automotive, and data infrastructure.

Their latest funding marks a transition point for the company, from deep materials R&D into production scale and customer qualification. Bryan has spent his career working at the intersection of lab innovation and manufacturing reality.

You can learn more about Galvorn at https://dexmat.com/why-galvorn.

Self-healing composites have been talked about for years, but sometimes a piece of research comes along that looks meaningfully different. This week, Andrew Tomaswick, a science journalist, joins the show to discuss his recent article, "The Composite That Heals Itself 1,000 Times."

It highlights a self-healing composite material developed by researchers at North Carolina State University that can repair damage repeatedly, over 1,000 cycles. It incorporates a 3D-printed thermoplastic healing agent with embedded carbon-based heaters that, when heated, melt the agent into cracks and restore the composite's structural integrity. It's a process that proved effective over many intentional break-and-repair tests.

Andy is a writer at Universe Today and has been interested in space exploration ever since reading Pale Blue Dot in middle school. An engineer by training, he likes to focus on the practical challenges of space exploration, whether that's getting rid of Perchlorates on Mars or making ultra-smooth mirrors to capture ever clearer data.

On this episode, Nancy Hairston, CEO of MedCAD joins the show to discuss their innovative approach to the design and production of patient-matched medical devices using 3D printing. They've recently produced 3D-printed implants for wounded Ukrainian soldiers, an application where speed and accuracy can be life-changing.

Their approach is 100% patient-customized, with every implant and every procedure planned and manufactured in-house in cooperation with a patient's attending surgical team.

You can learn more about their company at https://www.medcad.com.

On this episode, Marty Johnson, VP of Product and Technical Fellow at 3D Systems, joins the show to take a clear-eyed look at additive manufacturing materials—what they can do, what they can't, and what engineers should realistically expect when composites and filled materials enter the 3D-printing conversation.

Marty brings a mechanical engineering first perspective to additive manufacturing—cutting through marketing claims to focus on real data, long-term performance, and where printed composite materials truly make sense in aerospace, automotive, tooling, and beyond.

As a company, 3D Systems delivers industry-leading 3D printing technologies, materials and software to high-value markets such as medical and dental, aerospace, space & defense, transportation & motorsports, AI infrastructure, and durable goods.

You can learn more about them by visiting https://www.3dsystems.com.

On this episode, we're joined by Kjirstin Breure, President and CEO of HydroGraph—a company that may finally be turning graphene from a promise into a product.

For more than a decade, graphene has been called a wonder material, but most producers struggled with impurities, inconsistency, and the inability to scale. HydroGraph has taken a different path—developing a proprietary explosion-synthesis process that delivers pure, identical batches of fractal graphene at industrial scale.

In just the past year, HydroGraph has moved from lab-driven R&D to real commercial momentum, with dozens of active customer projects across composites, aerospace, medical devices, coatings, and energy storage. With aggressive U.S. expansion underway, growing engagement with federal and defense agencies, and discussions around deeper capital market integration, the company is hitting a rare inflection point. You can learn more by visiting their website at https://hydrograph.com.

On this episode Thomas Lepretre joins the show to talk about JEC World 2026. Thomas is Vice President of Events, Sales & Operations at JEC Group. We'll be discussing what's in store for this year's big show in Paris, March 10-12.

JEC World's mission is to promote composite materials globally by connecting innovation, business, and applications across all major industries.

You can learn more about this year's event by visiting https://www.jec-world.events.