Workforce development is a perennial challenge for the manufacturing industries. Finding skilled workers is always a concern, especially as we look to succession planning and carrying businesses forward. But today's workforce concerns are influenced by more recent trends such as increased adoption of automation solutions and the advent of AI. In this installment of CW Talks, we explore the evolving role of AI in workforce development — both in terms of challenges as well as opportunities for those looking for careers in manufacturing, particularly involving advanced materials. In this interview, Michael Novak, president of AIJ Search, a recruiting firm devoted to helping clients build teams, offers his insights into how AI is shaping the search for talented and skilled workers.

The composites community benefits from several associations and entities that work to forward advanced materials research, one of those being the Institute for Advanced Composite Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI). In this special National Composites Week installment of CW Talks, CompositesWorld interviews IACMI CEO Chad Duty to discuss the myriad ways that composite materials and composites manufacturing contribute to the products and structures that shape our lives. Duty discusses the institute's 10th anniversary, its mission in the industry and rising to meet the challenges and opportunities facing the composites industry today.

In this episode of CW Talks, CompositesWorld speaks with Francesco Ierullo, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Exel Composites (Vantaa, Finland). Ierullo started in Italy as a one-man team and now oversees Exel's engineered composites business globally. He's worked across Europe and the U.S. and played a key role in developing Exel's conductor core program. CW sat down with Ierullo to hear about the role the company's capabilities are playing in numerous applications today from renewable energy to data centers to EVs, as well as his insights into how the composites industry has grown over the past decade.

In this latest installment of CW Talks, the composites podcast, CW interviews Markus Rufer from Scorpius Space Launch Co. (SSLC, Torrance, Calif., U.S.) about its Type 5 carbon fiber composite pressure vessels, recently used in two lunar lander missions for Intuitive Machines (IM, Houston, Texas, U.S.), one of the providers in NASA's (Washington, D.C., U.S.) Commercial Lunar Payload Delivery Services (CLPS) initiative.

SSLC has built 150-200 tanks over 15 years, and their cryogenic tanks enable the use of greener propellants for space missions as well as offering advancements in energy storage and medical applications. Rufer discusses the company's aims to integrate tanks into the spacecraft structure, reducing parts and weight. He also offers insights into work SSLC is pursuing with applications in medical and other industries, highlighting its cryogenic technology's versatility.

Photo: Intuitive Machine's Nova-C lander is equipped with two SSLC Pressurmaxx tanks that enable its LO2/LCH4 propulsion system. (Source: Intuitive Machines)

In this latest installment of CompositesWorld's CW Talks podcast, Yannick Willemin, founder of Catalysium, a new consultancy that specializes in investment trends within the composites industry, discusses the investment side of advanced manufacturing as well as industry trends shaping the composites landscape.

CompositesWorld's Carbon Fiber Conference is just around the corner, scheduled for October 8-10 in Charleston, S.C. In this episode of CW Talks, we hear from Richard Apps of Counterpoint Marketing Intelligence as he offers a preview of what Carbon Fiber Conference attendees can expect from his Wednesday Oct 9 keynote address on the "Outlook for Carbon Fiber in Aerostructures."

For more information about the Carbon Fiber Conference agenda or for registration information vist carbonfiberevent.com.

August 26-30, 2024 is National Composites Week. The theme of this year's NCW is "Composites Reinvent the World." In this episode of CW Talks we interview Christopher Mims, technology columnist for the Wall Street Journal and Joe Brennan, manufacturing lead – composites, Joby Aviation. Join us for this exciting discussion of how composites are reshaping the world around us particularly in the mobility/transportation sectors.

CAMX, North America's largest event dedicated to composites and advanced materials, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Brought to you by American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA) and The Society for the Advancement of Materials and Process Engineering (SAMPE), CAMX 2024 takes place Sept. 9-12 in San Diego, Calif.

In this episode, CW Talks caught up with Cindy Squires, the president and CEO of ACMA and Rebekah Stacha, the chief executive office of SAMPE, to talk about how CAMX has evolved over the past decade, the important trends in the industry and what's in store for attendees.

Infrastructure in the U.S., particularly, the deterioration of a number of bridges in the country has been in large topic of discussion in recent years, with the bipartisan infrastructure law designating nearly $400 billion in infrastructure investments, with around $40 billion of that earmarked for bridge repair.

The recent collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland due to a shipping container accident, sparked a new round of discussion about bridge repairs.

In this installment of CW Talks, CompositesWorld interviews fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites manufacturer Creative Composites Group's business development manager Scott Reeve and sales manager of waterfront solutions Corey Sechler about the company's use of composite materials in infrastructure rehabilitation projects, including bridges and waterfront structures.

Sustainability has become an increasingly important topic for the composites industry, with increasing demand, especially from OEMs, for sustainable business practices. Sustainability includes many areas of focus with one important area being the use of biomaterials. In this installment of CW Talks, we interview Dr Andy West, chief chemist with Sonichem, about the company's unique process for converting biomass into lignin, as well as other biomaterials of interest for composites manufacturing.