SE Summit Paris 2025

Location: Pullman Paris Tour Eiffel Hotel
Date: 3 March 2025

Monday 3 March 2025 – the day before the JEC World Paris opens its doors – SAMPE Europe will hold its Executive Summit. The location is the Pullman Paris Tour Eiffel Hotel, just aside the Eiffel Tower.

Theme

Challenges towards a Sustainable Future.

Programme

The Program of this Summit consists of a range of 12 high-level lectures by 14 invited speakers only. Topics are composite related innovations in Automotive & Transport, Space & Aerospace, Advanced Materials, and Process Engineering, as well as Challenging Applications in other markets like Architecture, Construction, Sports, Energy, Marine & more.

High-ranked speakers are from China, Japan, USA, and Europe. Attendees are managers of CEO and CTO level in leading companies, engineers, scientists, and professionals from throughout the advanced materials and processes industry and universities.

The conference day starts at 9 AM and ends with a networking cocktail in the Pullman with outside a magnificent view on the Eiffel Tower. It is an outstanding occasion for networking with interesting colleagues and meeting new contacts.

It’s an outstanding occasion for networking and meeting new contacts. Both members and non-members of SAMPE, as well as Master and Ph.D. students are invited to participate.

A long-term partnership between SAMPE Europe and JEC Group has been established in order to bring the highest benefit of composite materials to our members.

As part of this, JEC Group offers all Summit delegates free admission to JEC World 2025 Paris.

For registration, latest news, and the updated program please visit the website of SAMPE Europe.

SAMPE Europe Summit Paris 2025 in the Pullman Tour Eiffel Hotel: A must for everyone visiting the JEC World 2025!

Frame Programme

  • 09.00 – 10.00 Registration
  • 09.50 – 10.00 Opening
  • 10.00 – 11.00 Block A – Materials & Processes
  • 11.00 – 11.30 Coffee break
  • 11.30 – 13.00 Block B – Challenging Applications for Automotive, Energy and Space
  • 13.00 – 14.00 Lunch
  • 14.00 – 15.30 Block C – Sustainability & Recycling
  • 15.30 – 16.00 Tea Break
  • 16.00 – 18.00 Block D – Aerospace
  • 18.00 – 19.00 Closure & Network Cocktail

Tickets

Regular tickets

  • Professional Members – € 650,00
  • Professional Non-members – One-year Free Trial Membership included – € 750,00
  • Master and PhD Student Members – € 325,00
  • Master and PhD Students Non-members – One-year Free Trial Membership included – € 375,00

Options marked with ‘FREE Trial Membership’ include one year free SAMPE Membership.

Speakers

BLOCK A – Materials & Processes (10.00 – 11.00)

Session Chair: Tamara Blanco Varela, Airbus, Spain

Fumihiko Tanaka

Toray Industries, Japan

Pioneering the carbon fiber frontier: A half-century of industry leadership and the road ahead.

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based carbon fibers have been in full-scale industrialization for more than 50 years, during which time it has grown at an annual rate of 10–20 % for half a century, a trend that is expected to continue. The market grew at an average annual rate of 27 % in the 1980s and 12 % in the 2010s reaching a level of over 1000 tons in the 1980s, 10,000 tons in the 1990s, and now over 100,000 tons. Throughout this period, the carbon fiber industry has supported the composites industry through a stable global supply and improved quality, and its history and future are discussed in this presentation.

Zhuo

Peng Zhuo

AVIC Composite Technology Center, China

Continuous fiber composite 3D printing at AVIC: review and outlook.

In recent years, three-dimensional printing (3DP) technology has developed to include composite materials. Particulate or short fiber reinforced composites 3DP has been commercialized, whilst continuous fiber printing remains a relatively novel research area. This review focuses on the state-of-art of continuous fiber reinforced 3DP technology. The materials and processing methods are discussed. A summary of the mechanical properties and an overview of current potential applications are provided. Finally, new design idea and current work in AVIC composites technology center are presented.

Dr. Peng Zhuo obtained his bachelor’s degree from Beihang University (BUAA), master’s from TU Delft in the Netherlands and PhD from Nottingham University in the UK, and is now working as a senior engineer in AVIC Composite technology center. Specializing in thermoplastic composite manufacturing and Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) processes, Dr. Zhuo has been involved in several national research projects on aircraft and aero-engines. He has contributed 10 scientific papers and holds 5 patents regarding composite manufacturing.

BLOCK B – Challenging Applications for Automotive, Energy and Space (11.30 – 13.00)

Session Chair: Prof. Frank Henning, Fraunhofer ICT/KIT, Germany

Christian Fisher

Christian Fischer

CEO Bcomp, Switzerland

Driving circularity and transforming the automotive industry with high-performance bio-based materials.

The automotive sector stands at the crossroads of transformation. As the pressure to deliver more sustainable vehicles grows, manufacturers face a complex land-scape—balancing cost pressures, evolving legislation, and deeply entrenched supply chains. The transition to a circular economy is no small feat, but innovation and col-laboration are paving the way.

This presentation explores how innovative bio-based materials are already making significant inroads into high-volume automotive production, offering drop-in alternatives that reduce emissions without disrupting existing supply chains. Christian Fischer will highlight how collaborations between material developers, suppliers, car manufacturers, and policymakers are creating tangible solutions to decarbonize the industry.

Speaker to be annonced

Vestas, Italy/Denmark

Composite materials for building largest offshore blade, in particular V236 with 116-meter blade.

Ugo Lafont

Ugo Lafont

ESA/ESTEC, France / Netherlands

A sustainable future for composite materials in space applications.

The use composite materials have been and will be a strong component for any space mission design and success. As for many other industries, advantage of composite in space application is inherent to their intrinsic tuneable properties mainly related to light weight, specific and tuneable (thermo)mechanical performance but also linked to implementation of multifunctionalities. Accelerated by European regulations and ESA sustainable ambition for all space mission (ESA Green Agenda) there is a need, from material to end-user application, for a sustainable and more circular approach without impacting performance and European stake holder competitiveness. In this presentation, the role of composite material for space will be presented and how requirements related to space environment, end-user needs, ongoing and future regulations are steering new developments.

For example, among other concepts, there will be a strong focus on thermoset based composites (CFRP) for space application. Thermosets are produced mainly using petroleum-based chemicals and the resulting composite materials are non-recyclable by essence. Several results based on ESA activities on the development of 100% biobased thermoset using waste of biomass as initial feed stock, vitrimers and self-healing materials for application in composites will be show cased. The results obtained demonstrate that these approaches are fully compatible with existing processes and can produce high performance composite in line with space requirement. In addition, due to their new intrinsic properties (i.e. self-healing), such composite can be recycled, reprocessed, repaired, reused, and even exhibits new capabilities. This open a new paradigm for the entire composite industries including space where initial feed stock material can be locally sourced (European), petroleum free, non-toxic, and that the final product can be included in another life cycle, avoiding production of ultimate waste at the end of life and, enabling new concepts on earth and out-of-earth increasing sustainability and circularity.

BLOCK C – Sustainability & Recycling (14.00 – 15.30)

Session Chair: Prof. Aart van Vuure, KU Leuven, Belgium

Florence Ratet Hutchinson

Florence Ratet

R&D Director & coordinator of pluridisciplinary teams, Hutchinson, France

Martin Levesque

Martin Levesque

R&D director, Hutchinson, France

Sustainability Challenges from automotive to aerospace.

Yixue Zhang

Yixue Zhang

KULeuven, Belgium

Repurposing and recycling of wind turbine blade waste.

Dr. Yixue Zhang holds a joint PhD degree in Engineering Technology (KU Leuven) and Mechanical Engineering(McGill). She specializes in developing innovative mechanical recycling methods for glass fibre-reinforced polymer(GFRP) waste from decommissioned wind turbine blades. Her research includes technical feasibility studies andincorporates environmental and economic analyses to promote sustainable practices in composite material recycling. Dr. Zhang is currently collaborating on an EU-funded project focused on wind turbine recycling as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Materials Engineering at KU Leuven.

Thomas de Bruijn

Thomas de Bruijn

Sr. R&D Engineer, GKN Fokker Aerospace, The Netherlands

Life cycle assessment and recycling for thermoplastic composites in aerospace.

The aerospace industry is looking for sustainable solutions, driven by customers, internal motivation and the European goals on carbon footprint and circularity. How can thermoplastic composites play a role? This presentation will show a recycling process for thermoplastic composite materials and assesses the environmental impact of this and a more traditional material-process combination. The impact throughout the life cycle stages from material production to end-of-service is considered. Primary and secondary data collection, hot spots and contribution analysis are discussed. Key areas, challenges and opportunities for recycling and life cycle assessment are identified and how it leads to more sustainable products.

Thomas de Bruijn is currently in the roll of sr. R&D engineer at GKN Fokker Aerospace’s Global technology centre. He holds a PhD degree and has over 10 years of experience on developing cost-effective thermoplastic composite manufacturing processes. The key areas of work are out-of-autoclave, recycling and life cycle assessment.

BLOCK D – Aerospace (16.00 – 18.00)

Session Chair: Prof. Conchúr Ó’Bradaigh, Sheffield University, UK

Katelyn Virga

Katelyn Virga

Manager, Sustainability Technology Enablers Boeing Commercial Airplanes, USA

Material Traceability and Transparency.

The demand for secure, transparent product lifecycle data is rapidly increasing due to global sustainability regulations, including focuses on human rights, carbon, and circular economy. Enhanced visibility into the sourcing, processing, and assembly of materials can empower organizations to adopt sustainable practices and meet customer expectations and regulatory requirements. This talk will explore specific challenges and state of the art opportunity for industry to align towards a common goal.

Jahan Zabe Ali

Jahan Zabe Ali

Director of Research & Technology Europe, Spirit AeroSystems, UK

Route to Enable Future Composite Aerostructures.

Antoine Vierset

Program and Operations Director, Coexpair, Belgium

Core Sealing Process to allow Sustainable Production at High-Rate of Honeycomb Sandwich Aerostructure Out-of-Autoclave by RTM.

During the past 20 years, the Resin Transfer Moulding (RTM) process has demonstrated to be an efficient composite manufacturing process for the automotive and aeronautic industry. Combined with high-speed DFP technologies it demonstrated to allow manufacturing at low costs and high quality of complex medium size parts with a high level of integration of numerous functions such as stiffeners and stringers, erosion protection, ice protection systems, etc. RTM process is one of the preferred alternatives to autoclave for aircraft structures sustainable manufacturing.

Lars Fiedler

Dr. Lars Fiedler

VP Fuselage & Tailplane Industrial Architecture, Airbus, Germany

Potentials and challenges in the development of future Composite aircraft components.

SAMPE Europe Summit 2025 Paris

Become a Sponsor

A SAMPE Europe Conference will be an excellent showcase for suppliers of Composite Materials and Processing.

Young Engineer’s Challenge

Come and put your skills to the test and enter our new Young Engineers Challenge. Show how you would improve the component’s present sustainability by proposing a route to reduce its environmental impact.

Hotels

Tickets are available.

SE Summit Paris 2025