JEC Innovation Award for the 3D-LightTrans project
The project 3D-LightTrans has been awarded the JEC Innovation Award 2015 in the Reinforcements category. The Innovation Awards Programme of the JEC was created in 1998 to reward outstanding companies and their cooperation partners for the excellence of their composite innovations. This top level innovation programme plays a key role in identifying, promoting and rewarding the most innovative composite solutions worldwide, encouraging companies and their partners and enhancing their public exposure, and contributing to the advance of the composite industry.
Based upon the criteria of technical excellence, exemplarity of the chain of partners, market potential, and originality, the 3D-LightTrans Consortium was selected as the JEC Paris Innovation 2015’s laureate in the category Reinforcement for their innovation „Combining improved hybrid yarn technology with advanced textile weaving and processing methods“. The Award was handed out in an Award Ceremony moderated by the journalist Alex Taylor during the JEC Paris Exhibition 2015 last March.
A number of 3D-LightTrans representatives (from left to right, Dominique Maes, Marianne Hörlesberger, Ana Almansa, Erich Kny and Paul Kiekens) at the Award Ceremony
The key to 3D-LightTrans innovation consists in the optimization of the manufacturing process of hybrid yarn (combining glass reinforcement with PET and/or other thermoplastic filaments) and the industrial one-shot weaving of 3D-textiles with a structural variety and geometrical complexity not attained before, combined with an innovative fixation process, automated draping and consolidation through thermoforming. In this way, 3D-LightTrans provides a flexible solution with comparatively lower cost for large scale manufacturing of light-weight, high performance products with complex geometry.
The 3D-LightTrans technology was developed in a 4-years project by 18 cooperation partners (see www.3d-lighttrans.com). The final results of the 3D-LightTrans project were exhibited for three days at a dedicated stand in the Exhibition Hall of the JEC Europe 2015, known as the largest composites show in the world, gethering world leading experts, more than 1.200 exhibitors and about 36.000 attendees from all over the world. Visitors at the 3D-LightTrans stand in the JEC Paris 2015 could examine the final demonstrators (a deep draped spare wheel well for Bentley Mulsanne car and a fist tailgate prototype for a Fiat 500L car) and discuss with 3D-LightTrans represenatives about potential business and future cooperations.