The American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA) recently announced 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. The winning and finalist entries were featured in the ACE Award Pavilion at the fourth annual CAMX-The Composites and Advanced Materials Expo, from Dec. 12-14, 2017. 

"At a time in our industry where disruptive innovation is top-of-mind, this year's ACE winners have all shown the ability to change composites and advanced materials manufacturing as we know it," said Marcy Offner, director of marketing communications for Composites One. 

 

In the design category, the Innovation in Green Composites Design Award was presented to the composites product that best exemplifies innovation that minimizes the environmental footprint or offers an attractive life cycle assessment (LCA) of the product. This year, the award went to Oak Ridge National Laboratory for developing and demonstrating large-scale bio-based 3D printing used to 3D print a large portion of the world's largest green printed pavilion structure.

The design category also features the Most Creative Application Award, which was given to the composites product that showcases composites use in a unique, new application. This year, the award was presented to The Aerospace Corporation for developing a processing method to manufacture replicated composite mirrors with high optical quality and dimensional stability under varying hygrothermal environments.

In the manufacturing category, the Equipment and Tooling Innovation Award was 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 Autodesk for its comprehensive platform that provides an end-to-end solution for composite manufacturers.

The manufacturing category also featured 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 Gifu University (Japan) its novel process that provides a high flexibility of design, high fabrication yield, and easy shaping for a carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) molding product.

Finally, in the market growth category, the Infinite Possibility Award was 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. For the second year in a row, the award went to Ashland Performance Materials. This year, Ashland collaborated with Ford and Magna International on composite subframe that not only reduces the weight of a vehicle but also consolidates the number of parts needed in its assembly by over 80 percent.