JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #66 - July/August 2011 - 11

Technology transfer in order to help subcontractors develop their activity in order to master production processes (hand lay-up, RTM, infusion) or finishing processes (machining, trimming, drilling, assembly, repair, painting) for composite parts. Pooled services, in particular in the field of non-destructive testing.

through to the development of new or improved processes or products, in other words through to the prototype stage and even, if necessary, extending as far as the industrial pre-launch. CompositAdour can offer offices, workshops and specialist equipment for hire; feasibility and preindustrialisation studies; aid in the choice of technologies; assistance with design; the production of specimens, models and prototypes; the testing, inspection and characterisation of manufactured parts; training; and the setting up of collaborative R&D projects. Compositadour uses highly

A wide range of services and equipment
CompositAdour caters to industrial requirements through training, applied research and technological development services. Platform involvement extends from design

innovative equipment to encourage the appropriation of composite technologies and automated processes by companies. It possesses the facilities for design, simulation, fabrication, curing, finishing, testing and characterisation. The platform is equipped with all means necessary for the development of composite parts. In terms of processes, several manufacturing technologies may be implemented, including RTM, hand lay-up and infusion moulding. The "key" equipment is a robotised fibre placement cell, developed by Coriolis Composites. n
More information: www.compositadour.estia.fr

interview

development of the territory is a key concern for ESTIA, which is organised with a view to collaborating with companies and with training and research organisations. JCM: Do you consider envisage involving new companies or opening up the structure to them? P. E. : Our ambition is to develop a centre of excellence with an international reach. Compositadour is a technical platform that is open to all: its resources and facilities are accessible to training organisations for deploying their courses and seminars, to research laboratories for implementing collaborative R&D projects with industrial partners, and to companies for studying the launch of new activities. We now host the AFPI training centre along with a site of the Coriolis Composites company. Pupils from the Jean Taris de Peyrehorade secondary school also use the platform for doing their practicals. Although the aerospace sector is the most directly concerned, other sectors such as boatbuilding, wind power, the building industry and sport also have a vested interest. A strategic steering committee and a technical committee, made up of representatives from the local authorities and from funding organisations, the founding corporations and the UIMM (the metalworkers' union), determine the direction to take for Compositadour and oversee its smooth running.

PATXI ELISSALDE DIRECTOR ESTIA
ENGINEERING SCHOOL

JEC Composites Magazine: Can you explain to us the reasons for choosing ESTIA, the engineering school, for managing the platform? PATXI ELLISALDE : First of all, the feasibility study for the creation of Compositadour was led by the Pyrénées Atlantiques departmental council, in close collaboration with three major manufacturers (Dassault Aviation, Daher Socata and EADS Composites Aquitaine), and if the various partners in the project – the Aquitaine regional council, the Conurbation, the departmental council, the manufacturers, laboratories and other universities – have themselves called upon the services of the ESTIA engineering school, it is, I believe, because the school has proven its worth in terms of collaborative training and R&D. The

No66 July –August 2011 / jec composites magazine JCM: Do you have international ambitions? P. E. : ESTIA, which is located in a dynamic trans-border region, has established close ties for many years with partners in Spain (Bilbao) and the UK (Cranfield, Wolverhampton, Salford-Manchester). Together with our British partners from the University of Salford, we already propose an MSc course in "Robotics & Automation" to some 20 students every year. The University of Cranfield, in association with ESTIA, also houses a composites research centre. Compositadour is of great interest to them, and if our industrial partners so desire, we can mobilise these networks to work on new cooperative research initiatives.

JCM: The project's industrial partners are big companies. What actions do you plan to take with regard to SMEs? P. E. : One of the missions of Compositadour is to support technology transfer in order to help subcontractors develop their skills in production process control or the finishing of composite parts. The Compositadour team is organised with this in mind. It should also be stressed that, at Compositadour, the big aerospace companies are above all interested in the development of automated fibre placement processes. The other means deployed (RTM injection, infusion, autoclave, test machines, lay-up room, etc.) are aimed in particular at SMEs.

Companies & Business

http://www.compositadour.estia.fr

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #66 - July/August 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #66 - July/August 2011