JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #104 - April/May 2016 - 9

Automated Dynamics
awarded DOE Hydrogen Project
The company will be leading a $1.5 Million
program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to help advance
fuel-cell and hydrogen technologies.
Specifically, the Offices of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the Fuel
Cell Technologies Office have funded Automated Dynamics to advance its patented
electrofusion pipe coupling technology.
Helping to develop a hydrogen delivery
infrastructure created with composite
materials aims to enable early adoption of
fuel-cell applications such as fuel-cell electric vehicles. The EF coupler, an innovative
high-pressure pipe joint, would be used
for the simple joining of fiber-reinforced
composite pipe; providing reliability and
ease of installation.
www.automateddynamics.com

Opening

A. Schulman announces
innovation and collaboration
center for engineered composites
The supplier of high-performance
plastic compounds, composites, powders,

UTC Aerospace Systems opens
advanced materials laboratory
in Connecticut
The company opens its state-of-the-art
Materials and Process Engineering (MPE)
laboratory in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, UTC Aerospace Systems is a unit
of United Technologies Corp. The MPE
lab has advanced capabilities to support
research, engineering and production.
Lab capabilities include additive manufacturing (3D printing) to build metal and
plastic engineering development parts,
as well as high-temperature composites
to develop carbon-carbon and silicon
carbide-based composites. The 20,000
square-foot MPE lab represents an $8
million investment and is part of United
Technologies' plan to invest in new facility
upgrades under the Connecticut Aerospace Reinvestment Act.
www.utcaerospacesystems.com

AIM Aerospace will serve as the foundational asset of Liberty Hall's newly
launched strategy to build a fully-integrated, diversified composites supplier
through organic investments and strategic
acquisitions.
Founded in 1988 as part of the UK-based
AIM Group PLC, Renton-based AIM
Aerospace is an independent supplier of
composite ducting, substructural and interiors parts for the commercial aerospace
industry, focused on the highest value
Boeing platforms, including the 737, 777
and 787.
AIM Aerospace is one of the largest
employers in the greater Seattle area with
over 1,000 employees operating from
facilities located in Renton, Auburn and
Sumner, Washington. The company's
largest customers include The Boeing
Company, Kawasaki Heavy Industries,
Spirit AeroSystems and B/E Aerospace.
www.aim-aerospace.com

Albany International to acquire
advanced composites business
The company has agreed to acquire
Harris Corporation's composite
aero-structures division for total
consideration of $210 million including
the assumption of a $23 million capital
lease. Harris had acquired the Division
through its 2015 acquisition of Exelis Inc.
Harris is a supplier of advanced composite
products primarily for airframe applications. It has positions on three major
growth platforms: Lockheed's Joint Strike
Fighter ( JSF), Boeing's 787, and Sikorsky's CH-53K. The transaction, which
is conditional on regulatory and other
customary conditions, is expected to be
completed by the end of the first quarter
or early second quarter of 2016.

Messier-Bugatti-Dowty
to expand carbon brake production
plant in United States
The planned expansion, worth more
than 100 million dollars, aims to increase the Walton (Kentucky) plant's production capacity to meet expected airline
demand for wheels and carbon brakes.

Expansion

www.aurora.aero

Liberty Hall acquires
AIM Aerospace for US$220m
The private equity firm focuses exclusively on investments in businesses
serving the global aerospace and defense
industry, announces the acquisition of
AIM Aerospace, an independent supplier
of composite ducting, sub structural
and interiors parts for the commercial
aerospace industry.

www.aschulman.com

Acquisition

prime contract for Phase 2 of the Agency's
Vertical Takeoff and Landing Experimental
Plane (VTOL X-Plane) program.
The Aurora team's design for its unmanned
aircraft, named LightningStrike, seeks
to provide an approximately 50-percent
increase in speed over existing VTOL
aircraft designed for comparable mission
applications.The technology demonstrator
was designed in close collaboration with
Aurora's team members, Rolls-Royce PLC
and Honeywell International Inc. Pending
successful completion of key program milestones to be achieved in close collaboration
with DARPA, Aurora plans to conduct the
first flight tests of the technology demonstrator in the 2018 timeframe.

and resins, announces that it will open its
first engineered composites innovation and
collaboration center in late summer. The
center will be located in Bay City, Michigan.
A. Schulman will have a core innovation
team including material experts, design and
stress engineers, and manufacturing specialists who will work directly with their partner
customers to accelerate the timeframe from
concept to production.

Following the construction phase, from
2016 to 2018, the plant will add about 80
employees.
The expansion will be located on the
current Messier-Bugatti-Dowty site, near
existing carbon production units, and
will be able to share some of the same
infrastructures.

www.albint.com

No104 April - May 2016

www.safran-group.com

/ jec composites magazine 9

http://www.aschulman.com http://www.aurora.aero http://www.utcaerospacesystems.com http://www.aim-aerospace.com http://www.automateddynamics.com http://www.albint.com http://www.safran-group.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #104 - April/May 2016