This is part of a broader Alberta Innovates initiative called Bitumen Beyond Combustion to advance the development of non-combustion products and production technologies derived from bitumen contained in Alberta’s oil sands. The oil sands are among the world’s largest hydrocarbon resources with proven reserves of approximately 170 billion barrels.

The Carbon Fibre Grand Challenge is directed toward funding technologies and projects that can convert bitumen or asphaltenes into carbon fibre. The high strength and stiffness of carbon fibre make composites functionally superior to many conventional materials used in the transportation, infrastructure, construction and consumer product sectors. Asphaltenes are organic molecules found in bitumen that are commonly used in asphalt.

Bitumen Beyond Combustion and the Carbon Fibre Grand Challenge aim to produce large-volume, high-value, non-combustion products from bitumen. It has the potential to shift the oil sands industry toward value creation and significantly enhance sustainability in a low-carbon emission economy John Zhou, Vice President, Clean Resources, Alberta Innovates

Applications are expected from Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia. The challenge will consist of three phases which will wrap up at the end of 2024. Three grand prizes of $3 million will be awarded to the winners who will be required to produce more than 10 kg of carbon fibre per day, with a line of sight to scale production to more than 250 tonnes per day.

Eventually, this production process could result in more than 100,000 barrels of Alberta bitumen being used daily to produce carbon fibre. Asphaltene derived from Alberta bitumen will be provided to competitors through an asphaltene sample bank operated by InnoTech Alberta, an applied research subsidiary of Alberta Innovates.

The competition opens Wednesday, Jan. 15. The deadline for Phase 1 applications is April 7. See our Carbon Fibre Grand Challenge page for full details.

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Polynt Composites will continue to own and operate its resin and gel coat blending operations in Brampton, Ontario and Drummondville, Quebec, to provide these products to Composites One and the market. Polynt-Reichhold will now focus its resources on manufacturing resins, gel coats, and other specialities while maintaining a channel to market through Composites One.

Our goal with this acquisition is to provide all of our customers in Canada with the products, support and service to help them to grow their businesses and be successful Leon Garoufalis , President and COO of Composites One

Polynt-Reichhold Group is the world’s largest manufacturer of composites for the industrial, transportation, building, construction and marine industries. The Company is also one of the largest manufacturers of specialities and intermediates for the medical, consumer and food additive markets.

The post Composites One Acquires Polynt’s Canadian-based Composites Distribution appeared first on Composites Today.

With this transaction, Composites One will be able to offer its products and services to more customers in the U.S. and now, across all of Canada. Serving the entire composites marketplace including custom fabrication, marine, transportation, and aerospace markets.

Speaking on the deal Leon Garoufalis, President and COO of Composites One said;

We are looking forward to combining the talent and experience of both organisations and creating an even stronger platform to service all customers who produce products using traditional and advanced composite products. We will continue to work diligently to position ourselves as the supplier of choice to help our customers become more successful

The transaction is expected to close on or about July 1, 2014.

The post Composites One Acquires Distribution Assets from Nexeo Solutions appeared first on Composites Today.

The bike, called Valour connects to iOS, Android and Pebble smart watches through Bluetooth and tracks rider statistics in real-time including the route, distance, speed, and time. Valour’s LED handlebar indicators are connected to the smart phone’s GPS navigation and give riders turn-by-turn directions, reducing the distraction of having to look at a smartphone screen. The Valour also includes, the industry’s first sensor-driven blind spot detector, which alerts the rider of any object in their blind spot through haptic feedback in the handle bar grips.

Onboard sensors monitor ride statistics in real-time and syncs the data with the Vanhawks app. The route data gathered by the sensors will also let the riders know where the safest routes are. Every Valour is connected to each other through a mesh-network, and is alerted when one goes missing, aiding in its recovery.

The frame of the bike is developed from carbon fibre using proprietary technology which makes internal walls to reinforce critical load bearing points in the frame. Its carbon fibre technology, replicates the construction of human bones, making the bike frame strong enough to withstand the toughest roads and potholes. The Valour weighs in at just over 7kgs, making it light enough to carry up flight of stairs without breaking a sweat.

The Vanhawks Valour is available for a limited pre-order now on Kickstarter
starting at $999. The Valour will ship in Autumn 2014. For more information and to pre-order the bike, visit the kickstarter page.


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Armin Klesing, business development manager for aerospace and composites for Solvay Specialty Polymers said;

This unique collaboration will bring together two world-class companies focused on meeting the growing global demand for lightweight, stiff, strong, and recyclable composite materials, we’re excited about the composites market and Aonix’s potential to deliver cutting-edge composite systems with significant benefits over conventional epoxy-based systems in high-volume production.

The partnership will focus on the use of Solvay’s high-performance thermoplastics as a matrix as well as over-moulding polymers which are particularly suited for these advanced composite applications due to their strong mechanical properties, superior damage tolerance, and chemical resistance. A key processing advantage is their faster cycle times compared to thermoset systems such as epoxy, particularly in high-volume fabrication. These composites are reinforced with glass fibre, aramid fibre, or carbon fibre.

Aonix offers a range of thermoplastic formulations that are used to create new classes of composite materials with high-volume output and recyclability versus conventional composites. The company accelerates commercial development by performing all formulation, prepreg, prototyping, testing, and validation for the customer.

The post Solvay Makes Thermoplastic Composites Investment appeared first on Composites Today.

This action is prompted by sharp increases in raw material costs. AOC has experienced steady increases since late July. Recently, feedstocks such as benzene, butane, and mixed xylenes, among others, are increasing as part of their Fall seasonality. Energy prices have also risen substantially in the last two weeks, with oil regaining the highs of earlier this year.

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The new funding will enable the CIC to purchase composites equipment, complete capital upgrades and hire specialised incremental staff to support initiatives that will help expand the western aerospace composites sector. The investment will provide research and development opportunities for Canadian companies, leading to the integration of new composites technology and manufacturing processes in the commercialisation of innovative products.

Sean McKay, Executive Director for the Composites Innovation Centre said;

The CIC’s Board of Directors and staff are most appreciative of the financial support being provided by Western Economic Diversification Canada over the next three years, this allows the organisation to fulfil its new mandate for providing leadership and innovation to the composites industry in Manitoba and Western Canada, allowing our partners to advance to the forefront of new technology developments and, most importantly, integrate these advanced capabilities into their commercial operations.

The CIC is a non-profit organisation established in 2003 to support and stimulate economic growth through industry-driven applied research and development of industrial applications for advanced bio-composite materials.

Since 2006, the Harper Government, through WD, has invested in job-creating, small and medium-sized businesses, aerospace, marine and defence industries, and supported innovative entrepreneurs in pursuing emerging markets.

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The building will be expanded by 14,000 square metres to a total of 62,000 square meters of manufacturing space and will be used mainly to construct the one-piece composite acoustic inner barrel on the newly designed engine nacelle inlet for the 737 MAX. The inner barrel is one of the latest quiet engine technologies that will be employed on the 737 MAX to help reduce the operational noise of the airplane by up to 40 percent.

The expanded building, which includes two bays about the size of 12 Olympic-sized swimming pools, will house the 737 MAX and some 787 Dreamliner production. Construction will begin immediately on the west side of the existing Murray Park facility, with an estimated completion by the fourth quarter of 2014. Today’s event was held in conjunction with Stantec and Graham Construction, the design-builders of the facility.

Canada is one of the largest international supplier bases for Boeing. Today, Boeing has 1,900 employees across Canada and partners with more than 200 major suppliers across the country. Boeing Winnipeg is the largest aerospace composite manufacturing centre in Canada and manufactures complex composite parts for the 737, 747, 767, 777 and 787 airplanes.

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The company is a designer of composite baseball and softball bats, hockey sticks and lacrosse shafts. The acquisition will provide Bauer with advanced composite technologies and strong intellectual property to further strengthen its research and development capabilities across its platform of high-performance sports equipment.

Bauer plans to explore and combine relevant composite technologies where applicable to strengthen its overall hockey stick and lacrosse offerings under the Bauer and Maverik brands. Combat and several of the company’s key employees have had a long history of expertise in composite materials, including developing innovative products for NASA, the U.S. Military and several leading manufacturers. By focusing resources in baseball, softball and advanced composite technologies, Bauer expects to strengthen the Combat brand and grow its overall portfolio of high-performing products.

Our expectation is that Canadian-based Combat will remain in its current Ottawa, Ontario and Kent, Washington locations, and we intend to continue manufacturing in Canada, in addition, we fully expect that Combat’s previous leadership team and many key employees will be employed by the company after the closing of the transaction

The acquisition of Combat will be funded from cash on hand and is expected to be accretive in the first year of operation. Bauer anticipates the acquisition to close in the coming weeks, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions and certain other approvals.

The post Bauer Performance Sports Acquires Assets of Combat Sports appeared first on Composites Today.

The CRN will collaborate with other composite initiatives, such as the Canadian Composites Manufacturing Research and Development Consortium hosted by the Composites Innovation Centre in Manitoba. The collaborations support a vibrant Canadian composites industry that includes companies and manufacturers of all sizes and expertise.

William Lyons, director of Global Technology at Boeing Research & Technology said;

This collaboration has the potential to generate new applications of composite processing technology not only within Canada’s aerospace industry, but in other fields such as the automotive and resources sectors.

Established in 2012 with an investment of $9.84 million from Western Economic Diversification Canada, the CRN consists of a Vancouver hub based at the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver campus; a Kelowna node based at UBC’s Okanagan campus; a Victoria node, based at the University of Victoria; and a Manitoba node, based at the Composites Innovation Centre in Winnipeg. Future nodes are planned for Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Boeing’s involvement with the CRN will support Canada’s Industrial & Regional Benefits (IRB) policy. Canada’s IRB policy requires prime contractors such as Boeing to make investments in the Canadian economy as a result of winning defense and security contracts with the government of Canada. Boeing has four active IRB programs tied to the procurement of the CC-177 airlifter; ScanEagle unmanned aircraft systems services, and CH-147 helicopter.

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