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NETWORKING
GENERAL SESSION
KEYNOTE
PLANT TOUR
TUESDAY | NOVEMBER 10, 2026
RAYON REPLACEMENT
8:00 - 8:15 AM
Welcome
Mike Favaloro | Textron
Welcome to the Rayon Replacement Pre-Conference Track.
RAYON REPLACEMENT
8:15 - 9:00 AM
TBD
Speaker TBA | Syensqo
Abstract to come.
RAYON REPLACEMENT
9:00 - 9:30 AM
Carbon Fibers for Ablative PMC Insulators After ENKA
Alex Shih | Lockheed Martin
Rayon-derived carbon fibers have been preferred for ablative PMC insulators in solid rocket motor and reentry heatshield applications due to low thermal conductivity. As rayon becomes scarce due to its toxic manufacturing chemistry, this talk examines challenges and alternatives from an end-equipment-manufacturer's perspective.
RAYON REPLACEMENT
9:30 - 10:00 AM
A Unique PAN Based Carbon Cloth Phenolic Solution for High Temperature Ablative and Carbon/Carbon Applications
Charley Burton | Barrday
Performance, Availability, and domestic are the 3 words driving all conversations today related to raw materials for ablative applications. Barrday Corporation along with their strategic supply partners answer all 3 questions by offering LR1406TM carbon cloth phenolic. This unique product has an all-domestic supply chain, availability for growth and has thermal performance that is “in family” with rayon-based carbon cloth phenolics. This presentation will expand on the performance of LR1406TM and provide evidence of a fully commercial solution that is positioned for today’s growth and tomorrow’s future products.
RAYON REPLACEMENT
10:00 - 10:30 AM
Refreshment Break
Courtesy of Carbon Fiber Conference
Enjoy light refreshments and snacks.
RAYON REPLACEMENT
10:30 - 11:00 AM
Modified Automatic Tape Laying and Single-Cycle Densification of C/C Hypersonic Structures
Riley Turner | Textron
Domestic demand for increased production and complexity of hypersonic and reentry vehicle systems has skyrocketed in the last decade. Methods to both improve upon the existing manufacturability and increase the speed and capability of production have garnered extreme interest and are of great interest to the USG and defense industry. Textron Systems exhibits two relevant methodologies for heatshield production that are extremely relevant for hypersonic and reentry applications.
Automatic Tape Laying (ATL) is a process used across a variety of aerospace and defense applications to produce advanced materials and structures. Continuous layers of materials are put down upon a mandrel or mold to construct the desired geometry, with control over the thickness. Current tape wrapping for hypersonic heatshield production suffers from exorbitant material costs and low efficiency. Textron Systems has successfully demonstrated a patent pending modified ATL (mATL) method that uses an ATL machine to produce relevant hypersonic geometries with verified incumbent heatshield material.
Densification of these hypersonic geometries is commonly done with carbon-based materials to produce dense, mechanically strong and capable carbon/carbon (C/C) structures. Current densification procedures are limited by the high number of cycles, the time required to reach target densities and the manufacturing needed to reach near net-shape. This leads to long lead times and prohibitive costs that severely limits the heatshield production and capability. Textron Systems has developed and demonstrated a revolutionary densification process capable of producing fully densified carbon/carbon near-net shape structures in a single cycle lasting only several hours, compared to months-long traditional methods.
Textron Systems is validating that the combination of the mATL process and the single-cycle densification method offer an exciting opportunity to both reduce cost and time required to fabricate relevant C/C hypersonic geometries for heatshield production. With this goal in mind, Textron Systems continues to work with industry and USG partners to deliver technologies and materials that address the pressing material processing and production challenges faced by the nation today.
RAYON REPLACEMENT
11:00 - 11:30 AM
Methods to Tailor Resistivity of Carbon Fibers to Improve Performance Characteristic
Christopher Robertson | AVCarb
This presentation will discuss methods to tailor the resistive properties of Carbon Fibers to improve the following:
Antistatic protection – prevents static electricity buildup during operation
Erosion Resistance – custom tuned coatings provide improved resistance to erosion/deformation during flight
Tailored EM Performance – Adjusting resistance gives tailored impedance matching to protect internal systems without reflecting or attenuating operational signals
RAYON REPLACEMENT
11:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Field-Assisted Sintering Technique for Carbon/Carbon
Wes Chapkin | Johns Hopkins University
This work explores a novel densification route for carbon/carbon, a critical material for hypersonic thermal protection systems. While conventional processes take months to reach application-relevant densities, the FAST CAR2 process under development at JHU/APL reaches those same densities in days. This talk will cover process details, recent scalability efforts, material characterization, and aerothermal testing.
Pre-Conference Market Update
MARKET UPDATE
8:30 - 8:45 AM
Welcome
Scott Francis | CompositesWorld
Welcome to Carbon Fiber Pre-Conference!
MARKET UPDATE
8:45 - 9:45 AM
The Carbon Fiber Market Landscape
Jeff Sloan | JEC
The carbon fiber supply chain is being reshaped by highly dynamic forces within the markets it serves and highly dynamic forces within the suppliers who produce the material. This presentation will take a broad look at how activity in commercial aerospace, defense, space, eVTOL, and the wind energy markets are evolving and how they are impacting global carbon fiber supply. It will also look at how the suppliers themselves are evolving, in the Western world and in China, to meet the current and future needs of these markets.
MARKET UPDATE
9:45 - 10:30 AM
Indian Carbon Fiber Market
Aditya Joshi | Stratview Research
The presentation will encompass current and future status of carbon fibers in India with an aim to identify the business opportunities for market stakeholders. The study will also identify the key end-use markets, their CF consumptions and future projections.
The study will also provide detailed value chain to showcase the import and usage patterns.
Lastly, the presentation will cover all the recent initiatives concerning building carbon fiber plants and their current status and expected market entry.
MARKET UPDATE
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Following the Carbon: How Capital and M&A are Reshaping the Carbon Fiber Value Chain
Yannick Willemin | Catalysium
Carbon fiber's next capacity, quality and cost gains will not come from materials innovation alone. They will increasingly be determined by how capital is allocated, where industrial consolidation takes place, and which technologies attract long-term investment.
This presentation reviews the major investment, venture capital, private equity and M&A activity that has shaped the carbon fiber and composites value chain recently; from raw materials and intermediates to manufacturing technologies, recycling and end-use applications. Using recent transactions and market developments as reference points, it will identify the underlying themes driving investor interest and what they reveal about the future structure of the industry.
Building on these observations, the session will explore how geopolitical developments, defence, industrial resilience, sustainability and manufacturing productivity are likely to influence capital allocation over the coming decade. It will also introduce the concept that composites and advanced materials are evolving from a specialist engineering topic into a strategic investment theme. One that deserves to become part of every investor's industrial thesis.
The presentation draws on Yannick Willemin's work as Founder of Catalysium, where he closely follows investment activity, M&A transactions and strategic developments across the composites and advanced materials ecosystem. It offers a forward-looking perspective on how capital is reshaping the carbon fiber value chain and why advanced materials are becoming an increasingly important consideration for investors, industrial companies and policymakers.
Facility Tours
PLANT TOUR
12:30 - 5:30 PM
Facility Tours: Beyond Gravity & Auburn University Applied Research Institute
Explore North Alabama's aerospace and advanced manufacturing scene with an exclusive facility tour on Tuesday, November 10, from 12:30 to 5:00 PM. Choose from two tours. At Beyond Gravity, you'll see where composite payload fairings are built for United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rockets. At the Auburn University Applied Research Institute (AUARI) in Cummings Research Park, you'll visit cutting-edge labs supporting composite manufacturing, rapid prototyping and defense research. Round-trip transportation from the Westin Huntsville is included. A valid U.S. ID is required, and space is limited.
* Requires additional registration fee.
** Requires RSVP - limited attendance based on first come, first served.
TUES 11.4
WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 11, 2026
KEYNOTE
9:00 - 10:00 AM
Composites in a Changing Defense Landscape
Collin Heller | Counterpoint Market Intelligence
Defence spending is at levels not seen since the Cold War, yet the effects reaching the supply chain are strikingly uneven. In Counterpoint's discussions across the industry, some suppliers describe customers, timelines and requirements all moving at once; others report strong demand and little fundamental change. Both accounts are accurate. This presentation sets out a framework for understanding where the defence aerospace market is shifting, spanning both how systems are designed and how they are procured. It then turns to what those shifts mean for the supply chain, and how they feed through to the composites value chain.
GENERAL SESSION
10:00 - 10:30 AM
Supply and Experience Imbalances Despite the Great Opportunities in Carbon Fiber
Dan Pichler | CarbConsult
In every region of the world, from the US to Europe to Asia and beyond, stakeholders see great opportunities in carbon fiber, from aerospace and defense to industrial applications. Yet every region also perceives technology, experience or supply shortfalls, especially in today's geopolitical context. This paper examines the global situation and, more importantly, the region-by-region picture (US, Europe and others), covering the full carbon fiber supply chain from precursor to intermediates and downstream.
GENERAL SESSION
11:00 - 11:30 AM
The Strategic Importance of Domestic Carbon Fiber Supply in an Evolving Global Aerospace Environment
Stephen Middleton | Hexcel
Examines the strategic importance of a secure, domestic aerospace-grade carbon fiber supply, with emphasis on precursor materials, IP control, and advanced manufacturing capabilities. Highlights how strategic partnerships enable supply chain resilience, innovation, affordability, and national security.
GENERAL SESSION
11:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Automated NDT for High Rate Inspection
Dr. James Bennett | Omni NDE
Presents how automated NDT systems and X-ray laminography combine to offer new insights into next-generation composite architectures. Includes case studies detecting delamination, porosity, and bond-line discontinuities in aerospace structures at higher production rates.
GENERAL SESSION
1:00 - 1:30 PM
Composite Structures at Every Stage: Materials and Process Innovation for Launch Vehicles and Satellites at Beyond Gravity
Blake Townsend | Beyond Gravity
Since Beyond Gravity (formerly RUAG Space) began producing composite launch vehicle structures at its Decatur, Alabama facility, the site has grown from qualifying its large, out-of-autoclave structures for United Launch Alliance's Atlas V and Vulcan programs into a key node in the company's global space manufacturing network. This presentation traces that evolution — from the sandwich-panel construction (aluminum honeycomb core, woven carbon fiber prepreg face sheets and cork thermal protection) detailed in CompositesWorld's plant tour of the Decatur facility, through the material and process advances developed since to meet rising launch cadence and new customer requirements.
GENERAL SESSION
1:30 - 2:00 PM
Raycarb C2®B, High Performance Rayon Based Carbon Fiber for Defense & Space Applications
Marie Lefebvre | Ariane Group
In the specialized world of carbon fibers - dominated by PAN, and pitch-based technologies - there is a discreet yet essential technology for extreme environments: rayon-based carbon fibers.
Primarily used in solid propulsion, these fibers offer unmatched thermo-erosive and insulating properties, along with an exceptionally low thermal expansion. While this technology typically requires trade-offs in mechanical performance, ArianeGroup has overcome this challenge. For over 25 years, the company has produced Raycarb C2®B for its own use and for its customers.
ArianeGroup is a leader for civil and defense space launcher systems, responsible for the design and the entire production process of Europe’s launchers as Ariane 5, Ariane 6... The company has thus a large expertise in all aspects of state-of-the-art space propulsion technology.
At ArianeGroup, we develop and use our own carbon fabric based on rayon fiber. We are able to select the best rayon yarn precursor, make a specific definition of rayon fabric, and refine the suitable carbonization parameters, leading to a perfect carbon fabric for high-performance applications, such as defense and space.
Where conventional carbon solutions reach their limits, Raycarb C2®B excels. This presentation provides a comprehensive overview of Raycarb C2®B unique properties and explores the versatile potential of this material to develop next-generation solutions for the most demanding applications.
GENERAL SESSION
2:00 - 2:30 PM
Continuous Carbon Fiber Reinforcement: Delivering Metal-Strength Performance Without the Cost & Complexity of Metal
Joshua Thomas | Markforged
Outlines Markforged's patented CCF reinforcement technology enabling composite parts with tensile strengths meeting or exceeding aluminum for many industrial applications—without traditional metal manufacturing cost or complexity. Covers real-world tooling, fixture, and production applications.
GENERAL SESSION
2:30 - 3:00 PM
Carbon Fiber 3D Printing: Promise, Strengths, and Limitations of a Forefront Technology
Ryan Dunn | Mantis Composites
Explores carbon fiber 3D printing advantages (unique fiber paths, intricate geometries, tool-free manufacturing) alongside challenges for flying systems. Emphasizes that transitionable applications favor thermal or mechanical integration where tight materials-process-design alignment captures the technology's unique potential.
GENERAL SESSION
3:30 - 4:00 PM
Improving Manufacturability and Cost Efficiency of High-Temperature Composite Systems Through Smart Formulation Design
David Leach | Kaneka Aerospace LLC
Discusses smart formulation design in resin chemistry and prepreg technologies to improve high-temperature composite manufacturability. Covers low-temperature demold BMI tooling systems and next-gen ablative resins offering 25–50% reduction in tool lead time and 20–40% cost savings.
GENERAL SESSION
4:00 - 4:30 PM
Innovation to Industrialization: Material and Supply Chain Challenges for Emerging UAM and UAV Markets
Jean-Philippe Canart | Teijin Carbon America
Explores market trends driving demand for high-rate lightweight composite structures in UAM/UAV and next-gen aerospace. Topics include automation-compatible processes, fast-curing materials, supply chain expansion, workforce development, and investment needs.
GENERAL SESSION
4:30 - 5:00 PM
Perceived Challenges with Carbon Recycling
Bruno Douchy | Procotex
Addresses the changing landscape of carbon recycling: market crises, limited projects with recycled carbon fibers, perceived misunderstandings about rCF, rising virgin CF production from China, and company consolidation. Explores causes and possible solutions.
WED 11.5
THURSDAY | NOVEMBER 12, 2026
KEYNOTE
9:00 - 9:30 AM
Carbon Fiber and the Future of Aerospace: Innovation, Industrialization, and National Security
Imad Atallah | Hexcel
Carbon fiber is becoming increasingly strategic to the future of aerospace, defense, space, and advanced air mobility. As manufacturers pursue lighter, stronger, and more capable structures, success will depend not only on material innovation, but also on the ability to produce, qualify, and scale advanced composites at the speed, cost, and production rates demanded by next-generation platforms.
In this keynote presentation, Imad Atallah will explore how carbon fiber and advanced composites are enabling a new era of aerospace innovation. He will discuss the industry's shift toward higher-rate, more automated manufacturing, the growing role of artificial intelligence and digital technologies, and the need for greater collaboration across industry, government, and research institutions to accelerate industrialization and adoption.
A central theme of the discussion will be the importance of maintaining a resilient U.S. carbon fiber and composites supply chain. As the only U.S.-domiciled vertically integrated manufacturer of aerospace-grade carbon fiber, Hexcel views domestic capability as a strategic foundation for aerospace competitiveness, industrial readiness, and national security.
As carbon fiber becomes increasingly critical to future aerospace systems, the industry's ability to innovate, industrialize, and collaborate will help determine who builds the next generation of aerospace.
GENERAL SESSION
9:30 - 10:00 AM
Building a Carbon Fibre Industry in Saudi Arabia: From Feedstock Advantage to Global Market Integration
Anthony Hurley | Organized Chaos
Assesses the opportunity for carbon fibre production in Saudi Arabia and the GCC, including demand forecasts, strategic applications, and export potential. Covers technical and commercial requirements for an integrated value chain from precursor to composite manufacturing, and the role of partnerships and investment priorities.
GENERAL SESSION
10:30 - 11:00 AM
Carbon Fiber Supply & Demand Dynamics
Aditya Joshi | Stratview
The panoramic view of supply & demand dynamics, including total nameplate capacity (western world vs China), ongoing capacity expansions, and current carbon fiber demand and future demand outlook.
Understand the gaps and identify emerging business opportunities: military UAVs, space, pressure vessels, cable core, and data centers.
The study will also provide a complete view of demand by end-use markets, their CF consumptions, and future projections.
GENERAL SESSION
11:00 - 11:30 AM
Rethinking the Hole: Integrated vs. Drilled in Structural CFRP
Moritz Moker | Holy Technologies
Dario Fuimarella | Holy Technologies
What if the biggest weak point in a composite part could become a design advantage? Drilling holes in carbon fiber cuts the very fibers meant to carry the load, and can cost up to half a part's strength. Integrating the hole during production, by placing continuous fiber strands around it instead of drilling afterward, changes that. Compared side by side against drilled parts, the integrated version was 22 percent stronger in compression, more consistent, and failed gradually instead of all at once. The takeaway: the hole stops being a weak point to design around and becomes a choice you can design with.
GENERAL SESSION
11:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Enabling Mass Production of High - Performance Composites
Aaron Guo | Hybron Technologies
Hybron has developed a novel manufacturing process for composites that enables the mass production of aerospace-grade continuous fiber strength parts with automotive-level speed, cost, flexibility, and geometry. This allows composites to penetrate new applications that were never possible before due to cost or complexity, including nosecones/munitions, solid rocket motor nozzles, blades/vanes, and airframe structures. Leveraging this new technology, Hybron is supporting the broader aerospace and defense industries through re-industrialization and fully domestic manufacturing.
GENERAL SESSION
1:00 - 1:30 PM
Process-to-Performance Simulation of Injection-Molded Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics
April Brown | Moldex3D
Investigates simulation methodologies for predicting fiber orientation and fiber length evolution in injection-molded FRP using the iARD-RPR model. Evaluates core-shell orientation structure and fiber attrition; links process-induced microstructure with end-use structural performance.
GENERAL SESSION
1:30 - 2:00 PM
China's Commercial Aircraft Industry Indigenous Ecosystem: The Case of the Comac C919 and C929 Composite Structures
David Pritchard | SUNY Empire State University
Abstract to come.
GENERAL SESSION
2:00 - 2:20 PM
Hypersonics, Heat Shields and More from Thin Air, A Sustainable Route to Carbon Fiber
Aaron Fitzgerald | Mars Materials
As a presenter at the 2026 Carbon Fiber Conference in Huntsville, we’d share how Mars Materials’ Hoigen-C is transforming the carbon fiber market. Our presentation will feature an assessment of carbon fiber applications and markets, particularly our work optimizing Hoigen-C for aerospace and defense. We will detail the existing compliance pressures, outlining how industry is transitioning away from volatile and foreign oil-based precursors, explicitly addressing the demands these shifts place on suppliers, composites manufacturers, end users and equipment providers. Because Hoigen-C requires no retooling, we will highlight how it minimizes friction and cost across the global composite industry. Finally, we will discuss our current development activities at the pilot and commercial demonstration scale-up work, including our framework for process scale-up. We’ll tie this into how shifting the paradigm of carbon fiber production can inform aerospace-relevant technologies, secure domestic supply chains, and why the Gulf Coast’s concentration of industrial and aerospace expertise positions it as a natural launch point for these efforts.
GENERAL SESSION
2:20 - 2:40 PM
From Chemistry to Spinnability: Designing Better Fiber Precursors
Evan Stacy | Lumios Materials
Describes a controlled radical polymerization platform for PAN-based copolymers with precise molecular weight and comonomer control, enabling high-concentration solution spinning and more efficient production of high-quality CF precursors while reducing reliance on organic solvents.
GENERAL SESSION
2:40 - 3:00 PM
Precision Isotactic Polyacrylonitrile (iPAN) for Next-Gen High-Performance Carbon Fibers
Dr. Jon Barnes | Precision Carbon Technologies
Describes Precision iPAN—a high molecular weight, narrowly dispersed, isotactic PAN—and early prototype results showing significant tensile strength and modulus increases post-stabilization. Covers the spin-out from Washington University and PCT's scale-up strategy.
DISCUSSION
3:10 - 3:30 PM
Precursor Panel Discussion
Moderator: Scott Francis | CompositesWorld
Aaron Fitzgerald | Mars Materials
Evan Stacy | Lumios Materials
Jon Barnes | Precision Carbon Technologies
Three precursor innovators, Mars Materials, Lumios Materials and Precision Carbon Technologies, discuss how new feedstocks, polymerization methods and PAN chemistries could improve carbon fiber's performance, cost and domestic supply security. The conversation, moderated by Scott Francis of CompositesWorld, covers scale-up, qualification for aerospace and defense, and the path to commercial adoption.
Thursday 11.6
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