ADVISORY
BOARD
Carbon Fiber’s agenda is carefully curated by the CompositesWorld team along with insights from some of the leading industry experts. Each year CW engages with our colleagues in the industry to advise the event and ensure the quality of our program.
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Learn more about this year’s event leadership and co-chairs below.
Jeff Sloan
Brand Vice President
Jeff Sloan is the brand vice president for CompositesWorld and Plastics Technology brands, responsible for the overall media brand, including sales, marketing and editorial content.
Prior to this, Jeff was editor-in-chief of CompositesWorld from 2006 to 2023 and directed and managed all editorial content for all of the brand’s products, including printed magazine, digital content, newsletters, videos and podcasts. Jeff is a member of SAMPE and has appeared as a speaker at SAMPE conferences and CAMX as well as Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI) meetings. He was co-chair of the Carbon Fiber 2020 conference.
Prior to joining CompositesWorld, Jeff worked for 10 years as editor and then publisher of Injection Molding, Modern Plastics and Plastics Machinery & Auxiliaries magazines. Jeff has also worked as a technical writer and is a 1990 graduate of Colorado State University with a degree in technical journalism.
Scott Francis
Editor-in-Chief
Scott Francis is the editor-in-chief of CompositesWorld and Products Finishing media brands, properties of Gardner Business Media. He has also edited for the Writer's Digest, HOW, Popular Woodworking media brands and has authored books on a range of topics.
Scott has a bachelor’s degree in writing and editing and a minor in biology from Western Carolina University.
Waruna Seneviratne
Founder and Director, Aerospace Systems (ATLAS) at the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR), Wichita State University
Waruna Seneviratne is the Founder and Director of the Advanced Technologies Lab for Aerospace Systems (ATLAS) at the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR), Wichita State University. With over 25 years of experience at NIAR, he leads multidisciplinary research in advanced manufacturing, non-destructive inspection, structural durability, damage tolerance, certification, and aging of composite aircraft structures.
His work is supported by major stakeholders including the FAA, DoD, DHS, NASA, and leading aerospace OEMs. In 2019, he established the NIAR ATLAS Manufacturing Innovation Center—an open, makerspace-style environment designed to accelerate research and prototyping in advanced manufacturing technologies. Waruna actively contributes to the aerospace community through service on multiple advisory and technical review boards; these include the Technical Oversight Committee for NASA’s Advanced Composites Consortium (HiCAM) and the Executive Steering Committee for the Office of Naval Research’s Composites Manufacturing Technology Center via The Composites Consortium (TCC).
Prior to joining NIAR, he worked as a stress analyst on the Airbus A380 program, focusing on structural compliance with FAA and EASA certification requirements. He holds BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Aerospace Engineering from Wichita State University and has been a long-time resident of Wichita, Kansas.
Nolan Strall
Strategy & Sales, Fiber Dynamics Inc.
As part of an innovative industry partnership, Nolan is responsible for Strategy & Sales at Fiber Dynamics, Inc, and oversees the U.S. Business Development for FILL USA. Working in partnership with FILL, Nolan is growing and scaling FDI’s need for high-volume composites manufacturing in the automotive, aerospace, and defense markets. At the same time, Nolan works to bring FILL’s automated solutions for aerospace manufacturing systems, non-destructive testing, castings, CNC machining, aluminum profile manufacturing, and timber manufacturing to the U.S. market, enabling the onshoring of advanced manufacturing technology & capability for the future.
Prior to working with FILL & Fiber Dynamics, Nolan was the President of KraussMaffei USA from 2022 to 2024, and Vice President Operations & Aftermarket from 2020 - 2021. Nolan began his career in 2002 working for Siemens Industry and eventually moved into Aerospace Composite Fiber Placement & Metal Cutting Equipment in 2010, working for Fives High Precision Machines, before moving to KraussMaffei at the end of 2019. Nolan holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and a minor in business administration from Ohio University in Athens, OH.