Lighter, Stronger Materials are Changing How We Build Everything
Chad Duty, CEO of IACMI (The Composites Institute)
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At IACMI, aerospace companies, material suppliers, startups, universities, and national laboratories gather around the same table, often with the same goal: finding the next composites breakthrough.
In this episode of The TechEd Podcast, Matt Kirchner sits down with Chad Duty, CEO of IACMI - The Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation, to explore the materials, technologies, and partnerships shaping the future of advanced manufacturing. Chad explains how composites are being deployed across aerospace, automotive, energy, infrastructure, and national defense applications, and how nearly 200 member organizations work together to move ideas from research into commercial production.
We also explore innovation in America - from the big OEMs to small startups - and how the U.S. needs to get back to building. Chad describes an innovation ecosystem that includes organizations such as Northrop Grumman, Google, Airbus, Volkswagen, ExxonMobil, universities, national laboratories, and small manufacturers. He argues that manufacturing capability remains one of America's most important competitive advantages, but only if the country continues developing the talent pipeline needed to sustain innovation, production, and economic growth.
In this episode:
- Breakthrough innovations in composites and their uses that will blow your mind
- Why major manufacturers increasingly look to startups for innovations they can mine
- Why early exposure is key to both getting more individuals into manufacturing and ensuring they're successful on Day 1
- Where the U.S. has strayed from our roots as innovators and builders, and how we can fix it
3 Big Takeaways from this Episode:
1. Many of manufacturing's most important innovations originate in small and mid-sized companies.
IACMI's network includes nearly 200 organizations ranging from startups and family-owned manufacturers to companies such as Northrop Grumman, Airbus, Google, and ExxonMobil. Chad describes large manufacturers using consortium meetings as a form of "innovation mining," searching for solutions developed by smaller firms with specialized expertise. The result is an innovation ecosystem where breakthrough ideas often move from small manufacturers into some of the world's largest industrial organizations.
2. Composite materials are expanding into industries and applications that most people would never associate with advanced manufacturing.
Learn about where composites are being used in innovative ideas today, from carbon-core transmission lines being explored to meet growing data-center power demands, to corrosion-resistant infrastructure and a composite bridge that can be monitored in real time through embedded sensors. Chad also points to projects such as a lighter composite liftgate for Volkswagen and Army Corps of Engineers applications where durability and corrosion resistance can dramatically extend infrastructure life.
3. A nation that stops making things eventually loses its ability to innovate.
Chad argues that innovation and manufacturing are inseparable because companies learn by designing, building, testing, and improving products in the real world. That belief shape IACMI's workforce strategy, which begins with elementary-school exposure, continues through online learning and boot camps, and extends into internships, apprenticeships, and industry experiences. Rebuilding America's manufacturing capacity, in his view, requires rebuilding the pipeline of people capable of participating in it.
Resources in this Episode:
- Learn more about IACMI - The Composites Institute
- Learn more about the Build Freedom initiative at buildfreedom.us
- The Titanium Economy by Asutosh Padhi
- Freedom's Forge by Arthur Herman
- See other Manufacturing USA Institutes
This episode was filmed at IMTS in partnership with the Smartforce Student Summit
Connect with our guest online:
Chad Duty - LinkedIn | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube
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