Aimplas, the plastics technology centre, will organise the first edition of the international HI!-Plastics seminar on 6 and 7 October. The event is intended to bring together companies, technology centres and innovation stakeholders around the latest advances in high-performance materials and their industrial applications. The seminar, sponsored by Plasmatreat, will focus on real industrial challenges, the latest technological solutions and emerging research lines. The organiser announces the presentation of specific solutions and applications for mobility, defence and energy.
The meeting is being held at a time when advanced materials play an important role in the transformation of sectors such as aerospace, defence, automotive, transport, marine industry, electronics, construction and energy. The search for lighter, stronger, functional and more sustainable solutions is driving intensive research and development activity. According to Aimplas, collaboration across the entire value chain is essential to accelerate the market implementation of innovations. The programme has been divided into five blocks covering high-performance materials and processes, dual-use technologies, functional solutions and sustainability strategies applied to advanced products and systems. The event will combine technical presentations, poster sessions and networking space to foster knowledge exchange and collaboration in R&D projects at national and international level.
Five thematic blocks
The first session, entitled Advanced composites and structural materials, will address the latest developments in structural composite materials, from traditional solutions to high-performance composites. New reinforcement architectures, advanced polymer matrices and their behaviour under demanding service conditions will be discussed. This part of the programme will feature specialists including Helena Abril of Aemac, Ferrie van Hattum of TPAC, Jaime García of Guztec Polymers and Carlos Barreto of Norner. The speakers are expected to present trends, industrial applications and strategies to improve performance, durability and efficiency.
The second block, Fire resistance in advanced materials: from challenges to applications, will focus on materials with functions that go beyond structural behaviour. The scope of the session includes challenges related to the development of safe and sustainable flame-retardant solutions aligned with current regulatory requirements. The latest technical advances concerning engineering plastics, advanced fire-protection strategies for materials intended for next-generation vehicles, and the development of innovative reactive phosphorus-based solutions for rigid polyurethane foams used in construction will be presented. Participants in the session are expected to include Lodovico Agostinis of Aimplas, Thomas Futterer, Tobias Moss and Roberto Chinchilla of Budenheim, Shannon Gainey of Huber, Jonathan Hall of William Blythe, Adrian Beard of Clariant, De-Yi Wang of IMDEA, as well as Sander Kroon of ICL and Thoralf Küchler of Lanxess.
The third session, dedicated to functional materials and advanced manufacturing processes, will focus on the technologies driving the next generation of high-performance materials and their path to market implementation. This part will feature Corina Neumeister and Reiner Sauerwein of Nabaltec, Lorenzo Impelluso of Aimplas and Juanjo de la Cuesta of Future Fibres. The presentations will cover both the development of new functional materials and advances in the production processes required for their industrialisation. The organiser announces discussion of the potential of mineral flame retardants with thermal barrier and thermal conductivity properties, the latest innovations in continuous-fibre composite materials, and the development of high-performance fibres for demanding applications. Particular emphasis is to be placed on challenges related to scaling, industrial integration and the effective transfer of R&D results to the production environment.
Scope of the second day
The second day of the seminar will open with a presentation by the CMT, Clean Mobility & Thermofluids group at the Universitat Politècnica de València, which is to present its perspective on the challenges and opportunities related to advanced materials in the fields of mobility and energy technologies. This will be followed by the Energy and dual-use technologies block, dedicated to the role of advanced materials in the development of solutions for the energy transition and strategic dual-use applications. The session will include Andrés Cámara of Albis and Diogo Vale of Corpower. The presentations are expected to include examples of the use of advanced polymer materials in high-demand sectors and experience gathered over a decade of work on composite materials for the industrialisation of wave energy.
To conclude the event, a block dedicated to industrial coatings with advanced properties is planned. The session will focus on innovative surface solutions that improve the performance, durability and functionality of components intended for high-demand sectors such as aerospace, energy and industry. This part of the programme will feature Blai López of Aimplas, Desiderio Díaz of Plasmatreat and Agustín Chiminelli of ITA. The presentations will address anti-icing technologies in aerospace using low-energy heating coatings, advanced surface-treatment solutions improving material functionality, and coatings with self-healing properties for wind turbines.
According to the organiser, the first edition of HI!-Plastics, held with the support of Plasmatreat and in cooperation with Pinfa, is intended to strengthen Aimplas's role in the research and development of advanced polymer materials, while also supporting collaboration and knowledge transfer in response to technological and sustainability challenges in industry.
