The organizers of JEC World 2026 have announced the list of finalists for the JEC Composites Innovation Awards. The program, established in 1998, distinguishes collaborative, innovative and ambitious projects that demonstrate the potential of composite materials in industrial applications. Over 28 years, the awards have evolved into a benchmark initiative aimed at identifying, promoting and rewarding composite solutions on a global scale. According to JEC, more than 2,200 companies from around the world have taken part in the competition so far, and 269 companies together with 811 associated partners have been recognized for the excellence of their innovations. The open formula of the competition, addressed to companies, universities and R&D centers, is intended to provide a platform where novel concepts and collaborative developments can be assessed by an international panel and showcased to a professional audience focused on emerging trends in composites.
For the 2026 edition, 154 applications were submitted. From this pool, 33 finalists have been selected, with one winner to be chosen in each of the 11 categories. The scope of the categories reflects major end-use sectors for composites, as well as transversal topics such as circularity, digitalization and renewable energy. By combining part-focused and process-focused distinctions, the awards seek to highlight both product performance and manufacturing innovation. The competition format also supports international visibility for the selected projects, which benefit from exposure at JEC World and in associated communication channels targeted at industry stakeholders across the composites value chain.
Categories covering applications and processes
The JEC Composites Innovation Awards 2026 span 11 categories that collectively address key transport, energy and infrastructure markets, as well as enabling technologies. The categories are as follows:
- Aerospace – Parts
- Aerospace – Process
- Automotive & road transportation – Parts
- Automotive & road transportation – Process
- Circularity & recycling
- Digital, AI & data
- Maritime transportation & shipbuilding
- Pipes, tanks & hydrogen
- Railway vehicles & infrastructure
- Renewable energies
- Sports, leisure & recreation
This structure mirrors the way composite technologies are being deployed across established and emerging applications. Aerospace and automotive are divided into parts and process categories, underlining the importance of both component design and manufacturing routes in sectors where weight, performance and cost optimization are critical. Maritime transportation and shipbuilding, pipes, tanks and hydrogen, and railway vehicles and infrastructure represent traditional and evolving infrastructure-related markets where corrosion resistance, durability and safety requirements drive material choices.
The presence of circularity and recycling as a dedicated category reflects ongoing efforts to address end-of-life management of composite materials and to integrate recycled content into new solutions. Similarly, the digital, AI and data category acknowledges the growing role of numerical methods, process monitoring, predictive tools and data-driven optimization in composite design and manufacturing. Renewable energies and sports, leisure and recreation complete the list, highlighting the contribution of composites to sectors such as wind energy and high-performance consumer and recreational products.
International expert jury
The projects entered in the JEC Composites Innovation Awards 2026 are evaluated by an international jury composed of representatives from academia, research institutions and industry. The jury members announced for this edition are:
- Mr. Michel Cognet, Chairman of the Board, JEC
- Dr. Klaus Drechsler, Professor, Chair of Carbon Composites, Technical University of Munich
- Prof. Bronwyn Fox, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Enterprise), UNSW Sydney
- Dr. Roberto Frassine, Full Professor, Polymeric and Composite Materials, Politecnico di Milano
- Prof. Sung Ha, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University
- Prof. Dr. Patricia Krawczak, Full Professor, Centre for Materials & Processes, IMT Nord Europe / Institut Mines-Télécom
- Prof. Gilles Lubineau, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of MCEM and Enercomp, KAUST
- Dr. Antonio Nanni, Professor, Department of Civil and Architecture Engineering, University of Miami
- Prof. Veronique Michaud, Head of the Laboratory for Processing of Advanced Composites (LPAC), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
- Prof. Kiyoshi Uzawa, Director, Innovative Composite Center, Kanazawa Institute of Technology
- Mrs. Müge Yenmez, CTO and Composite EMEA General Manager, Kordsa
The composition of the jury underlines the global reach of the awards, with members based in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America, and active in disciplines ranging from carbon composites and mechanical engineering to civil engineering and advanced processing. Their task is to assess the submitted projects according to criteria that typically include the level of innovation, the collaborative dimension, and the potential impact on markets and technologies, in line with the objectives set for the JEC Composites Innovation Awards since their inception.
Announcement of winners at JEC World Premiere
The winners of the JEC Composites Innovation Awards 2026 will be announced during the JEC World Premiere on 12 January 2026 in Paris. This event will also include a presentation of the main highlights of JEC World 2026. In addition, the organizers will reveal the 20 startups selected for the JEC Startup Booster competition, which is aimed at emerging companies bringing new solutions and business models into the composites sector. By combining the announcement of the innovation award winners with the presentation of startup initiatives, the JEC World Premiere is positioned as a platform where established industrial players and new market entrants can be showcased together within the broader ecosystem of composite materials.
