On March 15, 2017, Luxembourg based e-Xstream engineering, an MSC Software company, along with co-winners Solvay Engineering Plastics and Solvay Specialty Polymers were honoured with a JEC Innovation Award for launching Digimat Additive Manufacturing. Awarded in the software category, the launch was recognised for its innovation and market potential. On hand to celebrate was a large Luxembourg contingent from the composite industry alongside representatives from Luxinnovation amongst others.
Every year the JEC Group celebrates composite innovation at its finest at its annual JEC World. It really is a pivotal event for the advancement of the global composite industry and over 15 years, the JEC Innovation Programme has involved 1,800 companies worldwide. During that time, 177 companies and 433 partners have been rewarded for the excellence of their composite innovations. The competition is global, encompassing 5 programmes including the JEC Paris Innovation Award, given out every year during the JEC Show in Paris since 1998.
As a measure of how large and important the event is, this year’s packed Paris Show boasted 37,000+ visitors and 1,300 exhibitors from 100+ countries. JEC organised 900+ business meetings, 120 conferences and Leadership Circles and 35+ technical presentations over 3 days.
Growing composite market in Luxembourg
Luxembourg had a strong presence at the fair. Participating companies with booths at JEC included Airtech, Euro-Composites,e-Xstream, Michelman, as well as Ocsial demonstrating the growing Luxembourg composite market (6.2% annual), which is currently made up of 1,400 employees with €400 million in revenue. Delegates also included several representatives from Luxinnovation in their various roles of promoting the Luxembourg materials sector and composite industry or facilitating B2B and benchmarking meetings as well as networking.
The event culminated in the Innovation Award, which honours the best composite breakthroughs based on their technical interest, market potential, partnerships, financial and environmental impact and originality, being awarded to e-Xstream, with CEO Roger Assaker on hand to accept. The Award was presented by Professor Philippe Dubois, from the NCC-L (National Composites Centre-Luxembourg) and handed over by Gaston Schmit, 1st Counsellor of the Government Luxembourg, Ministry for Higher Education and Research.