CMASLab and its youngest spin-off company 9T Labs were present with an exhibition booth and presentations at the 4th International Conference and Exhibition on Thermoplastic Composites (ITHEC 2018) in Bremen, Germany. The conference took place from 30-31 October and since 2012 it is a key event in the international thermoplastic composites community. It welcomed over 330 international participants and featured oral as well as poster presentations and more than 50 exhibitors showing their current projects and products.

CMASLab (ETH Zurich), led by Prof. Paolo Ermanni and part of SCCER Mobility Capacity Area A3, conducts research in the field of engineering structures focused on design, modeling and fabrication of adaptive material systems and composite structures for the application in lightweight systems. Besides being able to interact with conference participants at its exhibition booth, CMASLab was also represented by PhD students Nicole Aegerter and Christoph Schneeberger, who gave a talk about a scalable process for producing hybrid bicomponent fibers. This could lead to more efficient manufacturing of thermoplastic composites.

9T Labs, the newest spin-off company of CMASLab, has developed a 3d printing technique that uses continuously reinforced carbon fiber composites. Their innovative 3d printer integrates state-of-the-art sensor technology and learning techniques that allow for flexible manufacturing, complex geometric designs as well as faster and cheaper low volume production compared to conventional processes. Martin Eichenhofer, member of the 9T Labs team and PhD student at CMASLab, presented a method to optimize thermoplastic welding properties in an additive manufacturing process, part of the efforts of 9T Labs.

For more information, contact Christoph Schneeberger or see the details about the CMASLab conference talks:

A Scalable Process for Making Hybrid Bicomponent Fibers for the Efficient Manufacturing of Thermoplastic Composites

Nicole Aegerter¹, Christoph Schneeberger¹, Shelly Arreguin¹, Joanna C.H. Wong², Paolo Ermanni¹

¹ETH Zurich, Switzerland, ²University of Calgary, Canada

Link to ETH Research Collection

Optimizing the Thermoplastic Welding Properties in an FRTPC Additive Manufacturing Process

Martin Eichenhofer¹, Shelly Arreguin¹, Joanna C.H. Wong², Paolo Ermanni¹

¹ETH Zurich, Switzerland, ²University of Calgary, Canada

Link to ETH Research Collection

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