These materials have advanced properties compared to steel, titanium and aluminum, as examples, and the company’s patents for several metal alloys are based on developing gears for space and other extreme-cold temperature applications.

The s191H is one of a family of Starrag Bumotec mill-turn machining centers targeted at precision machining of often complex parts in a single set up. Source: Starrag

Amorphous metals are a non-crystalline class of alloys that cut and chip differently than other materials, the company explains. In its attempt to source a machine tool that could produce its micro-gears, Amorphology conducted tests with several machine suppliers, including Starrag, to assess the precision, cycle times and overall capabilities of the machines as they cut a relatively unknown alloy.

“We were focused on finding the best machine to meet our rapid prototyping, mold insert cutting and post-processing needs,” says Jason Riley, Amorphology’s COO. Ultimately, the company chose Starrag’s Bumotec s191H mill-turn.

After receiving CAD files of the prototype micro-gears and performing machining tests using a Starrag-developed cutting tool at the machine tool builder’s sites in Switzerland and the United States, several sample batches were produced.

“We are targeting high-precision parts with tolerances of often around five microns on certain dimensions,” Riley explains. “Most of our work is focused on rapid prototyping and relatively low batch production quantities in the region of hundreds of parts per month.

“The Bumotec provides the mill-turn capabilities that we currently don’t have, as well as a higher production capacity,” he adds. “The machine supplements our current abilities and it provides capabilities that we don’t have.”

Here are examples of the micro-gears produced on the mill-turn. Source: Starrag

Amorphology points out that the Bumotec s191H can “offer a unique value proposition,” by either machining single pieces or by producing hundreds of components in a lights-out scenario.

In addition to making gears for aerospace uses, Amorphology’s gears are used in cobots, robots and medical devices. For example, most cobots use strainwave gears — the main component being a flexspline, which is a complex, thin-walled part.

The s191H is one of a family of Bumotec mill-turn machining centers targeted at precision machining of often complex parts in a single set up. With 65-mm bar capacity, bar feeder and high-pressure (3 hp) coolant delivery, the s191H can achieve machining capabilities to ±2.5 microns within its X, Y and Z axes range of 410 by 200 by 400 mm courtesy of linear drives and high thermal stability.

Evolved from Starrag’s Bumotec s191 mill-turn, the 191neo version offers additional performance capabilities including 15% faster tool change time, 12% faster backworking movement and a higher-torque (175 Nm) milling spindle. This multitasking machine platform with B-axis spindle offers storage of as many as 90 tools in its automatic toolchanging system. The model shown here was on display at IMTS 2022 demonstrating the machining of spinal cages complete from polyetheretherketone (PEEK) polymer. Source: PM

In addition, its main spindle is complemented by a sub-spindle that can turn in both horizontal and vertical planes to enable multitasking routines. Tool magazine options extend to up to 90 pockets on a machine that has rapid traverse rates of 50 m/min and a spindle speed of 30,000 rpm (40,000 rpm is an option) that also contribute to its fast cycle times.

Many of Amorphology’s cobot, robot and medical device parts can be cast or injected molded, but at times these micro-parts need to be post-processed to higher tolerances. Starrag Bumotec “cut its teeth” in designing machines for the Swiss watch industry and, as a result, the machines are adept at producing micro-sized, high-value gears. Amorphology projects that the Bumotec s191H will machine micro gearboxes without lubrication.

The company also appreciated the results and in discussions with Starrag about how both organizations could co-operate, it was agreed that Amorphology would feature the Bumotec machine in its Pasadena, California, facility for both companies’ customers to view.

At the demo center, the machine can be seen producing a variety of parts including gears, mold inserts, bulk metallic glasses and traditional metal production parts.

Greg Dunkley, Starrag Bumotec’s vice president of precision engineering, says “Establishing a laboratory environment to showcase the precision, quality and capabilities of the Bumotec s191H will enable aerospace and defense engineers to experience this real-time machining that could be used in their manufacturing operations.”

Las soluciones desarrolladas incluyen PHB, recubrimientos compostables y envases con propiedades de barrera.
Fuente: Aimplas.

El proyecto europeo BioSupPack ha demostrado que los residuos de la producción de cerveza pueden transformarse en bioplásticos de alto rendimiento para envases sostenibles, ofreciendo soluciones concretas para el cumplimiento del PPWR (Reglamento Europeo de Envases y Residuos de Envases).

Tras cinco años de desarrollo, el consorcio —integrado por 18 socios y coordinado por AIMPLAS— validó tecnologías a escala demostrativa en condiciones reales de operación.

El proyecto logró seis innovaciones clave que abordan retos críticos del sector. Entre ellas destaca un proceso de biorrefinería capaz de convertir bagazo de cerveza en PHB de alta pureza mediante pretratamiento por plasma y fermentación microbiana, así como el desarrollo de recubrimientos basados en PHA, compostables y de origen biológico, que pueden sustituir materiales convencionales como PE o PVC en aplicaciones de envase y textiles.

Asimismo, se desarrollaron envases compostables basados en fibras, con propiedades de barrera comparables a las de los plásticos tradicionales, junto con formulaciones de PHB optimizadas para envases rígidos, como botellas y expositores. Estas soluciones, ya validadas a escala industrial, permiten su procesamiento mediante tecnologías convencionales, como la extrusión-soplado y la inyección.

El proyecto también avanzó en el desarrollo de prototipos de clasificación y reciclado enzimático, facilitando la recuperación de nuevas corrientes de residuos biobasados. Este enfoque asegura un fin de vida eficiente y refuerza la viabilidad de una economía circular basada en bioplásticos de alto desempeño.

Con resultados disponibles para su adopción industrial, BioSupPack ofrece a productores de biopolímeros, fabricantes de envases y marcas de sectores como alimentos, cosmética y consumo masivo una ruta tecnológica viable para sustituir materiales fósiles. Además, contribuye a los objetivos del Pacto Verde Europeo y fortalece la bioeconomía circular al crear nuevas cadenas de valor a partir de residuos industriales.

The show floor of JEC World demonstrated a variety of applications, materials and technologies aimed at increasing the circularity, recyclablity and/or bio-based content of composite materials and parts. 2026 Source | CW

The exhibit floor of JEC World 2026 (March 10-12, 2026 in Paris, France) presented numerous material and process innovations, new applications and ideas about what’s next for various sectors of the industry. As always, the CW editorial team endeavors to compile highlights from what we’ve learned at the show — stay tuned for additional coverage to come.

Here, I’ll share some of the trends and new insights I learned specifically related to sustainability-focused solutions like circularity, recycling and bio-based materials. 

Recycling and circularity: New partnerships and scale-ups, fresh faces

The show debuted a Circularity Village this year, opening the door for a more dedicated approach to connecting the industry to recycling and circularity solutions — though circularity-focused companies could be found throughout the show floor.

The Circularity Village debuted at JEC World 2026. Source | CW

One theme emphasized this year is the growth of new partnerships and commitments along the value chain — highlighting the increase in manufacturers and OEMs from wind blade manufacturing to commercial aircraft seeking solutions for scrap and end-of-life (EOL) parts.

Organizations like the European Circular Composites Alliance (ECCA) from the European Composites Industry Association (EuCIA, Brussels, Belgium) and the Norwegian Circular Materials Technology (NCMT, Sandane, Norway) industry cluster aim to be part of and to lead these conversations, and are demonstrating new working groups and directory initiatives geared toward connecting various players along the value chain. ECCA, for example, which was launched just last year at JEC World 2025 in partnership with JEC Group, now boasts 200+ members across Europe.

Speaking of partnership announcements during JEC World, recycling technology startup Fairmat (Paris, France) may have set the record with six new partnerships announced. A new contract with Syensqo (Brussels, Belgium) was announced just ahead of the show; and throughout the event contracts with Airbus (Toulouse, France), construction solutions provider Etex (Zaventum, Belgium), racket sports equipment manufacturer Babolat (Lyon, France), LaunchPad O&P (Minneapolis, Minn., U.S.) and Billy Footwear (Kent, Wash., U.S.), and winter sports equipment manufacturer Salomon (Annecy, France) were also announced.

A few of the Fairmat products (top) and products manufactured using Fairmat materials (bottom) on display at the show. Source | CW

“We are positioning ourselves as not only a recycling company, but as a high-performance material supplier, and these partnerships represent that,” explains Benjamin Saada, founder and CEO of Fairmat. The company currently operates four sites: its headquarters and R&D center in Paris; its FairFactory production and development site in Nantes, France; a production site in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.; and its newest location in Danyang, China.

Fairmat also displayed several new applications of its recycled carbon fiber (rCF) materials, which are processed from CF/epoxy aerospace scrap, cured and precision cut into the company’s signature chips, which can then be processed via AI- and robotics-enabled processes into high-performance plates, FairPly, FairPatch and FairStrip products. In addition to these, Fairmat debuted its latest capabilities for producing curved or tubular applications like L-shaped bars or pipes, and its new Fairboard product line. The curved or tube applications are enhanced via a proprietary surface treatment to create more flexible plates that can be molded into 3D shapes. “There are no limits to the types of applications possible,” Saada says. The Fairboards, which are manufactured from pultruded CF/polyester profiles sourced largely from spar caps on decommissioned wind blades, can replace traditional materials in countertops or other interior applications.

Also during the show, the Advanced Materials Business of Aditya Birla Chemicals (Thailand) Ltd. (AM-ABCTL, Bangkok), producer of recyclable resin technology Recyclamine, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with solvolysis-based recycling company Catack-H (HwaSeong, South Korea) to explore a strategic partnership focused on the recycling of composites. The collaboration aims to develop sustainable, scalable and commercially viable recycling solutions.

Within the Circularity Village, recycling company Gjenkraft (Høyanger, Norway), incorporated in 2021, emphasized the work it is doing with glass fiber manufacturing partners like Owens Corning (Toledo, Ohio, U.S.) to reprocess glass fiber production scrap into new, usable glass fiber materials.

This demonstrator wind blade section, developed for the REFRESH EU project, was manufactured via vacuum infusion integrating a nonwoven mat made from thermally recycled glass fibers. Gjenkraft was a project partner, along with CETMA, Cormatex Srl and EireComposites Teo. Source | CW

According to CEO Marcin Rusin, Gjenkraft’s pilot line has a processing capacity of 350 tons of material per year, but the industrial-scale system to be commissioned soon will have the capacity to process nearly 3,000 tons per year. “We can process glass or carbon fiber, and we’re continuing to test new materials but most of our feedstock now is glass fiber,” Rusin explains. Most of the company’s feedstock today is sourced from end-of-life wind turbine blades, with a smaller amount coming from manufacturing scrap and offcuts.

The process is amended slightly for different materials, but essentially involves a “multi-step thermal process followed by a post-treatment,” he says. This process starts with cleaning and sorting of incoming feedstock, then what Rusin describes as “mechanical downsizing,” followed by what’s described as “a thermal decomposition of resins from the fibers.”  

Gjenkraft also works with partners to manufacture its recycled materials into nonwovens that can be reused in new projects, and the company is a member of NCMT.

New in 2026, Swancor’s (Nantou City, Taiwan) recycling division has announced a partnership with Lineat Composites (Chepstow, U.K.), a company aiming to industrialize its process for aligning short recycled fibers into aligned discontinuous fiber tapes. “This is part of an effort to expand our partnerships in other regions beyond Asia,” explains Aden Tsai, general manager at Swancor. “We’ll supply EzCiclo to Lineat to expand our footprint into the U.K.”

Taiibot robots, built by Swancor's newest branch company and incorporating CFRP parts made using Swancor’s EzCiclo resin, on display at the show. Source | CW

Swancor’s solvolysis process can be used to reclaim both fibers and its own recyclable EzCiclo thermoset resin from parts made using the material. Currently, the company operates a pilot line in Taiwan and a commercial plant in China, which drives Swancor’s commercial application and global expansion of its recyclable resin technologies through collaborations with wind energy leaders like Siemens Gamesa. The company’s first European site, in Romania, is anticipated to go online in 2026. Swancor also plans to ultimately expand its footprint to other regions, including the U.S.

In addition to recycling, Swancor has divisions that sell resins including EzCiclo (customers include electric vehicle startup Liux, as well as sporting goods and printed circuit board manufacturers and more), produces prototype parts to prove out its resins for use by potential customers, and — new in 2026 — a robotics division.

A robot dog and a humanoid robot prototype on display at the show demonstrated not only that branch of the company’s software and robotics capabilities, but also its resin and parts production abilities. The robots included legs, chest cavities and linkage components made from carbon fiber and EzCiclo resins — resulting in 30-50% lighter weight per part than a demonstrator part made from metal, Tsai says.

“TaiiBot, the robot brand of Swancor Robot Technologies, will begin selling robots in Q2 of 2026, and we anticipate selling more than 1,000 this year,” Tsai explains. “The robot dog is programmed with sensors and cameras, and would be suitable as a guard. Our humanoid robots are programmed to speak English, French or other languages, and could be used in reception areas, as guides or to move objects in factories, for example.”

Scaling up to meet demand. As in the cases already mentioned, new partnerships and commitments from industry often lead to growth and scale-up, and there were a number of other circularity-focused companies speaking about imminent growth plans as well.

For example, Gen 2 Carbon (Coseley, U.K.), a pyrolysis recycling specialist that converts carbon fiber composite manufacturing scrap into nonwovens for reuse in new applications, is aiming to more than double its 180 ton/year capacity for recycled carbon fiber nonwovens by the end of this year, says Frazer Barnes, chairman and CTO.

“Over the next 6 to 18 months we have a compressive plan to expand our U.K. capacity and establish U.S. capacity for both carbon fiber recovery by pyrolysis and production of recycled carbon fiber nonwovens,” he says. The U.S. market in particular presents a large opportunity for growth for in recycled carbon fiber composites, he adds, and this is a now a major focus for the company’s expansion.

“In the right applications, products improve key performance metrics of carbon fiber by up to 50% — and sometimes even higher — compared to virgin carbon fiber,” Barnes claims.

Carbon Cleanup (Traun, Austria) recently debuted its Octobus filling station machine that pairs with its CARB-E mobile mechanical recycling units. Daniel Michlmayr, product engineer, explains that the startup is currently working closely with its first three machine customers on the initial rollout of this technology. Looking ahead, Carbon Cleanup is scaling up production with plans to an build eight additional recycling systems in the coming year.  

The units process aerospace carbon fiber materials such as advanced prepreg and cured scrap and can either feed this back into aerospace applications (a closed-loop system) or other open-loop applications in automotive, sporting goods or others.

Jörg Radanitsch, CEO and co-founder, adds that JEC World led to “significant interest in our recycling solution and the high-quality products made from CARB-E-grade carbon fiber.” Key applications on display included ski bindings produced by HEAD and new 3D printing filaments, “which showcase the versatility of our recycled material,” Radanitsch says.

Uplift360 (Bristol, U.K.), an advanced materials startup that is developing a low-temperature chemical process to recover materials such as carbon fiber and aramids, recently announced a move to the Science Creates tech incubator in Bristol.

The drone arm on display at the show was produced from recycled materials recovered from a helicopter rotor blade, in an R&D partnership between Uplift360 and Leonardo.  Source | CW

“Our technology turns what is currently burned, buried or exported into a reliable, high-quality feedstock stream, strengthening supply-chains for primes, OEMs and government customers,” explains Sam Staincliffe, CEO and co-founder. Soon after the show, Uplift360 recently announced a new partnership with Leonardo, following the close of the company’s funding round with lead investor Extantia and major contributions from NATO Innovation Fund. According to Staincliffe, this financing will enable the startup to commission its first pilot-scale processing line in the U.K. in 2026.

Alpha Recyclage Composites (Toulouse, France) “uses a steam thermolysis process that results in a gaseous resin that can be burned to provide the heat required to run the process, and discontinuous fibers that we supply directly to customers or that can be manufactured into nonwovens by our partners,” explains Lou Fauché, process engineer. 

The company, founded in 2009, has been operating a pilot plant on a batch basis since 2019, and aims to launch an industrial-scale continuous production line in 2027 which will be able to process up to 1,000 tons/year of CFRP scrap or EOL parts. For the construction of the new plant, Alpha Recyclage Composites has a strategic collaboration with Westlake Epoxy, “who is supporting us throughout the project,” Fauché notes.

New faces in the recycling and circularity space. Between the Circularity Village and Startup Booster, I was introduced to multiple new or new-to-me companies in the recycling and circularity space at the show this year. One of these was Verretex (Saint-Sulpice, Switzerland), a startup operating a pilot-scale facility for manufacturing textiles from recycled glass fibers. Mitchell Anderson, CEO and co-founder, explains that the company, of EPFL (the Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Lausanne), receives short glass fibers (from 60-100 millimeters in length) from recyclers, which it then weaves back into nonwoven materials that manufacturers can use to make new parts ranging from skis and other sporting goods equipment to automotive, construction or wind turbine blade applications.

Nonwoven products produced by Verretex (top) enable production of demonstrator parts displayed at the show (bottom). Source | Verretex (top) and CW (bottom)

“Our process involves cleaning, surface treatment and resizing as needed, and we’re able to restore a lot of the original properties back to the glass fibers,” Anderson claims.

One current high-profile project for Verretex involves the conversion of GF waste from retired racing yachts into materials for new parts.

Partnering with sustainable watchmaker ID Genève Watches and ocean advocate Romain Pilliard, Verretex is contributing rGF nonwovens sourced from retired trimaran Use It Again formerly helmed by Dame Ellen MacArthur, which will be reengineered into faces for limited-edition watches to raise awareness for the need for sustainable solutions in the marine industry.

Lavoisier Composites (La Mulatière, France) was founded in 2018 and made its JEC World debut first as a Startup Booster finalist in 2023. “We collect aerospace manufacturing scrap like CF/epoxy prepreg, and put it through a thermocompression process, followed by machining,” explains Nicholas Mistou, managing director.

An assortment of aesthetic and structural components were displayed at the show by Lavoisier. Source | CW

The result is machined blocks of recycled material, called Carbonium, that can be turned into aesthetic pieces like decorative watch components, jewelry, interior design elements or aesthetic automotive parts.

AC Biode (Luxembourg and Japan) is a multi-division AC power and chemicals company whose Plastalyst division was a JEC World 2026 Startup Booster finalist and won the Sustainability Startup Booster award.

Robert Kunzmann, co-founder and COO, explains that the company’s technology is a low-temperature (200°C) and low-pressure solvolysis process “that is just water plus our secret catalyst. It’s safer than other chemical processes on the market and recovers fibers in a pristine state,” he says.

Plastalyst has completed pilot projects with 35+ companies so far, including Bosch, Daikyo Nishikawa and Toyota+Toyopet, and sees demand and potential growth in the automotive market in particular.

A popular circularity-focused display on the show floor was the Innovation Award-winning Lifecycle from Fenix Composites and partners, which demonstrates multiple thermoplastic composite technologies in an effort to prove out repairable processes that can extend the lifecycle of a bike or similar application. Source | CW

These are only a small number of the circularity-focused companies at the show and that are active in the industry. Find more information on a variety of recycling services and equipment/technology providers from around the world in CW’s sustainability resource page.

Bio-materials: Series production, increased bio-content, new entries

According to Bruno Pech, innovation project manager at the Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp (Paris, France), “We’re seeing a trend in the industry, where we’re seeing series production and real scale-up,” Pech says. “It’s nice to see demonstrators, but we’ve now been able to prove it’s a common technical fiber, not a novelty. Natural fiber isn’t just a bio-based replacement for glass, but a new fiber with its own merits. People aren’t just using it for aesthetics or sustainability reasons, but discovering its properties like damping.” The Alliance has 10,000+ members across the natural fiber value chain from farmers to textile suppliers to manufacturers specializing in natural fiber products from technical composites to fashion. It estimates about 10% of overall natural fiber usage goes into composite applications.

The Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp provides resources to the composites community from access to its 10,000+ member base across the value chain to guides on manufacturing with flax and hemp composite materials. Source | CW

“There’s been an education increase for sure, and this needs to continue,” Pech says. “We’re ‘there’ [ready for series production and scale-up] in sports and automotive markets, and moving into rail, marine and aerospace next, with demonstrators showing a lot of promise.”

The Alliance has recently released two new documents to help the composites manufacturing industry work more efficiently with natural fibers. The Environmental Footprint Guide, co-developed with the European Scientific Council, is a tool that allows manufacturers to calculate LCAs or PCFs using a database of real product information. “We’ve been working on this with the Council since 2009,” Pech says. The Alliance has also launched a new process guide to share critical process information about natural fibers with composites manufacturers. “Natural fibers aren’t a drop-in in terms of processing, you do need to adjust some parameters for them. This guide explains how to account for moisture, what processes work best for which materials and all of that,” Pech says.

Bio-materials moving toward high-volume automotive production. The most prominent example at the show of the series production and scale-up that Pech spoke about was found at the Bcomp Ltd. (Fribourg, Switzerland) booth, which displayed a full-scale BMW vehicle showcasing various flax fiber/epoxy parts made over the years for its race vehicles and — most notably — a roof developed for future BMW series road vehicles.

Bcomp has provided its flax fiber composite materials for a variety of BMW parts over the past several years (top image) including an ampliTex/epoxy roof (bottom image) that is developed by the OEM for future high-volume production. Source | CW

According to Johann Wacht, manager of business development and strategic customer relationships at Bcomp, “It’s been a long, slow ramp-up in our relationship with BMW since 2019. We started with Formula E cars, then the 2022 GT4, and now we’re road car-ready and aiming to ramp up.”

Working with BMW, the Bcomp team now has a BMW-specific weave and color to its ampliTex products — “they wanted to make their own unique identity” — and showed off a full BMW demonstrator vehicle at the show with an ampliTex/epoxy roof manufactured via resin transfer molding (RTM). The roof was put through a series of road car aging tests and passed all requirements —  “this is the silver bullet from the last decade — everyone wanted to be able to pass this,” Wacht says.

BMW has said it plans to use the roof on a future production series vehicle. “We scaled up our own material production specifically for this program,” Wacht says.

Importantly, Wacht emphasizes what Pech said as well, that natural fiber wasn’t only chosen as a “sustainable” or aesthetic material choice, but for its properties — in this case, BMW wanted the material’s radiotransparency properties for its increasingly electronic cars.

“All the work we’ve done in the past with Polestar and Cupra and others has led to this, and we’re hoping it’ll lead to even further innovation,” Wacht says.

Increasing amounts of bio-based content. Sicomin (Chateauneuf les Martigues, France), which had two stands including a dedicated GreenPoxy stand within the Bio-Materials Village, debuted its recent demonstrator skis made with ZAG Skis. The skis, made in part from recycled and bio-based materials, notably incorporate a new, specially developed GreenPoxy80 formulation, which reaches 80% bio-based content for the first time (versus the industry standard of about 50%).

These demonstrator skis were produced in part with 80% bio-based epoxy, the highest yet in a Sicomin product. Source | CW

While the skis so far are a proof of concept working toward series production, Marc Denjean, global sales manager at Sicomin, explains that the challenge was to create an epoxy with as much bio-based content as possible without compromising performance. “We started developing GreenPoxy around 2010, first for surfboards, then skis, now a variety of end markets like marine and civil engineering,” he says. “Today, 70% of Sicomin’s business is in GreenPoxy products, and we have a bio-based version of every product in our lineup.”

New faces. There were a variety of new and exciting technologies in the bio-materials space at the show, including the few listed here.

A few were focused more on bio-based or other alternative materials for the oil-based precursor typically used to manufacture carbon fiber. For example, Startup Booster finalist CGreen (Nantes, France), a recent spinoff in November 2025 from research institute IRT Jules Verne (Nantes), has developed a carbon fiber manufactured with nano-cellulose as a precursor alternative to oil-based polyacrylonitrile (PAN).

Céline Largeau, co-founder and CTO, explains that she and co-founder/CEO Gaëlle Guyador began working on this technology in 2015 while working at IRT Jules Verne. “We wanted to produce a bio-based CF similar in performance to a typical T300 fiber, and that’s less energy-intensive to produce,” she explains.

CGreen is developing carbon fiber manufactured with a nano-cellulose precursor. Source | CW

The process starts with recycled plant-based textiles or paper, that are ground or shredded into small pieces and then put through a chemical dissolution process. This results in a material suitable for spinning into yarns that can then go through a carbonization process to produce carbon fiber.

CGreen currently produces fibers at a lab-scale, and are aiming to build a pilot line this year. The goal is to produce 50 tons/year of fiber by 2029, and the company is targeting customers and applications in sporting goods to start, and to fill needs in the defense market.

Startup Booster finalist Mars Materials (Houston, Texas, U.S.) produces an acrylonitrile (ACN) that can be used to manufacture PAN for CF, among other products. The ACN product, called Hoigen-C, has been validated as a monomer for producing PAN precursor, by researchers at North Carolina State University, says Aaron Fitzgerald, CEO and co-founder at Mars Materials.

What is it made from? Fitzgerald explains that the company is able to make the monomer from a captured CO_2, water, electricity and ammonia, which it intends to source from collaborators such as oil company Shell. Mars Materials’ pilot line is co-located at Shell’s Technology Center in Houston, and the startup is also a Shell Gamechanger recipient, he says. “We also have funding from the U.S. Navy. A major U.S. initiative is to reshore the hypersonics supply chain, and our Hoigen-C can be used in the making of carbon fiber for that.”

The technology was developed by researchers at the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), and Fitzgerald says they aim to build the first commercial demonstration plant in the next 12-15 months.

Freshape demonstrated multiple new material grades of its wood fiber-based composite materials at JEC World (top image), as well as applications from sporting goods to drone bodies (bottom). Source | Freshape (top), CW (bottom)

There were also several companies at the show presenting natural fiber materials made not from flax or hemp, but from wood-based materials. For example, Freshape (Renens, Switzerland), produces Hiwood, a composite reinforcement made from natural wood fibers. Matthias Henchoz, global marketing lead, explains that the company stumbled upon the invention sort of by accident — the R&D team originally began experimenting with 3D printing using wood fibers with the goal of 3D printing houses and other large structures. “It was in this process and exploring ways in which to use wood as a raw material that we discovered the basis for what would later become HiWood,” he says.

“Our goal is to replace glass fiber with HiWood as a more sustainable, high performance reinforcement alternative for composites. As such, it shares mechanical performance properties similar, or superior, to GFRPs. HiWood achieves for example a Young’s modulus of 45 GPa and a superior density of 1.3g/cm³,” Henchoz says. The material is available as a unidirectional (UD) paper-thin sheet, as well as in the form of thermoplastic PA or thermoset epoxy prepregs, including bio-epoxy options. Applications on display included sporting goods, automotive, marine and aeronautic components. Freshape also premiered at JEC its new upcoming HiWood grades for 2026, including fire-resistant, weave fabric, honeycomb, perforated, BMC and SMC HiWood grades.

Zhengzhou Zhonguan Enterprise Group (Zhongyuan, China) manufactures a wood pulp-based technical yarn called Suncell. “Suncell is better than flax fiber in terms of properties and quality consistency, but it is much easier to process in weaving, for example, and is more cost-effective for customers,” says Niklas Garoff, managing director at Carbon Ecolution Ltd., a consultancy representing Suncell.

Suncell’s composites debut included various injection molded automotive applications made from the company’s wood pulp-based technical yarns. Source | CW

The company has been manufacturing textile yarns for the fashion industry for years, but began producing higher-performance “technical yarn” variations on its product for use in composites more recently with a pilot-scale line in 2021. JEC World 2026 was the composites trade show debut for Suncell’s technical yarn. Variations on the yarns include hybrid fabrics combined with carbon or aramid fiber.

On display at the show were application demonstrations such hydraulic hoses, pultruded profiles and injection-molded automotive interior components made with short or long fibers and thermoplastics.

One new face in the flax fiber market is Biofibix (Geel, Belgium), one of the Startup Booster finalists, who exhibited alongside its partner NFC manufacturer Fibryx (Stuttgart, Germany). Co-founded by Dr. Gilles Koolen, who studied at KU Leuven and did consultancy work for the Alliance for European Flax-Linen and Hemp, and  Vanacker Rumbeke BV, a Belgian scutching company, is a very recent spin-off from KU Leuven’s Composite Materials Group. At the time of JEC 2026, the company had been formed for about 10 months, according to Koolen.

Applications of Biofibix’s flax fiber nonwovens on display included a surfboard made with Sicomin bio-epoxy (top) and several automotive components like a demonstrator spoiler (bottom). Source | CW

Unlike most suppliers in the NFC space, Biofibix doesn’t focus on flax- or hemp-based woven fabrics or yarns but on nonwovens incorporating short flax fibers. “Using a [more cost-effective] nonwoven, we can demonstrate 90% of the mechanical properties that you’d have with a woven fabric in a quasi-isotropic layup, at 40% fiber volume fraction versus 35% that you’d have with a woven fabric,” Koolen says.

How? The key is a proprietary surface treatment to the nonwovens before resin is added.

So far, the company has demonstrated its capabilities in sporting goods, car spoilers, a camper van component, surfboards made with Sicomin’s GreenPoxy resin, and more. The material can be used with infusion, pultrusion, or resin transfer molding (RTM) processes — or, most recently, prepreg with partner Fibryx. This process, Koolen explains, results in a less expensive prepreg product that is “inventively stabilized” — there is no b-stage needed — and that exhibits a high-quality surface finish.

Soarce (Orlando, Fla., U.S.), the 2026 Startup Booster Grand winner, is an advanced materials company developing bio-based nanofiber sizing or binder additives that strengthen the fiber-matrix interface in a composite to improve adhesion, durability and load transfer.

As co-founder Mason Mincey explains, the system is built on proprietary nanofiber chemistries sourced from abundant natural materials like elephant grass, seaweed and traditional kraft pulp that form an ultra-thin coating on fiber surfaces, and don’t require changes in manufacturing processes. The result is a composite that has shown strength properties like ILSS, tensile and flexural between 30%-45%. While lab-scale at the moment, Soarce has plans to scale up to 1,000 tons/year at a pilot facility.

Continue following CW’s sustainability and JEC pages for more on this topic, the show and deeper dives into projects and applications I didn’t have a chance to discuss here!

Ward, Colorado. Elevation: 9,200+ feet.

For me, this start to the Buff Epic, a Colorado cycling event I have completed several times, is about as hard as it gets. I tried, but words fail me in describing what climbing on a road bike, nearly 4,000 feet in less than 30 miles, does to my body and mind. If the opening paragraph sounds excruciating, the actual experience is worse. What’s more, after nearly three hours of climbing, you still have 80 miles to go before reaching the finish line at 110 miles. What does it take to get through? Read on.

None of us knows what lies ahead for the manufacturing economy. I’m a genuine optimist, but also a believer that the advent of AI, the transformation ahead and the acutely competitive era we are entering is going to cause pain for many a manufacturing executive.

Plenty of us have survived it before. The global shift of the 1990s and watching our work depart for Asia and Mexico. The Dotcom bubble that decimated the tech industry and every manufacturer exposed to that market. The wake of the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession. COVID-19.

Each of these brought with it a new challenge for manufacturers, and a new chance to test our GRIT.

To some degree I attribute my ability to weather a business storm to my relationship with cycling, particularly the long-distance variety. Be it the Buff Epic described above, several completions of the 175-mile, single-day, Ride Across Wisconsin (one year it was brutally cold and literally rained the entire day) or my three Bay-to-Bay events in which six of my die-hard friends and I would pound 205 miles in a single day up the Lake Michigan shoreline.

For those uninitiated to endurance athletics — for me distance cycling, a half-Iron Man and a marathon — it’s interesting how many lessons carry over to enduring a business crisis.

Athletics: Relentless and disciplined training, finely tuned equipment, understanding your body and how it burns fuel, hydration, determination, the knowledge that you can feel close to dead at mile 140 only to find yourself full of energy at 150, the indescribable euphoria as the finish line disappears underneath you.

Business: Focused preparation and planning. Finely tuned production equipment. Understanding your business and how it consumes cash and grows sales, staying committed when customers, suppliers, bankers and teammates make it hard. Knowing you can get behind one quarter only to make up ground the next. The indescribable euphoria as you make it out the other side of the crises and the business rebounds.

Perhaps the greatest correlation is learning to SUFFER. Or, as we cyclists put it (robbing from the Navy SEALs), Embracing the Suck. There is great purpose in suffering. Suffering produces gratitude and appreciation for the blessings we still have. Suffering induces toughness, it brings teams together toward shared purpose, it inspires change and innovation that can make our organizations stronger and better prepared to face the challenges ahead. On the bike or on the shop floor.

The question is, do you and your team have what it takes to suffer?

Perhaps a harbinger for the disruption coming to manufacturing is what has happened recently to many software companies, whose market values have been savaged by investors wary about what AI-driven disruption might do to their future earnings.

A recent quote from Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi struck me so strongly that I shared the entire article in which it appeared with the leadership teams of our companies.

Says Goodarzi, “I was interviewing somebody yesterday, and the whole time my focus was do you actually have the grit? Have you had pain and suffering in your life? Do you actually know how to go through pain and suffering? Do you know how to get on the other side of pain and suffering and create greatness?” (WSJ, “The Fortune 500 CEO Who Puts a Premium on Pain and Suffering,” Bousqette, February 12, 2026.)

Given the coming disruption and the leadership and innovation that will be asked of all of us as AI transforms manufacturing, how each of us answers this question may portend whether our companies are around to tell their war stories five and 10 years from now.

Should it come, Embrace the Suck!

HPC tools like the CoroMill Plura increase metal removal rates by enabling higher feed rates while staying continuously engaged in the cut. Image courtesy of Sandvik.

New types of tooling and toolpath strategies, as well as new CAM features to take advantage of them, have enabled shops to run tools more aggressively for longer to produce higher-quality parts. These changes are visible to experts working on any of these technologies, and multiple conversations my colleagues and I have had with cutting tool experts have shed light on the kinds of developments job shops can use today.

What’s New in Tooling?

Chris Monroe, a mass production solution specialist at Sandvik, recently spoke with me about developments in high-performance cutting (HPC) and high-speed machining (HSM) tooling and how shops can use new generations of these tools to their greatest effect.

He says HPC benefits from new optimizations in tooling geometry, especially unequal helixes and conical cores with tapers that extend toward the tool base. Unequal helixes use different pitch angles in different sections of the tool to reduce resonance. This improves tool stability, enabling shops to run the tools harder while maintaining high tool life. Conical cores increase tool rigidity and reduce vibrations, improvements which also extend tool life.

HSM tools, he says, see tool life improvements from coating optimizations, as high-speed tool paths generate lots of heat in the cut. These improvements don’t need to stem from new coating formulations, as Sandvik has extended its tools’ life by using new PVD coating techniques to layer proven coatings in ways that better adhere to tooling.

What’s New in Tool Paths?

John Giraldo, an aerospace engineering manager for Sandvik, walked my colleague Brent Donaldson through tool paths for blisk roughing late in 2025. Some of these tool paths match up with HPC techniques like high-feed side milling, which combines a small radial step-over with full flute engagement at high feeds to reduce cutting forces while improving efficiency.

Giraldo also spoke of curve slotting, which uses a disc-style cutter that follows the 3D profile between blisk blades while staying continuously engaged to reduce non-cutting time. In one test with a cutter made for this operation, Giraldo machined 17 Inconel slots in 13 minutes each, using a single edge of each of the cutter’s inserts. After some optimization to the program, he cut the cycle times in half.

What’s New in CAM Support?

These kinds of optimizations are why Monroe recommends keeping CAM software up to date. Advanced features in CAM can decrease part cycle times even while reducing programming time. He points to features that tackle tight corners as an example. These details require careful speed management to prevent the tool from slamming against the part while maintaining swift speeds. CAM software can perform the necessary calculations without bogging down your programming team.

Tom Funke, CAM and applications specialist at Sandvik for the aerospace, space exploration and defense markets, also spoke with me about new CAM features that help with productivity. He says the last fifteen years have seen widespread adoption of advanced CAM features like trochoidal turning, a method of turning pocket groove features where a round insert follows a zig-zag tool path and never leaves the material, maximizing both metal removal rate and tool life. Even in the last five years, he says five-axis dynamic milling has gone from a time-consuming programming project to one supported and streamlined by major CAM software providers.

The 20-mm model features a 10,000-rpm spindle; 8,000 rpm for the 26-mm model. Both come standard with an 8,000-rpm, gear-driven subspindle and eight back-working tools (four fixed, four driven). As an option, the machines can be fitted with six back-working tools (two fixed and four driven) as well as two cross-working and two turning tools. A higher-horsepower cross-working spindle motor is also available for milling or drilling operations requiring more power to help reduce cycle times.

The machines offer an extended Z1-axis stroke of 240 mm with guide bushing and the flexibility to machine long workpieces with the guide bushing installed or shorter workpieces in “convertible” mode with the guide bushing removed. They are available with either Hanwha FANUC i or Siemens 828D controls.

Herramienta Vex, de Heule Precision Tools, diseñada para taladrar y chaflanar en una sola operación.
Fuente: Heule Precision Tools.

Heule Precision Tools amplía su portafolio con la herramienta Vex, diseñada para taladrar y chaflanar agujeros pasantes en una sola operación.

Esta solución combina una punta de carburo sólido con el sistema de chaflanado SNAP desarrollado por la empresa, y está disponible en diámetros de 5 a 17 mm para aplicaciones de alta precisión.

Independientemente del diámetro, la herramienta incorpora un filo de corte convexo que favorece un alto rendimiento de taladrado y genera virutas cortas y manejables, incluso en materiales de viruta larga.

Al eliminar la necesidad de cambios de herramienta entre el taladrado y el chaflanado, la Vex contribuye a incrementar la productividad, reducir tiempos de ciclo y mejorar la calidad del proceso.

El sistema de conexión entre la punta de taladrado y el cuerpo de la herramienta ofrece una unión robusta y precisa, que optimiza la transmisión de potencia y el desempeño general.

Estas características hacen que la herramienta Vex sea adecuada para entornos de producción de alta precisión, como la industria automotriz, en aplicaciones sobre discos de freno, tubos, cubos de rueda y componentes similares.

Un canal de viruta de gran tamaño optimiza la evacuación del material, mejora la limpieza del proceso y también la seguridad operativa.

Tanto la punta de taladrado como la cuchilla de chaflán pueden sustituirse fácilmente sin necesidad de reajuste previo, lo que reduce los tiempos de mantenimiento.

Además, la punta reemplazable puede reafilarse y recubrirse, lo que permite extender la vida útil de la herramienta y reducir el costo total por pieza.

El desarrollo abre nuevas oportunidades para envases en alimentos, cosmética y cuidado personal.
Fuente: GettyImages.

Polyplastics, Colgate-Palmolive y Plastic Technologies, Inc. (PTI) presentaron un nuevo método para fabricar botellas de polietileno de alta densidad (HDPE) mediante la tecnología de inyección-estirado-soplado (ISBM) durante The Packaging Conference en Austin, Texas.

Este enfoque adapta un proceso ampliamente utilizado en envases de PET para producir envases de HDPE más ligeros, delgados y aptos para llenado en caliente.

Actualmente, la mayoría de las botellas de HDPE se fabrican mediante extrusión-soplado (EBM), un proceso que suele implicar tiempos de ciclo más largos y un uso excesivo de material. La nueva tecnología ha demostrado reducciones superiores al 25 % tanto en el peso como en los tiempos de producción, mejorando la eficiencia y la sostenibilidad del proceso.

El avance es posible gracias a la incorporación de un copolímero de etileno tipo COC (copolímero de olefina cíclica), comercializado como TOPAS, que amplía significativamente la ventana de procesamiento del HDPE. Este material permite aplicar el proceso ISBM de manera estable, manteniendo la reciclabilidad del envase y mejorando sus propiedades clave.

Las pruebas realizadas en las instalaciones de PTI confirmaron la capacidad de estos envases para aplicaciones de llenado en caliente, lo que abre oportunidades en sectores como los de alimentos, cosméticos, cuidado personal y productos industriales. Por su parte, Colgate-Palmolive continúa evaluando esta tecnología como una alternativa para desarrollar envases más ligeros y alineados con las crecientes exigencias regulatorias.

Con este desarrollo, las compañías buscan acelerar la adopción comercial de botellas de HDPE producidas mediante ISBM, ofreciendo una solución innovadora que combina eficiencia, desempeño y sostenibilidad en el diseño de envases.

Platinum Tooling Technologies Inc. provides a range of products designed to enhance the rpm capabilities of machines from the largest turning centers to the smallest Swiss-type CNC lathe.

Heimatec speed increasers are available in a complete range designed for live-tool lathes and Swiss-style machines, offering gear ratios of 1:2, 1:3 and 1:4 with maximum speeds of 48,000 rpm. Design configurations include straight, offset, 90 degree and universal adjustable, while tools can be produced with external or internal coolant. Mounting options include BMT, Swiss-style machine and VDI interfaces to suit a wide range of machine tool setups.

With the growth of medical and other high-precision, high-volume manufacturing and the use of Swiss-style machines, speed increasers have become vital to the machine tool industry. As components get smaller, the cutting tools required also get smaller, necessitating higher rpm to provide maximum performance. 

Heimatec speeders for Citizen, Tsugami and Star machines are in stock at Platinum Tooling. Speed increasers for BMT turrets including Nakamura, Miyano, DN Solutions and Haas are also in stock. Additional models are available from factory inventory with short lead times. Engineered for efficiency and precision with high-quality components, these tools can provide increased productivity, long service life and cost savings for the busy machine shop or OEM production department.

Several design features are necessary to meet these processing goals, including:

• the length and depth of the vented section
• the design of the vent diverter
• second-stage metering channel length
• the pump ratio

The Figure 1 schematic shows a two-stage vented extruder.

Figure 1: Schematic for a two-stage, vented single-screw extruder. Source (all): M.A. Spalding

The pump ratio is the ratio of the pumping ability of the second-stage metering section relative to the pumping ability of the first-stage metering section. Typically, the pump ratio ranges between 1.1 and 1.5. The pump ratio for a screw with a constant lead length is the channel depth of the second-stage metering channel divided by the depth of the first-stage metering channel. Channel depths and lengths for a typical screw made for polystyrene (PS) are shown by Figure 2 for a 6-inch diameter screw.

For this design, the first-stage metering section controls the rate. The pump ratio is 1.44. For pellet-only feedstocks, the compression ratio is 3. The compression ratio for a screw with a constant lead length is the depth of the feed channel divided by the depth of the first-stage metering channel. The compression ratio must be high enough to maintain the first-stage metering channel when full of resin and pressurized.

What Axial Pressure Profile Means for Pump Ratio

Before the pump ratio is explained, it’s instructive to discuss the screw’s axial pressure profile. The axial pressure profile for the PS screw design shown in Figure 2 was determined using numerical simulation for a rate of 1,500 lb/hr and a screw speed of 55 rpm for a specific rate of 27.3 lb/(hr rpm). The specific rate is simply the rate divided by the screw speed. The axial pressure profile is shown by Figure 3. At this rate, the PS resin required a discharge pressure of 1,600 psi to run the downstream equipment. The calculated specific rate due to just the rotation of the screw without an imposed pressure gradient is 23 lb/(hr rpm) for the first-stage metering section. Because the second-stage metering channel is deeper, the rate due just to rotation is higher at 32.7 lb/(hr rpm).

Figure 2: Typical channel depths for a 6-inch diameter screw for PS resin. The compression ratio is 3, and the pump ratio is 1.44. The barrel wall is the top horizontal line of the figure.

As Figure 3 shows, pressure is a maximum at 1,800 psi at the start of the first-stage metering section, and it decreases to zero pressure before the vent. The pressure at the vent must be zero or resin will flow out of the vent opening. Thus, the first-stage metering channel has a negative pressure gradient. This negative pressure gradient causes the flow in the channel to be higher than the specific rate due to just rotation. Here the flow is at 27.3 lb/(hr rpm) and recall that the calculated specific rate due just to rotation is 23.0 lb/(hr rpm).

Figure 3: Axial pressure profile for the PS extruder in Figure 2 at a rate of 1,500 lb/hr at a screw speed of 55 rpm.

The extra 4.3 lb/(hr rpm) was caused by the negative pressure gradient. This negative pressure gradient must occur for a properly designed two-stage extruder since the pressure needs to be relatively high at the entry to the first-stage meter due to solids conveying and melting and zero pressure at the vent channel.

The pressure in the vent channel must be zero to remove volatiles and prevent flow of resin through the vent opening. Preventing vent flow also depends on a diverter that is positioned in the vent port. Vent flow was discussed in the February 2023 issue of Plastics Technology. The pressure in the vent decreases to zero by making the channel very deep. This causes the channel to be partially filled, exposing a large surface area of the molten polymer for mass transport of the volatiles to the void portion of the channel. The volatiles are then removed through the vent.

Downstream of the vent channel is a short transition section where the channel depth becomes shallower and eventually equivalent to the second-stage metering channel depth. As molten resin moves towards the second-stage meter, a location occurs where the channel flow changes from partially filled at zero pressure to completely filled. This is commonly referred to as the fill position. The fill position can occur in the transition section or in the second-stage meter. Once the channel becomes filled, pressure generation can occur. The fill position in Figure 3 is at the entry to the second-stage metering section.

The second-stage metering channel has a pressure near zero at the entry (or fill position) and the pressure increased to the maximum discharge pressure of 1,600 psi, creating a positive axial pressure gradient. The positive pressure gradient causes the specific rate to be less than the calculated specific rate due to rotation. Recall that the specific rate is 27.3 lb/(hr rpm) and the calculated specific rate due to rotation for the second-stage metering channel is 32.7 lb/(hr rpm). Thus, the rate was reduced by 5.4 lb/(hr rpm) due to the positive pressure gradient.

Always Negative

A two-stage vented extruder will always have a negative pressure gradient in the first-stage metering section and a positive gradient in the second-stage metering section. This is because the vent section of the screw must operate at zero pressure and with partially filled channels. Since the first-stage metering channel controls the rate, the second-stage metering section must be able to pump and pressurize at the rate of the first-stage metering.

Because of this operation and the pressure gradients in the metering channels, the second stage metering section must be able to pump at a higher rate than the first-stage metering. For a screw with constant lead length, the second-stage meter must be deeper than the first-stage meter. As previously stated, the ratio of the second-stage depth to the first-stage depth is the pump ratio for a lead length that is constant.

The pump ratio is not unique to a resin or process. Instead, it depends on the length of the second-stage metering section, lead length of the meters, viscosity of the resin, and the downstream pressure requirements. For example, the screw in Figure 2 has a second-stage metering section that is 6 diameters in length, a channel depth of 0.360 inch, and discharging at a pressure of 1,600 psi. If the second-stage metering section was longer at 8 diameters, the channel depth could have been set to 0.330-inch for a pump ratio of 1.32.

If a gear pump were positioned just after the extruder, the discharge pressure could be reduced to 400 psi, and the pump would generate the needed pressure to operate the downstream equipment. Here the second-stage metering channel would be 6 diameters in length and have a channel depth of 0.310-inch for a pump ratio of 1.24. A higher pump ratio and fill position downstream from the second-stage entry is also an acceptable operation.

Poor Design, Poor Solids Conveying

Poorly designed vented extruders can amplify flow surging induced by poor solids conveying. The flow surge starts with a solids conveying section that is not designed correctly or is operating with a screw or feed casing that is too hot. Flow surging was discussed in the August 2024 issue. Figure 4 shows the axial pressure profile for a flow surging two-stage vented extruder. The solid pressure line in the figure is the midpoint of the surge. The dotted lines show the pressures at the high and low points of the surge.

Figure 4: Axial pressure for a two-stage vent extruder with a high-pressure and a low-pressure portion of a surge.

If solids conveying becomes poor, the pressure at the entry of the first-stage meter decreases. This decreases the magnitude of the negative pressure gradient in the metering section, decreasing the rate. The lower flow level passes through the partially filled vent, second-stage transition, and the first part of the second-stage metering section. The fill position moves downstream, decreasing the discharge pressure and the rate at the die. 

When solids conveying is high, the pressure at the entry to the first-stage metering section is high, causing the magnitude of the negative pressure gradient to be high and increasing the rate. Here, the higher rate causes the fill position to move upstream as shown by Figure 4. The upstream fill position causes the discharge pressure and the rate to increase at the die.

Dampening Pressure Surges

The pressure surge at the discharge for Figure 4 is ±250 psi — about the average value. Poor solids conveying will always cause a surge like this, but some second-stage designs can dampen the surge. For example, a long second-stage metering channel with a lower pump ratio can dampen the surge while a short metering channel with a higher pump ratio can increase the severity of the surge. The best way to mitigate surging is to eliminate it at the source. In this case, the solids conveying process would need to be improved.

For existing extruders, the designer does not have the luxury of moving the vent or lengthening the metering sections. In this case, the main design parameters are the depth of the first-stage metering channel and the pump ratio. As previously discussed, the first-stage metering channel depth will set the specific rate for operation, and the pump ratio will provide the pressure needed to run the downstream equipment. The depth of the first-stage metering section is also a key design feature for setting the discharge temperature.

The keys to designing two-stage, vented extruders and screws are the depth of the first-stage metering channel, the length of the second-stage metering channel and the pump ratio. Extruder designers know how to optimize these parameters for new installations and existing extruders. A proper design should maximize the rate, generate the necessary discharge pressure without vent flow and provide a steady discharge pressure.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mark A. Spalding is a fellow in Packaging & Specialty Plastics and Hydrocarbons R&D at Dow Inc. in Midland, Michigan. During his 40 years at Dow, he has focused on development, design and troubleshooting of polymer processes, especially in single-screw extrusion. He co-authored Analyzing and Troubleshooting Single-Screw Extruders with Gregory Campbell. Contact: 989-636-9849; maspalding@dow.com; dow.com.