Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

The Knoxville-headquartered Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation, better known as either IACMI or The Composites Institute, has added a fourth company as a premium member. The newest member of the top sponsorship group is Airbus Americas Inc. which will now hold a seat on the IACMI Consortium Council, helping select projects for funding and setting IACMI’s strategic direction.

Airbus employs more than 3,200 people across the U.S. in a growing network of businesses and facilities in aerospace. Among them are two assembly locations that produce “made-in-America” commercial airliners and helicopters. Airbus U.S. Space & Defense provides geospatial intelligence and cyber capabilities, space exploration missions, unmanned aerial systems, and fixed wing aircraft. Airbus has engaged in multiple IACMI projects, including innovative tooling and high-rate composite manufacturing.

Airbus joins three other IACMI members at the Premium Member level:

• The American Chemistry Council (ACC) represents more than 190 companies engaged in the business of chemistry—an innovative, economic growth engine that is helping to solve the biggest challenges facing our country and the world. This includes the leading polymer and composites resin suppliers essential to IACMI’s mission.
• Dassault Systèmes supplies world-leading modeling and simulation software to thousands of companies worldwide through the 3DEXPERIENCE® platform, supporting IACMI projects with access to CATIA, SIMULIA and other software that enable continued development of digital twins of composite parts and manufacturing processes.
• TPI Composites Inc. is a leading wind blade manufacturer and the only independent wind blade manufacturer with a global footprint, including multiple U.S. facilities. Building 8,800 wind blades in 2023, TPI is a key resource for IACMI’s efforts to improve materials, manufacturing technologies, and recyclability of wind blades.

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