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In a time when many question the role advanced composites will play in an uncertain economic future, the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) frames the theme for its 2009 Conference and Exhibition in the form of a pertinent question: “Changing times. New opportunities. Are you prepared?” This year’s event, set for May 18-21 in Baltimore, Md., and coproduced by SAMPE’s Baltimore/Washington, Midwest and Northern Ohio Chapters, aims to help exhibitors and visitors answer that question in the affirmative.

SAMPE keynotes & lectures

After a day of tutorials on Monday, May 18, the SAMPE Conference kicks off Tuesday, with two of SAMPE’s four scheduled keynote addresses. Marc G. Stanley, director of the Technology Innovation Program at the National Institute of Technology (NIST, Gaithersburg. Md.), will discuss the need for “Partnerships to Meet Critical National Needs,” followed by U.S. Department of Energy group leader Rogelio Sullivan, who will describe a “New Thrust at DoE – Low-Cost Carbon Fiber Development Program.” The following day, invitee Dr. James Walker, a board director at U.S. wind energy project developer enXco (Escondido, Calif.), is expected to provide the third keynote, with a look “Toward a U.S. Clean Energy Future: Drivers and Opportunities.”�� Thursday morning, Dale Moore, Naval Air Systems Command, has been asked to give the final keynote: “Overview of U.S. Navy Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS).”

Three Distinguished Lecturers will address topics of current interest: Paul Piscopo (The Piscopo Group, Arlington, Va.) will discuss “Ceramic Composites Affordability and Producibility Initiative.” Cornell University’s Dr. Anil Netravali will review�� “Green Composites: From Sports Gear to Ballistic Applications,” and Dr. Altaf Carim, U.S. Department of Energy, Scientific User Facilities Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences will offer answers to key questions about “The National Nanotechnology Initiative – Where Has It Been and Where Is It Going?”

Technical papers & panels

SAMPE’s more than 250-strong educational sessions will include peer-reviewed papers (see session times on the opposite page). Doug Freitag, president/CEO of Bayside Materials Technology (Brookeville, Md.), will moderate a discussion of “High Temperature Ceramic Matrix Composites for Propulsion,” lightweight, high-temperature materials that reportedly improve in fuel efficiency and performance, as well as solutions to many thermal problems. A second panel will handle “Renewable Power Generation.” Panel moderator Phil J. Dougherty�� (Helios Strategies div. of SMI Inc., Washington, D.C.), a former U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) deputy chief of staff for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, will moderate. (For dates and times, see opposite page).

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Exhibits & special events

Organizers expect as many as 250 exhibitors, and the exhibition hall will be open for 17 hours over three days. Student engineers will vie again this year for top design honors in SAMPE’s 12th Annual Bridge Building Contest and 5th Annual Wing Contest. Entries will be on display and live testing will determine winners during show hours. At the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Monday, the annual SAMPE Fellow Banquet will commence with a cocktail reception at 6:00 p.m., followed by dinner at 7:00 p.m. Banquet tickets are included in full registration ($80 USD, purchased separately).

Keynote addresses and Distinguished Lectures are open to visitors who possess an Exhibit Hall pass. Tutorials, not part of the Conference sessions, cost $100 (USD) each. All other events are either included in the Full Registration package or require separate fees (as noted on opposite page).

Back-to-back bargain

SAMPE ’09 will coincide with the 2nd Global Pultrusion Conference (May 21-22), which will begin the same day SAMPE ’09 ends, at Baltimore’s Tremont Plaza & Grand Hotel. The two-day event will draw attendees from the approximately 300 companies worldwide that produce an estimated 500,000 metric tonnes (1.1 billion lb) of pultruded profiles, valued at about $1.2 billion (USD).

Of interest to SAMPE attendees is keynoter Prof. Dr.-Ing. Norbert Meyendorf (Fraunhofer Institute of Nondestructive Testing, Dresden, Germany), who will review “Nondestructive Testing and Structural Health Monitoring of Adhesive Joint and Fiber Composites.”

For more information about the SAMPE 2009 program, its costs and/or hotel accommodations, visitwww.sampe.org/2009 Baltimoreor contact Priscilla Heredia, Tel.: (626) 331-0616 x610.

For information about the Global Pultrusion Conference, visit.