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Attendees at SAMPE 2025 Advanced Materials Conference and Exhibition. Source | CW

The SAMPE Advanced Materials Conference and Exhibition is an annual opportunity for industry leaders, researchers, students and innovators within the advanced materials community to come together to shape the future of composites. Held this past May in Indianapolis, Indiana, the event placed an emphasis on connectivity, sustainability and workforce development as the organization launched new platforms for fostering connections.

Rebekah Stacha, CEO of SAMPE, reveals new tools from the organization aimed at strengthening connections across academia, industry and government. Source | CW

Kicking off with a forward-looking general session, Rebekah Stacha, CEO of SAMPE (Diamond Bar, Calif., U.S.), emphasized the urgent need to strengthen connections across academia, industry and government. Attendees were introduced to two major digital initiatives designed to expand the organization’s reach and utility year-round:

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• , a centralized digital platform featuring training webinars, videos and the latest “State of the Industry” report.
• , an online matching tool aimed at connecting seasoned professionals with emerging talent.

The new platforms reflect SAMPE’s growing commitment to workforce development and community-building — a theme that resonated throughout the conference. Additional examples of this dedication arose through a student posters showcase and SAMPE’s annual bridge-building competition.

Jennifer Buchli, chief scientist for NASA’s International Space Station (ISS) program, offers the keynote address at SAMPE 2025. Source | CW

Adding an inspirational note to the conference, Jennifer Buchli, chief scientist for NASA’s International Space Station (ISS) program, looked to the stars in her keynote address. Buchli detailed important work being done by the ISS and ways the microgravity environment is enabling groundbreaking research in fiber optics, nanomaterials and biofabrication (the 3D printing of organic tissue). Also discussed was the shift toward in-space manufacturing and the role of public-private partnerships in supporting innovation. As NASA looks ahead to the decommissioning of the ISS in 2030, its Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development program is laying the groundwork for next-generation space labs that will continue advancing material science — with composites poised to play a central role.

Technical conference highlights automation, sustainability

Each year, the SAMPE conference and exhibition offers access to hundreds of technical papers. This year’s program was no different, providing insight into a range of topics including high-temperature composites, automation trends and additive manufacturing. Sustainability and smart manufacturing emerged as dominant themes, with sessions and panels emphasizing closed-loop systems, recycled carbon fiber (rCF) and scalable reuse strategies.

A circularity panel, featuring speakers from TPI Composites, Vartega, Rivers Edge Composites and Rise Building Products, tackled the practical barriers to scaling recycling. Economics remain a key hurdle, with speakers noting that transportation costs, cleaning processes and lack of company-wide commitment often hinder success. Nevertheless, the companies also gave examples of progress, and discussed opportunities to focus on regional circularity and marketing the performance benefits of recycled materials.

Meanwhile, a technical presentation from Dr. Joseph Deitzel of the University of Delaware detailed advances in the tailorable universal feedstock for forming (TuFF) process — a method that aligns chopped carbon fiber into tapes or sheets for reuse, offering a potential path forward for turning today’s waste into tomorrow’s high-performance parts. TuFF’s commercial partner Composites Automation, and prepreg collaborator Axiom, are actively developing rCF-based prepregs, a promising sign of momentum toward circularity.

SAMPE 2025 offered several Indianapolis-area facility tours including a peek inside IDI Composites’ new global headquarters in Noblesville, Indiana. Source | IDI Composites

Facility tours put spotlight on Indiana innovation

Highly anticipated tours gave attendees the opportunity to see cutting-edge composites manufacturing in action. SAMPE toured Dallara’s IndyCar Factory and Purdue’s Sports Engineering Center, Rolls-Royce, IDI Composites International and Purdue’s Composites Manufacturing and Simulation Center.

CW technical editor Hannah Mason toured Rolls-Royce Indianapolis to see its growing investment in advanced materials and manufacturing. While historically focused on metal components, the site is expanding its capacity with new engine assembly lines, test cells and lab capabilities for composites and CMC.

SMC production at IDI Composites. Source | IDI Composites

Meanwhile, I attended the IDI Composites tour to see the company’s new 120,000-square-foot global headquarters in Noblesville, Indiana. The site combines SMC and BMC production with advanced automation, raw material handling and R&D capabilities, while doubling production capacity.

Progress through collaboration

As the composites community works to navigate economic hurdles, shifting supply chains and forward workforce development efforts, events like SAMPE continue to play a pivotal role in uniting stakeholders around a shared mission — advancing the science and engineering of advanced materials for a better, lighter, stronger world. With an emphasis on new tools to foster industry connections, SAMPE 2025 served as a vivid reminder that the future of advanced materials lies at the intersection of innovation, collaboration and inclusivity.