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Latest progress, participants and synergies for the MFFD, UltraFan engine, RACER helicopter, Next-Gen Civil Tilt Rotor and other projects under the Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking are highlighted.

Outlined technology bricks — including foldable wings, more efficient engines and propulsion and composite materials — could support a planned single-aisle next decade, plus Airbus’s renewed commitment of a commercially viable H2 aircraft.

Clean Sky 2 project under the MFFD program produces two segments of an 8.5-meter-long, 4-meter-diameter thermoplastic fuselage skin via NLR’s in-house AFP machine, with consolidation plans this summer.

Thermoplastics are evolving quickly into larger structures and clearly will have a significant role to play in the next commercial aircraft program — whenever that’s announced. This edition of “From the CW Archives” looks back on a thermoplastics pioneer.

Keynotes for the International Conference and Exhibition on Thermoplastic Composites on Oct. 9-10, 2024 include Randall Wilkerson’s update on the Hi-Rate Composite Aircraft Manufacturing project as well as Toray’s progress toward large-scale adoption.

The following companies, organizations and project consortia featured strong collective innovation concepts, to be on display at JEC World 2025 in March.

Explore 2023’s standout moments in the composites industry with CW's compilation of the top 10 news articles, determined by Google Analytics. 

The International Conference and Exhibition on Thermoplastic Composites on Oct. 9-10, 2024 features top speakers and sessions on novel TPC technologies and applications in automotive, aerospace, hydrogen and more.

This sidebar to CW’s July 2024 feature article reviews the company’s achievements and capabilities through years of composites R&D programs.

These 33 finalists, celebrating successful projects and partnerships in composites innovation, will be narrowed down to 11 winners at the JEC World 2025 Premiere on Jan. 13, 2025.