Dear Colleagues,

It is a great pleasure to welcome you, on behalf of the organising committee, to the 16th European Conference on Composite Materials, ECCM16, in the historic city of Seville, especially since this is the first time that Spain has hosted an ECCM Conference.

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to all participants of the Conference and to all those that have contributed to making possible this unique occasion. We expect to have about 1200 attendees from 69 countries from all over the world.

A total of 660 oral presentations in 53 oral sessions are scheduled in the Conference programme. 180 posters will be presented in 11 sessions, with a format aimed at maximising the both the audience and knowledge transfer. All these contributions have been integrated in 31 thematic sessions and 22 general sessions.

Four Plenary Lectures and 6 Keynote Lectures have been planned for the Conference. A special role has been given to Industry, with Plenary Lectures covering different developments from leading companies in composite applications.

A high proportion of students (42%) are registered, which is an exciting innovation in terms of the both the continuity of research and the development of skills in the field of composites. The Keynote Lectures have been selected from the topics with most contributions, and are aimed at providing an introductory guide, prepared by leading researchers in the field, for those starting in composites.

The role of the industry in this Conference has been highlighted with three special activities. A roundtable, with speakers from leading companies in the use of composites, to identify the challenges for the immediate future. An exhibition presenting different components and structures covering various manufacturing processes and testing methods. Finally, a visit to the Airbus A400M Final Assembly Line has been scheduled.

Particular effort has been put into integrating the activities of the Conference with the sites of the city, combining this excellent occasion to meet colleagues with the opportunity to enjoy the culture and gastronomy of Andalucía.

Finally, I would like to express my acknowledgements to sponsors and organisations that have given patronage to this event, and to express my gratitude to all members of the local committee, whose efforts, vision and dedication have made this conference possible.

On behalf of all the organising committee, we wish all you a fruitful Conference and an enjoyable stay in Seville.

Federico París
Chairman of ECCM16

Dear Colleague,

it is a great pleasure to invite you to attend the fifteenth European Conference on Composite Materials (ECCM 15) to be held in the wonderful and romantic city of Venice (Italy) from June 24th to 28th, 2012.
The Conference is organised by the Department of Management and Engineering of the University of Padova in cooperation with the Italian Cluster of Nanotechnology (Veneto Nanotech), under the patronage of the European Society for Composite Materials (ESCM). As you know, ECCM is the Europe’s leading conference on composite materials and, traditionally, hosts scientists, engineers and designers, both of Academia and Industry, coming from all the areas of the world.
In view of a complete and proper exploitation of composites, in the different fields of application, the Conference aims to represent a forum for exchanging ideas, presenting the latest developments and trends, proposing new solutions and promoting international collaborations. For this aim we are preparing a comprehensive program which includes plenary and keynote lectures, several symposia on a variety of topics as well as technical workshops on subjects of industrial interest. Special attention is given to the social program to obtain the maximum benefit from the beauty of the city. I warmly invite you to join us and enjoy ECCM15. Together with all the Members of the Scientific and Organising Committees, I look forward to meeting you in Venice!

Sincerely,
Marino Quaresimin
Chairman of ECCM15
Dept. of Management and Engineering - University of Padova

During ECCM 13, the ESCM Best Poster Award was given to:

Theodoros Loutas, George Sotiriadis, Alkis Paipetis, Dionysios T.G. Katerelos, Vassilis Kostopoulos and Steven L. Ogin

for their excellent work entitled:

In-situ damage monitoring of cross-ply laminates using acoustic emission

The jury appreciated:

• The comparison of acoustic emission and visual in-situ
• The scientific content presented in a well-structure way
• The good presentation and the topic: Important topic of damage-NDE correlation
• The possibility to define from acoustic emission measurements different failure mechanisms is clearly demonstrated and validated by another (visual) method.

1. age below 35
2. work in the area of composite materials in a laboratory or a university in Europe
3. work that has made a significant academic or national or industrial impact.

There were 8 excellent candidates from different countries: Belgium, France, Greece, Poland, Switzerland, UK and Iran.

The winner was Wim Van Paepegem.

Wim VAN PAEPEGEM is professor at Ghent University in Belgium. He has obtained his PhD degree in 2002 in the field of fatigue of composites. Since then, he has continued his research on mechanics of composites, both as a postdoctoral research fellow and as a professor.

His main research interests are in fatigue, impact and damage mechanics of composites. He is currently supervising 10 PhD students and has published more than 40 articles in Science Citation Index journals.

The award was presented to Wim Van Paepegem during the banquet, on Wednesday June 4.

The award is a Cosmos bronze medal celebrating Science and Europe. In this piece of art, the artist has expressed life, movement and the future via scientific research and Europe.

Wim Van Paepegem delivered the Albert Cardon Lecture. His lecture was entitled:

My research on Composites: a matrix of fascination reinforced with fibers of dedication