Sampe Fall 2007 a Success
SAMPE (Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering) held its annual fall conference in Cincinnati, Ohio this year from Oct. 29th to Nov. 1st at the elegant and sophisticated Hilton Netherland Plaza. SAMPE is an international professional membership society that provides information on new materials and process technologies. This information is distributed through local chapter technical presentations, two journal publications, symposiums and commercial expositions where members exchange ideas and points-of-view. SAMPE is the only technical society encompassing all fields of endeavor in materials and processes. According to SAMPE's website, "Material and Process engineering is the technology by which materials are developed or selected and manufacturing processes chosen which will convert those materials into products which meet the design, performance, producability, quality, and cost effective criteria required". More information about SAMPE can be found on their website at www.sampe.org.
Sherwood Advance Composite Technologies' employees Dr. Brent Larson, Director of R&D, and Donald Matthews, Project Developer were in attendance this year to represent Sherwood and the Northern Ohio SAMPE chapter where Brent serves as the Director and Donald serves as the Chairmen Elect. The conference was hosted by the Midwest Chapter of SAMPE with Dr. Tia Benson Tolle, Chief of Advanced Composites Branch, and Mickey McCabe, Vice President of Research and Director of the University of Dayton Research Institute, acting as General Co-Chairs.
The theme this year was "From Art to Science: Advancing Materials & Process Engineering". According to SAMPE: "It is a theme that reminds us of the incredible journey that our community has taken - from creating materials by trial and error to creation through modeling, simulation and scientific principles. The early foundations of our technology often rest on the 'art' that people practiced, and the... constant reminders of the importance of the 'art' and the part it has played in our growth."
Sessions and tutorials were held all week on subjects including: Composite Materials, Advanced Matrix Resin Development and Advanced Reinforced Fiber Development, Nano Materials, Fire Properties of Composite Materials, Composite Material Applications, Ballistics, and more. In addition to the meetings, the exhibit halls were filled with an impressive array of local and non-local companies presenting their technologies and capabilities. Even more beneficial, according to some, are the invaluable networking opportunities especially at the evening events like the Welcome Reception and the extraordinary Riverboat Cruise and Dinner. Both Brent and Donald remarked that they found the entire event invaluable for both the educational aspect and building rapport with other companies and members.