The SPE Automotive Division’s (Troy, Mich., U.S.) executive planning committee has announced SPE ACCE 2025’s third keynote speaker, Chad Duty, the CEO of the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI, Knoxville, Tenn., U.S.), or IACMI – The Composites Institute.

Source | IACMI

Duty will presenting a “Decade of Innovation: IACMI’s Impact,” outlining the pivotal role IACMI has played in accelerating advanced composites design, manufacturing, technical innovation and workforce solutions since its establishment by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in 2015. IACMI celebrated its 10th anniversary on June 17, 2025. The organization leads composites technology innovation and workforce development solutions through public-private collaboration, funding projects, workforce development programs and more.

IACMI automotive projects have led to commercialized products and technologies used in today’s automotive industry. A key example is an IACMI-led project creating a compression molded composite liftgate for the Volkswagen Atlas, reducing weight by 35% and recurring cost by 9% versus the steel baseline.  

“For 10 years, IACMI has harnessed the power of public-private partnerships to improve products, processes and people’s lives through composites innovation and workforce solutions that secure America as a global leader in advanced manufacturing,” says Duty. “With steadfast investment and support from industry and government partners, notably the DOE and the Department of Defense, IACMI has empowered domestic manufacturers to accelerate design and commercialization, fostering a more reliable, secure and competitive U.S. economy.”

Duty assumed his role as IACMI CEO in April 2023. A professor in the Mechanical, Aerospace & Biomedical Engineering Department at the University of Tennessee (UT), he also holds a joint faculty appointment with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

He has more than 20 years of research experience in advanced manufacturing — spanning technologies in thin film processing, printed electronics, solar energy and additive manufacturing of polymer composites. Before joining UT in 2015, Duty served as a research scientist and group leader at ORNL beginning in 2004 and helped to establish the DOE’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL. Duty began his career as a senior aeronautical engineer at Lockheed Martin.

He has a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech and bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech.