Andrew N. Hrymak. Source | SPE ACCE

Andrew N. Hrymak, co-director of the Fraunhofer Innovation Platform for Composites Research at Western University (London, Ont., Canada) and a professor of chemical and biochemical engineering, is the first keynote speaker for the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE, Danbury, Conn., U.S.) Automotive Composites Conference & Expo (ACCE), taking place Sept. 4-6, 2024, in Novi, Michigan (Detroit suburb).

Presenting “High Performance Composites: Trends and Impact on Automotive Lightweighting,” Hrymak will showcase some of the significant high-performance composite developments in automotive of the last decade as well as emerging composites technologies that will have a major impact in future vehicle architectures.

“A key enabling solution to the societal need for sustainability and reducing carbon footprint is vehicle lightweighting through composite structures,” notes Hrymak. “Over the last decade, the composites industry has made major strides in advancing new material systems and processing techniques to produce lightweight vehicle structures at high-volume automotive production rates. Emerging composites technologies will continue the advancement of sustainable automotive vehicle design and manufacturing into the future.”