A number of Mat4Rail partners traveled to Paris, France in March 2019 to participate at the JEC World 2019 which was held 12th – 14th March 2019.

The JEC World is known to be the leading international show on composites featuring ground-breaking research and solutions and unique manufacturing and business opportunities. In total, the event attracted over 43,300 visitors and members from CIDETEC, COEXPAIR, AIMPLAS and HUNTSMAN were also part of this 3-day event.

Our partners used this platform to facilitate networking with targeted audiences in the field of composites and to present the new Mat4Rail brochure for the first time. Over 1,300 exhibitors presented their innovative solutions to a large audience. One of these was our partner COEXPAIR, a highly innovative SME from the aeronautics sector.

For Mat4Rail, they use their expertise in composites to make their know-how of innovative processes, the development of out-of-autoclave technologies, their tooling and peripheral equipment available. During the JEC World, COEXPAIR was on site to present themselves but also their contributions to Mat4Rail where they lead WP5 on access door systems.

In particular, PIVOT's project was represented by the work package leaders Eduardo de la Guerra from Talgo, Carlos Eraso from Aernnova, and Thierry Mointagné from Faiveley/Wabtec. Mat4Rail was represented by the project coordinator, Elena Jubete from CIDETEC, Markus Brede from the University of Bremen, Roland from IMADresden and Johan Sandström, from RISE. As for external consultants, both projects counted on the feedback of Geoff Matter-Chairman of the CEN TC 256 SC 2 Rolling Stock products, as well as Andreas Gross-from Fraunhofer IFAM responsible for the working Group 52 "Adhesive bonding in Railway" in the TC256.

From the 27th – 28th February 2019 representatives of the 16 Mat4Rail partners traveled to Basel, Switzerland for the 4th General Assembly. The meeting was hosted by our partner HUNTSMAN and offered the opportunity to further discuss project results and make decisions on how these should be best implemented. The work streams for materials and for interior design also held smaller meeting to discus their advancements and results in their fields which supports the outcomes and effectiveness of the project as a whole. We look forward to what the last six months of the project will bring.