COMPOSITES LOUNGE - Das Online Experten Netzwerk

What does it take to build and certify modern aircraft engines in Europe? How efficient are today's diesel aviation engines? And what role will Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and hydrogen play in the future of flight? In this exclusive #Composites360onTour and JET-Circle interview, Ilkay Özkisaoglu (Composites Lounge) and Norbert Werle (JET-Circle) visit Austro Engine in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, and speak with Managing Director Jürgen Schwarz about aviation propulsion, production, certification, sustainability, and future technologies. During the interview, Jürgen Schwarz provides insights into: ️ Austro Engine's role within the Diamond Aircraft Group ️ The company's inline four-cylinder Jet A-1 diesel engines and rotary engine technology ️ Why Austro Engine relies on a European supply chain with suppliers in Austria, Germany and Italy ️ Aviation certification processes and cooperation with EASA and Austrian authorities ️ Modern diesel aircraft engines versus traditional AVGAS-powered engines ️ Production capacity, engineering expertise and engine testing procedures ️ The recently addressed piston replacement program and continuous airworthiness practices ️ Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) adoption and current certification limits ️ Hydrogen-powered aviation research projects with leading universities ️ Why piston engines are expected to remain relevant for decades to come ️ The manufacturing process behind approximately 900 aircraft engines per year at Austro Engine The conversation also includes an exclusive factory tour showing how Austro Engine assembles, tests and certifies its engines before shipment to customers worldwide, including Diamond Aircraft facilities in Austria, Canada and China. Featured Guests • Jürgen Schwarz, Managing Director, Austro Engine • Norbert Werle, Founder, JET-Circle • Ilkay Özkisaoglu, Co-Founder, Composites Lounge About Austro Engine: Austro Engine develops and manufactures certified aircraft engines for general aviation applications and is a key technology partner within the Diamond Aircraft ecosystem. Subscribe for more aviation, composites, advanced manufacturing and sustainability interviews from industry leaders across Europe. Interview conducted by: Ilkay Özkisaoglu (Composites Lounge) and Norbert Werle (JET-Circle) Original interview recorded during the Composites Lounge and JET-Circle visit to Austro Engine in Wiener Neustadt, Austria. YouTube Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro5IruEQJYI

Was passiert, wenn Vertreter von AVK, Composites United, The Original Composites Company (ehemals Owens Corning) und CG TEC ihre persönliche Einschätzung zur Zukunft der Composite-Industrie in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz teilen – ungefiltert, offen und ohne PR-Floskeln? Genau dieses Gespräch haben wir auf der JEC World 2026 aufgezeichnet. LIVE ON TAPE PREMIERE Mit dabei: Elmar Witten (AVK) Thomas Heber (Composites United) Jens Boelke (The Original Composites & Fiberglass Company (ehemals Owens Corning Composites) Oliver Kipf (CG TEC GmbH I Carbonscout Onlineshop) Wir sprechen über die Themen, die aktuell die Branche bewegen: Warum sinken die Produktionszahlen in Europa, obwohl die Nachfrage nach Composites weltweit steigt? Welche Märkte entwickeln sich zu den nächsten Wachstumsfeldern – Infrastruktur, Bauwesen, Marine, Space oder Defence? Weshalb Spezialisierung und Innovation wichtiger werden als Preiswettbewerb. Welche Chancen sich durch Circular Economy, Recycling und biobasierte Materialien eröffnen. Warum viele Branchenexperten davon ausgehen, dass die größten Potenziale der nächsten Jahre außerhalb der klassischen Automotive-Welt liegen. Besonders spannend: Einige Aussagen dürften für Diskussionen sorgen. Die Runde spricht offen über geopolitische Entwicklungen, Infrastrukturprogramme, den Einfluss neuer Technologien und die Frage, welche Strategien Unternehmen verfolgen sollten, um in einem zunehmend globalen Wettbewerb erfolgreich zu bleiben. Wenn Sie in der Composite-, Leichtbau-, Material-, Infrastruktur-, Mobilitäts- oder Innovationsszene aktiv sind, sollten Sie diese Diskussion nicht verpassen. YouTube Episode: https://www.youtube.com/live/cZyCwJ4-sHo?si=-d7PyI9FoYcDGqaf

️ LinkedIn Live on Tape Premiere | Sales & Marketing in the Composites Industry: Are We Missing the Biggest Growth Opportunity? The composites industry is packed with innovation. But here's the uncomfortable question: If composites are so powerful, why do so many decision-makers still not understand what we can do? Recorded live during JEC World 2026 at the JEC Studio Island / Composites Lounge Corner Booth, I hosted a candid panel discussion with four outstanding industry leaders: Marcy Offner – Composites Business Leader & Industry Advocate & Founder of Women in Composites Hannah Khusainova – Marketing Director, PRF Melike Onay – Business Development Expert, Carbon Composites Sector Katie Holmes – Marketing Director Fluency Business Group & International Composites Summit Together, we tackled some hard truths: Is the composites industry too engineering-driven and not customer-driven enough? Why do sales and marketing teams often operate in separate worlds? Are we selling products instead of value? Why does our industry still struggle with visibility outside the composites bubble? Should marketers come from composites—or can great marketers learn to love composites? What role should associations, media, events, and industry leaders play in building a stronger collective brand? One statement from the discussion really stood out: "We are invisible in the world." Another: "You can't teach somebody how to be a marketer, but you can teach somebody how to love composites." This conversation goes far beyond marketing. It is about: Growth Talent attraction Market expansion Innovation adoption Industry positioning If you work in composites, advanced materials, lightweighting, manufacturing, engineering, business development, sales, communications, or innovation management, this discussion is for you. YouTube Episode: https://www.youtube.com/live/tQoWr0-H9L0?si=TuMjus89CBKQxNGe

The transition towards climate neutrality is accelerating, and wind energy stands at the heart of Europe’s sustainable future. Yet, as the sector scales, a critical challenge emerges: how do we ensure that the materials enabling clean energy are themselves circular? This is exactly where the EOLIAN project comes in. Funded under Horizon Europe, EOLIAN is pioneering a new generation of smart, sustainable wind turbine blades designed not only for performance, but for circularity across their entire life cycle. By combining bio-based, repairable and recyclable vitrimer composites with advanced structural health monitoring systems, EOLIAN is redefining how wind turbine blades are designed, used and ultimately reintegrated into the value chain. Unlike conventional blades, which are difficult to repair and recycle, EOLIAN introduces breakthrough innovations: • Self-healing materials enabling faster and more efficient repairs • Embedded sensors for real-time structural health monitoring • Bio-based vitrimer composites allowing reprocessing and recycling • Advanced design principles targeting longer lifetime and lower life cycle costs The result is a transformative approach that aims to deliver: • longer service life • improved reliability • reduced operational costs • and significantly enhanced recyclability EOLIAN is not just a research project – it is a system innovation for circular wind energy infrastructure in Europe. To bring these innovations closer to industry adoption, the project is supported by EuCIA – the European Composites Industry Association. Headquartered in Brussels, EuCIA represents the entire European composites value chain, bringing together national associations, sector groups, and industry stakeholders. With a mission to support sustainable growth and competitiveness, EuCIA plays a pivotal role at the intersection of industry, policy, and innovation. Within EOLIAN, EuCIA leads dissemination and exploitation activities, ensuring that project results are translated into real-world industrial impact, stakeholder engagement, and future market uptake. Beyond individual projects, EUCIA is driving a much broader transformation through the European Circular Composites Alliance (ECCA). Launched in partnership with JEC, ECCA is a fast-growing European initiative uniting over 200 organisations across the composites value chain to enable a truly circular economy for composite materials. [eucia.eu] The Alliance focuses on: • increasing the use of recycled composites • developing standards for circular product design • improving collection, sorting and recycling systems • aligning industry action with European sustainability policies ECCA represents a crucial shift: from isolated innovation efforts to collective, industry-wide transformation. As Community Manager of Composites Lounge, my involvement in this LinkedIn Live is closely connected to this broader mission. Through my support and engagement with ECCA, I am committed to amplifying the voices, innovations and collaborations that are shaping the future of circular composites in Europe. Speakers This LinkedIn Live brings together leading experts from across the EOLIAN consortium, covering the full value chain from materials innovation to industrial deployment and circularity assessment: • Marta Zaccone – Transfer Technology Project Manager, Proplast (Italy) Project Coordinator of EOLIAN, Proplast leads overall project execution and contributes to technical work on developing vitrimer composites and their chemical recycling. • Cristina Monteserin – Researcher, TEKNIKER (Spain) As well as driving the development of vitrimer resins and composites, Tekinker is also integrating advanced sensors and actuators into the material system. • Andrea Minigher – Business Development, AEP Polymers (Italy) Responsible for optimising and scaling up high-performance vitrimer systems for industrial application. • Marco Longana – Associate Professor, Politecnico di Milano (Italy) PoliMi is leading manufacturing and testing of basalt fibre-reinforced vitrimer composites, and optimisating recycling processes. • Daniel Paul – Research Fellow, Brunel Composites Centre, Brunel University London (UK) BCC and Entelea are developing advanced multiscale models to accurately represent material behaviour and performance. • Dr. Fotini Petrakli – Sustainability Manager, IRES – Innovation in Research and Engineering Solutions (Belgium) Assessing the environmental, economic, and social impacts of EOLIAN technologies across their lifecycle. • Claudia Vázquez Sanz – Technical Procurement & Blades Engineering, Norvento TECHnPower (Spain) Leading the design and manufacturing of the EOLIAN prototype vitrimer composite blade, as well as LCOE and life cycle analysis. • Zeynep Korkmaz – Senior R&D Specialist, Zorlu Enerji (Türkiye) Driving exploitation strategies and IP management to enable market adoption and end-to-end value chain development. • EuCIA Representative (tbc) YouTube Episode: https://youtube.com/live/LIMT30yP6Yw?feature=share