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We had record turnout at the annual Composites, Materials, and Structures Conference in St. Augustine, Florida, where we had a captive audience for our keynotes speakers, technical and workforce development sessions, and welcomed an impressive group of student presenters who we hope one day will be leading our industry.
"It was great to see so many members come together at the same event to share technical information and, just as importantly, fresh ideas to keep this industry moving forward,” said USACA Executive Director Ken Wetzel. “USACA continues to grow, driven by the advanced ceramics industry's key role in many critical innovations.”
Attendees took advantage of face-to-face engagements with top defense leaders, including Keith DeVries, director of the Manufacturing Technology Office in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and Dr. Aisha Haynes, the principal director for advanced materials in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.
“We're excited to use our collective voice in 2025 to inform lawmakers and government officials about the significance of this industry and to explore opportunities for public partnerships to boost its impact,” Wetzel added.
Special thanks to Space Shuttle astronaut Charles Camarda, former senior advisor for engineering development at NASA’s Langley Research Center, who offered a blunt assessment of safety culture through the lens of the space agency that holds lessons for all of us who are supporting customers who have an exceedingly slim margin for error.
We also are deeply grateful to Ginger Gardiner from Composites World magazine, a leading engineering expert in advanced materials and co-author of the textbook, Essentials of Advanced Composite Fabrication & Repair, for her in-depth review of the industry and its leading companies.
The week-long gathering also offered technical sessions with government and industry experts that ran the gamut, including a series on carbon and ceramic matrix composites, “high velocity impact effects” and “high mach systems,” additive and advanced manufacturing, nuclear thermal propulsion, hypersonics, test, evaluation, and modeling, and much more.
The future is now: A major focus of CMS this year was also workforce development. We kicked off the week with a training course from Rodney Trice, a professor of materials engineering at Purdue University, which covered the history of hypersonic flight and a primer on a host of advanced materials and properties.
The student luncheon, graciously sponsored by CoorsTek and Lucideon, was sold out, and proved to be a highlight of the conference, along with the student poster sessions.
We gathered some takeaways from student participants.
Charles Santore is a third-year student at Rutgers University majoring in Materials Science & Engineering who has been focusing on the processing and testing of high temperature ceramic materials for armor and hypersonic applications:
“In particular, my senior project focused on the arc melting of ZrB2-HfB2 composites, which will serve as the basis for my master’s thesis that I will complete in May 2026,” Santore said. “I was able to present my findings during the CMS poster sessions, which was a fantastic networking experience. I also enjoyed my time at the USACA luncheon, where I was able to speak with professionals representing various technical backgrounds. Overall, I greatly benefited from attending a variety of talks, walking the conference floor, and simply mingling with others in the hallway. This was my first conference related to my work in high temperature ceramics, and it was extremely valuable to me. I would like to thank USACA and its sponsors for supporting my attendance at CMS this year.”
Gemma Ponce is a third-year student at Colorado School of Mines majoring in Ceramic Engineering and Chemistry and member of the executive board for the Society of Women Engineers’ chapter:
Among my biggest takeaways from the conference were the professional connections I made and conversations I had about options for post-graduation steps,” Ponce reported. “I also found it beneficial to see what materials research is being conducted and how it's currently being applied. The additive manufacturing session was particularly helpful and interesting as it directly relates to research I’m doing right now. And I greatly enjoyed presenting and discussing my poster on vat photopolymerization with ceramic resins.”
She added: “Beyond the poster session, I attended technical sessions and learned about advances being made in materials for extreme environments. One of the highlights of the event was the networking. I connected with so many inspiring professionals, and as I near the end of my studies, learning about their career paths and the different opportunities available has given me a fresh perspective on my own next steps.”
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