NIAR’s ATLAS Laboratory to Install SAMBA Pro System in 2021

The National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) at Wichita State University (WSU) has selected Fiber Patch Placement (FPP) technology for its future composite manufacturing technology portfolio. By the end of 2021, Cevotec will install a SAMBA Pro Prepreg system in NIAR's Advanced Technologies Laboratory for Aerospace and Space Systems (ATLAS). [caption id="attachment_119416" align="aligncenter"] Interior of SAMBA Pro Prepreg[/caption]   Since its establishment in 1985, the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) at Wichita State University (WSU) has become a leading aviation research institute in the United States. With approximately one million square meters of research and office space, NIAR provides research, design, testing, certification and training services to the aviation and manufacturing industries, the FAA, the Department of Defense and other government agencies.

NIAR will now expand its technology portfolio with Cevotec's SAMBA Pro Prepreg system.

Cevotec Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Groene said "We are pleased to announce our agreement to install a SAMBA Pro system for ATLAS in 2021." "Together with our US partner Composite Automation, we are excited about this first FPP system in the United States and look forward to future R&D collaborations with NIAR." ATLAS Director Waruna Seneviratne believes that integrating Fiber Patch Placement technology into ATLAS's portfolio will lead to pioneering projects. Seneviratne said "We look forward to acquiring the SAMBA system and advancing our portfolio of robotic-based placement technologies even further." "The flexibility of Fiber Patch Placement will be of particular interest to our R&D partners in the defense community." The SAMBA Pro system, equipped with an ultrasonic cutting unit and active material cooling, will become operational by the end of 2021 for application development with industrial customers. John Melilli, President of Composite Automation LLC, said "Wichita is known as the location with the largest airframe density in the world" and added "ATLAS at NIAR will be the perfect location for the first US-based FPP system to be made available to commercial and DOD customers to demonstrate the advantages of Fiber Patch Placement for automated manufacturing of complex aerospace structures." The new system at NIAR ATLAS will open numerous options for evaluation and development based on FPP technology, including material characterization, application and process development, prototyping and testing.