European Society for Composite Materials



		ECCM 15 (2012)

		ESCM Best Poster Award 2008

		ESCM Award 2008

		ECCM 13 (2008)

		ECCM 12 (2006)

		ECCM 11 (2004)


Dear Colleague, it is a great pleasure to invite you to attend the fifteenth European Conference on Composite Materials (ECCM 15) to be held in the wonderful and romantic city of Venice (Italy) from June 24th to 28th, 2012. The Conference is organised by the Department of Management and Engineering of the University of Padova in cooperation with the Italian Cluster of Nanotechnology (Veneto Nanotech), under the patronage of the European Society for Composite Materials (ESCM). As you know, ECCM is the Europe’s leading conference on composite materials and, traditionally, hosts scientists, engineers and designers, both of Academia and Industry, coming from all the areas of the world. In view of a complete and proper exploitation of composites, in the different fields of application, the Conference aims to represent a forum for exchanging ideas, presenting the latest developments and trends, proposing new solutions and promoting international collaborations. For this aim we are preparing a comprehensive program which includes plenary and keynote lectures, several symposia on a variety of topics as well as technical workshops on subjects of industrial interest. Special attention is given to the social program to obtain the maximum benefit from the beauty of the city. I warmly invite you to join us and enjoy ECCM15. Together with all the Members of the Scientific and Organising Committees, I look forward to meeting you in Venice! Sincerely, Marino Quaresimin Chairman of ECCM15 Dept. of Management and Engineering - University of Padova
Click here to download the ECCM 15 Call for Papers
Click here to download the ECCM 15 Flyer
Click here to visit the ECCM 15 website

During ECCM 13, the ESCM Best Poster Award was given to:

Theodoros Loutas, George Sotiriadis, Alkis Paipetis, Dionysios T.G. Katerelos, Vassilis Kostopoulos and Steven L. Ogin

for their excellent work entitled:

In-situ damage monitoring of cross-ply laminates using acoustic emission

The jury appreciated:

The comparison of acoustic emission and visual in-situ
The scientific content presented in a well-structure way
The good presentation and the topic: Important topic of damage-NDE correlation
The possibility to define from acoustic emission measurements different failure mechanisms is clearly demonstrated and validated by another (visual) method.

The corresponding author, Alkis Paipetis, received a bronze medal celebrating Europe, during the banquet, on Wednesday June 4.

Prof. Jacques Lamon, President of the ESCM Council 2006-2008, presents the
1st ESCM Award (2008) to Prof. Paepegem.

The first recipient of the ESCM Award was announced during ECCM 13, in Stockholm, June 2-5, 2008.

The ESCM Award which was launched this year, recognizes the accomplishments of a young researcher who made significant contributions in the field of Composite Materials.

The following criteria were used in selecting the recipient:

age below 35
work in the area of composite materials in a laboratory or a university in Europe
work that has made a significant academic or national or industrial impact.

There were 8 excellent candidates from different countries: Belgium, France, Greece, Poland, Switzerland, UK and Iran.

The winner was Wim Van Paepegem.

Wim VAN PAEPEGEM is professor at Ghent University in Belgium. He has obtained his PhD degree in 2002 in the field of fatigue of composites. Since then, he has continued his research on mechanics of composites, both as a postdoctoral research fellow and as a professor.

His main research interests are in fatigue, impact and damage mechanics of composites. He is currently supervising 10 PhD students and has published more than 40 articles in Science Citation Index journals.

The award was presented to Wim Van Paepegem during the banquet, on Wednesday June 4.

The award is a Cosmos bronze medal celebrating Science and Europe. In this piece of art, the artist has expressed life, movement and the future via scientific research and Europe.

Wim Van Paepegem delivered the Albert Cardon Lecture. His lecture was entitled:

My research on Composites: a matrix of fascination reinforced with fibers of dedication


Please click photograph to download it in full size (Opens in new window)
The thirteenth European Conference on Composite Materials (ECCM 13) was held in Stockholm, Sweden from June 2nd to 5th, 2008.
ECCM is Europe’s leading conference on composite materials. As such it will follow the long tradition of the ECCM conference series with a wide scope of technical topics in composite materials research. The conference attracts internationally renowned scientists, engineers and designers in the field of composites.
Click here to view the ECCM 13 brochure.
Click here to visit the official site of ECCM 12.


The composite concept is fantastic. Since the imagination of researchers and engineers has no limit, the number of possible combinations is theoretically infinite. Hence, the field of investigation is very wide. We can look at two opposite directions and explore two opposite worlds. On one side the nanoscale and the microscale, on the other side the macroscale of composite components or systems.
Composite Science bridges the gap between the nanoworld and the macroworld. It involves fundamental and applied research. Europe is at the forefront. ECCM is a reference Conference on composite materials. It is the place where the latest results in the various areas of composite science and engineering are presented and discussed.
ECCM series of conferences is organized every two years by the European Society of Composite Materials. In 2006, ECCM 12 organization was taken over by France and Portugal. Such co-organization involving two neighbouring countries illustrates the European spirit.
The Conference took place in one of the Convention Centres of Biarritz.
Click here to visit the official site of ECCM 12.


The 11th European Conference on Composite Materials took place in Rhodes, Greece, from May 31 to June 3, 2004. 409 scientists from Academic Insitutions and Industry participated in the Conference which, under the recognition of the Marie-Curie Mobility Actions Programme, provided support to 40 early and experienced scientists.
37 European and non-European countries were represented in ECCM 11: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Fyrom, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, USA.
324 papers where presented either orally or as posters in the 19 different conference topics: Automated Manufacturing of Composites, Ceramic Matrix Composites, Composites, Environment and Renewable Energy, Composites in Construction, Composites in Transportation, Damage of Composites, Fatigue of Composites, Fibres, Fracture and Failure in Composites, General Applications of Composites, Interface, Mechanical Properties of Composites, Metal Matrix Composites, Modelling, Nanocomposites, Natural Composites – Biomaterials, Non-Destructive Testing of Composites, Polymer Matrices, Smart Composites.
The conference was organized in 6 parallel sessions, while another 4 workshops run concurrently (VAFTEM - Testing Procedures and Standards for High Performance FIbres, Designing with non-crimp fabrics, CEN, Nanofun-Poly)
Click here to visit the official site of ECCM 11.