NASA and its partners in the Advanced Composites Consortium gathered at the agency’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, May 7-9.

Team members from 20 organizations across the country recently discussed progress on all technology development tasks underway in NASA’s Hi-Rate Composite Aircraft Manufacturing (HiCAM) project. The project is competing manufacturing approaches that reduce labor, equipment, and tooling costs without compromising strength or safety.

Results will help determine which technologies will have the greatest impact on the manufacturing rate and allow downselect for the demonstration phase of the project beginning this fall.

The HiCAM project addresses an aviation industry need for more rapid production of composite aircraft to meet increasing global demand for lightweight transport aircraft.