MSN-C Special Topic: Composites 2026

Apr 16, 2026, 8:00 AM → Apr 17, 2026, 4:00 PM America/New_York

Atlantis Room (Wright State University, Dayton, OH)

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the Materials Solutions Network at CHESS (MSN-C), a partnership between the AFRL and Cornell University, are hosting a targeted workshop bringing together scientists from industry, academia, DoD and other government-based laboratories with interests and challenges related to ceramic and polymer matrix composites. The workshop will highlight the capabilities, expertise, and experimental infrastructure of MSN-C beamlines and other networked resources, with a focus on leveraging synchrotron X-ray radiation to address critical structure–processing–performance challenges relevant to industry. Through technical presentations and discussion, participants will explore opportunities for collaborative research,  practical challenges, and targeted capability development enabled by the AFRL–Cornell partnership.

 

Note: Participation is by invitation only from an organizer or one of their delegates. Please direct inquiries to msnc@cornell.edu.

Thursday, April 16

Session 1: Resources

This session will focus on capabilities for composites research provided by MSN-C, a synchrotron-based facility at Cornell University, and nMat (formerly nSoft), a NIST-based public-private consortium.

1 AFRL Welcome - Rich Vaia, AFRL

2 MSN-C Welcome - Matt Miller, Cornell

3 MSN-C and The Functional Materials Beamline at CHESS - Arthur Woll, Cornell

4 The Structural Materials Beamline at CHESS - Kelly Nygren, Cornell

5 The nSoft Consortium and NCNR at NIST - Jon Seppala, NIST

10:05 AM Break

Session 2: Challenges & Needs - DoD

6 Overview of Polymer Matrix Composites research at AFRL, Hilmar Koerner, AFRL

7 Overview of Ceramic Matrix Composites research at AFRL, Mathew Schey, AFRL

8 Regional Networks - Innovation in Partnership and Collaboration, John Luginsland, AFRL

12:00 PM LUNCH - Day 1: Box Lunch Optional

Session 3

9 Ceramic Matrix Composites -- Mike Sangid, Purdue

10 Polymer Matrix Compsoites -- Xiaoshi Zhang, Penn State Behrend

11 3D Printing and Processing of High Perfmance PMCs at FMB

12 Panel Discussion: Research Resources for Industry and DoD

Informal Happy Hour - Wandering Griffin Brewery

Friday, April 17

Session 4 - Industry Perspectives, Insights, and Needs

10:30 AM BREAK

Session 5 - Practical Challenges; Opportunities, and Discussion

12:00 PM LUNCH -Day 2

Reserved for Closed Sessions with Industry