Quickstep has established a Technology Advisory Board to oversee the Company's global Research & Development programme and promote the Quickstep Process to key decision-makers as the preferred out-ofautoclave curing process for composite manufacturing.
The Advisory Board will be chaired by Professor Andrew Walker, a leading consultant to global aerospace companies and a long-term advocate of composites technology. Based at the University of Manchester in the UK, Professor Walker is the Director of a UK Research Initiative to develop future civil aircraft and works to bring key academics together with industrial partners and aviation authorities. He previously worked for Airbus as Chief Manufacturing Engineer on the A380 and designed the $1bn A380 wing factory at Broughton, UK.
Professor Walker is a world expert on composites - having developed "Saffil" reinforced engine pistons - and has been involved in materials processing for over 25 years. Professor Walker is also engaged on the airline side of the industry, sitting on the Board of Virgin Atlantic and consulting to other leading airlines.
In accepting the role, Professor Walker said: "I have been a keen and active supporter of Quickstep for many years. Fundamentally, their patented liquid-based composite curing process is superior to traditional autoclave curing for a range of manufacturing opportunities. My focus will be to assist Quickstep in convincing global aerospace manufacturers that, based on a considerable body of test data, the Quickstep Process can achieve a superior result at a demonstrably lower capital and operating cost."
Joining Professor Walker on the Technology Advisory Board will be Dr Bronwyn Fox and Mr Louis Luedtke.
Dr Fox is a Senior Lecturer at Deakin University, Geelong, and a researcher at the Victorian Centre for Advanced Materials Manufacturing (VCAMM). Dr Fox has been involved in the research behind the Quickstep Process for over four years and leads a team of research students at Deakin University undertaking specific R&D projects utilising the Quickstep Process for a variety of composite manufacturing applications.
Mr Louis (Lou) Luedtke, President and CEO of the National Composite Center in Dayton, USA, brings more than 30 years of engineering, technical sales and business leadership experience to the Technology Advisory Board. Mr Luedtke was hand-selected to take the National Composite Center to a new level of performance in 1999 and under his leadership the NCC has launched several new businesses and helped customers across the US get their products to market quicker. His strategies have also helped the Center develop a supportive incubation environment for composites companies and industrial manufacturers. Contact our board or request further information...