2016 ASC 31st Technical Conference Recap – Williamsburg, VA
By Navid Zobeiry, Communications Editor, American Society for Composites, Last updated: April 18, 2025
The 31st Annual Technical Conference of the American Society for Composites (ASC), in conjunction with the ASTM D30 Meeting, was held from September 19–22, 2016, at the Williamsburg Lodge in Williamsburg, Virginia. The conference was chaired by Dr. Barry Davidson (Syracuse University) and co-chaired by Dr. James Ratcliffe (NASA Langley Research Center) and Dr. Michael Czabaj (University of Utah), with Dr. Ronald Krueger (National Institute of Aerospace) serving as the ASTM D30 Program Chair.
The conference achieved a record-breaking milestone with 280 papers published in the proceedings—the highest number of papers at an ASC event up to that point. Research presentations covered a broad range of topics, including composite manufacturing and processing, damage initiation and propagation, fatigue and impact behavior, structural health monitoring, multifunctional composites, nanocomposites, computational modeling across scales, additive manufacturing, automotive composites, and aerospace applications. New advances in experimental methods, nondestructive evaluation, and material characterization were also strongly featured.
For more details, you can access the full conference program and the list of papers below:
Plenary and Keynote Highlights
The technical program featured three distinguished plenary lectures:
- Dr. Brian Cox (Arachne Consulting) – “Stochastic Virtual Tests for Multiple Scales”
- Dr. Tia Benson Tolle (Boeing Commercial Aircraft) – “Composites in the Mainstream”
- Dr. Jack Gillespie (University of Delaware) – “Carbon/Thermoplastic Composites for Automotive Applications” (ASTM Stinchcomb Award Presentation)
The banquet dinner featured a keynote speech by Dr. Nancy Currie-Gregg, Principal Engineer at the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) and veteran of four space shuttle missions, with over 1000 hours in space. Dr. Currie-Gregg spoke on her unique career bridging engineering, safety, and space exploration.
Special Activities
In addition to technical sessions, "early-bird" registrants were invited to join a special VIP tour of NASA Langley Research Center. Highlights included the inflatable lunar habitat and lunar crane, the gantry landing and impact research facility, the flight research hangar with fixed and rotary wing aircraft, and the Orion crew vehicle ground test article—offering attendees a rare glimpse into facilities pivotal to aviation and space exploration history.
Recognizing Excellence
The conference included special sessions such as a symposium in memory of Dr. Jeffery Schaff and a panel discussion on “Composites in Space: Near- and Long-Term Challenges” led by NASA and industry experts. Several awards were presented to recognize outstanding research and student contributions.
By the Numbers
- 280 technical papers published
- 3 plenary lectures
- 1 banquet keynote by astronaut Dr. Nancy Currie-Gregg
- 1 VIP tour of NASA Langley Research Center
- 1 panel session on composites in space exploration
- 1 memorial symposium for Dr. Jeffery Schaff
Sponsors and Support
The success of the conference was made possible thanks to the support of:
- University of Utah
- Syracuse University
- NASA Langley Research Center
- National Institute of Aerospace
Organizing Committee
- Conference Chair: Dr. Barry Davidson (Syracuse University)
- Conference Co-Chairs: Dr. James Ratcliffe (NASA Langley Research Center), Dr. Michael Czabaj (University of Utah)
- ASTM D30 Program Chair: Dr. Ronald Krueger (National Institute of Aerospace)
