2025 ASC Conference Recap – Dayton, OH

By Navid Zobeiry, Communications Editor, American Society for Composites, Last updated: October 26, 2025

The 40th Annual Technical Conference of the American Society for Composites, held October 6–8, 2025, in Dayton, commemorated the Society’s 40th anniversary in the same city that hosted the inaugural ASC conference in 1986. Organized by the University of Dayton, the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI), and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the event honored ASC’s origins while highlighting the latest advancements in composite materials. The conference was held with strong participation and engagement from the community.

Preceding the conference, the ASC Executive Committee held its annual in-person meeting on Sunday, October 5, at the Engineers Club of Dayton. Discussions focused on annual reports, the organizing committee’s report for ASC 2025, and planning for ASC 2026.

Organizing Committee

Dr. Thomas Whitney, University of Dayton, Conference Chair
Dr. Gyaneshwar P. Tandon, University of Dayton Research Inst., Conference Co-Chair
Mr. Michael Gran, Air Force Research Laboratory, Conference Co-Chair
Dr. Vipul Ranatunga, Air Force Research Laboratory, Conference Co-Chair

Opening & Plenary

The conference opened on Monday with welcoming remarks by Professor Thomas Whitney, followed by a joint plenary session featuring Brian Rice (Distinguished Researcher, University of Dayton Research Institute) and Dr. Evangelos Zympeloudis (Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, iCOMAT). Mr. Rice discussed recent advances in high-rate composite manufacturing and AFRL’s innovation ecosystem. Dr. Zympeloudis then delivered an engaging presentation on lightweighting solutions enabled by Rapid Tow Shearing (RTS), highlighting iCOMAT’s growth from a University of Bristol spin-out into an advanced composites manufacturing company.

Technical Program Highlights

The technical program featured parallel sessions spanning:

Additive Manufacturing
AI and Machine Learning in Composites
Analysis, Testing, and Material Characterization
Architected Composites
Composite Repair + Effects of Defects
Composites in Extreme Environments
Durability and Damage Tolerance
Impact and Dynamic Response
Manufacturing and Process Modeling
Micromechanics and Multiscale Modeling
Multifunctional Composites
NASA HiCAM Special Session
Nanocomposites
NDE of Composites
Sustainability of Composites
Thermoplastic Matrix Composites

Full Conference Program (PDF)

Featured Workshops & Events

Student Researchers in Composite Materials Meet-and-Greet event
The day before the conference, students had the opportunity to connect with one another at the Student Researchers in Composite Materials Meet-and-Greet event, held at the Engineers Club of Dayton. Organized by Professor Paulina Díaz-Montiel (University of San Diego), this event provided a welcoming space for students to interact and build community ahead of the conference.

Speed Mentoring
Organized by Professor Paulina Díaz-Montiel (University of San Diego), this event connected students with leading experts through timed small-group rotations at topic-based tables, offering targeted career guidance and networking.

CompositesAI: An AI-Powered Expert System for Composites
Led by Professor Wenbin Yu (Purdue University), this workshop introduced CompositesAI, which combines a large-language-model interface with data, expert rules, and integrated composites simulation codes.

Composites 2030: Education and Workforce Development for the Challenges and Opportunities Ahead
Moderated by Professor Paulina Díaz-Montiel (University of San Diego), this panel examined skills and curricular transformation needed to prepare the next generation of engineers for rapidly evolving demands in aerospace, energy, infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing, including AI/ML integration.

Short Course
The Analysis and Testing Division (A&TD) sponsored an industry Short Course entitled ‘Best Practices and Lessons Learned for Applying Continuum damage Mechanics to Aerospace Structures’ on Wednesday, October 8, 2025. Authored by Dr. Frank Leone Jr. (Branch Head, Durability, Damage Tolerance, and Reliability Branch, NASA Langley Research Center), Dr. Brian Justusson (Associate Technical Fellow, Boeing), and Dr. Joseph Schaefer (Technical Fellow, Boeing; A&TD Chair for ASC), the team of Brian and Mr. Matthew Molitor (Boeing) provided an abridged ‘in-person’ version of the Short Course. A follow-up virtual session by Dr. Leone was planned for the future. The Short Course introduced individuals who are new to continuum damage mechanics (CDM) and/or progressive damage and failure analysis (PDFA) to the terminology, approaches, and available industry resources (analytical tools/methods, high fidelity validation data). The goal for Session 1 was to disseminate knowledge related to verification, validation, evaluation, and application of CDM and PDFA methods developed under recent United States government funded research programs.

Technical Division Meetings
The annual Technical Division Meetings were held during ASC 2025, led by their respective chairs:

Analysis & Testing Division – Dr. Joseph Schaefer (The Boeing Company)
Emerging Composites Technologies Division – Dr. J.T. (Justin) Massey (Office of Naval Research Global)
Durability & Damage Tolerance Division – Professor Paul Davidson (University of Texas at Arlington)
Design & Manufacturing Division – Professor Aniruddh Vashisth (University of Washington)

Discussions included division updates, opportunities to support the Society, and planning for the 2026 ASC Sustainable Composite Design Competition.

Banquet & 40th Anniversary Reflections

The banquet, initially planned at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, was relocated to the Dayton Arcade due to facility closure.

Professor Byron Pipes (Purdue) delivered a keynote reflecting on the historical foundations of the composites community, highlighting pivotal contributions from the Air Force Materials Laboratory and pioneers such as John Halpin, James Whitney, Nicholas Pagano, and Charles Browning. Professor Pipes concluded by celebrating ASC’s first four decades and inspiring the community to advance boldly into its fifth.

Watch the full speech here:

Interview: Professor James M. Whitney

ASC’s founding president reflected on the Society’s origins in the early 1980s and how support from Dr. Som R. Soni led to the first technical meeting, proceedings, and formal incorporation in January 1985. With the 40th conference chaired by his son, Dr. Thomas Whitney, the celebration in Dayton brought the story full circle.

Honoring Achievement Across the Composites Community

The conference recognized outstanding contributions across research, education, service, and student excellence:

Outstanding Researcher Award
Dr. Ronald Krueger (National Institute of Aerospace)
ASC Award in Composites
Professor Wenbin Yu (Purdue University)
ASC Young Composites Researcher Award
Dr. Yao Qiao (PNNL)
Fellow of the American Society for Composites
Professor Endel Iarve (UT Arlington)
Fellow of the American Society for Composites
Professor Gregory Odegard (Michigan Tech)
ASC Best Paper Award (2024 Conference)
Uncertainty Quantification in Advanced Aerospace Composite Manufacturing Through Stochastic Finite Element Analysis and Probabilistic Machine Learning
Authors: Huilong (Max) Fu, Kendall A. Johnson, Navid Zobeiry (University of Washington)
Syensqo Best Student Paper Award
Saeed Khaleghi and Mehran Tehrani (UT Austin)
Student Simulation Challenge
Ryosuke Kano (Tohoku University, Japan)
4-Minute Doctoral Research Impact Competition
Winner: Partha Pratim Das (UT Arlington); Honorable Mention: Jason Mack (U Akron)
Sustainable Composite Design Competition
Team “Sun on Shoulders (SOS)” (Brazil & Germany)
ASC Ph.D. Scholarships
Jason Mack (U Akron), Joseph Kirchhoff (UT Austin), Partha Pratim Das (UT Arlington), Mohammad Saquib (Old Dominion), Uday Balaga (U Delaware)

NSF & ASC Student Travel Support

Led by Professor Paulina Díaz-Montiel (USD) under NSF CMMI Award #2530500, the NSF–ASC Student Travel Program supported 39 students (30 through NSF and 9 through ASC) to present their research at the conference. As part of this award, students participated in a series of professional development activities held before and during the conference, designed to enhance their overall experience.

These professional development activities included a series of virtual workshops aimed at helping students learn how to effectively present at a professional conference, network with subject-matter experts, and connect with fellow participants. The day before the conference, students had the opportunity to connect with one another at the Student Researchers in Composite Materials Meet-and-Greet event. The Speed Mentoring and Composites 2030 panel events were also organized to offer additional structured opportunities for networking, presentation skill development, and career planning.