A new Thermoplastics Composites Research Center (TPRC; www.tprc.nl) opened its doors in Enschede / The Netherlands at the end of June 2012. The hub, which includes a laboratory for thermoplastic composites research, is the brainchild of a collaboration between Boeing (Seattle, Washington / USA; www.boeing.com), Royal TenCate Advanced Composites (Almelo / The Netherlands; www.tencate.com), Fokker (Papendrecht / The Netherlands; www.fokker.com) and the University of Twente (Enschede / The Netherlands; www.utwente.nl) that dates back to 2008 – see Plasteurope.com of 06.07.2009. Key research fields include materials used in thermoplastic composites as well as joining and bonding methods.

TPRC is to accelerate scientific and technological developments for new thermoplastic composite applications, with a specific focus on the aerospace industry, by means of conferences, training and courses. The centre currently employs 15 workers, but the staff level is expected to reach 20 by the end of 2012. Since its founding, five other companies have joined the TPRC consortium. They are materials testing company Instron (Pfungstadt / Germany; www.instron.com), continuous fibre reinforced thermoplastic polymer moulder DTC (Almere / The Netherlands; www.composites.nl), machinery producer Pinette Emidecau Industries (Chalon sur Saone / France; www.pinetteemidecau.eu), engineering specialist Aniform (Deventer / The Netherlands; www.aniform.com) and Italmatic (Cassina de’ Pecchi / Italy).