Blended Training in Valencia

On February 20, 2020 the team of the E-Learning Composites Academy was received at the Polytechnic School of Valencia, Spain. Invited by professors François Trochu from the Montreal Polytechnic and Antonio Garcia from the Valencia Polytechnic.

We took this opportunity to interview these two great teachers after the "Blended Training" given to their students.

Interview with François TROCHU:

What did you think of the training carried out by E-Learning Composites Academy?

"E-Learning Composites Academy has created a new kind of training, with practical demonstrations on the manufacture of composites by injection. »

Are our training tools adapted?

"They are very ingenious, thanks to simple and light devices, it is possible for the learner to experiment while being guided by advanced concepts and simple to use software! »

Would you like to say a word about our concept?

"Congratulations to Composites Academy for not hesitating to innovate and thus facilitate the learning of these technologies by combining theory and practice. Congratulations to Jean-Pierre CAUCHOIS, the founder. »

Interview with Antonio GARCIA:

From an academic point of view, does this training meet a need?

"Yes, of course. It is directly linked to my line of research and also to my university courses. »

Did it meet your expectations?

"Absolutely, it was really great. »

Are the theoretical, practical and software approaches understandable to the students?

"The orientation of the workshop was mainly experimental, in coordination with other theoretical subjects that the students had studied previously. »

Is the digital dimension of this training well understood in its logic?

"Yes, but it is necessary to have prior training in simulation, in order to understand the importance of the phenomena of impregnation and permeability. »

We would like to warmly thank professors François Trochu and Antonio Garcia for their welcome and professionalism, as well as their very attentive and participative students with whom we had a pleasant time.

The students received a diploma inaugurating the very first Blended Training, confirmed level, of "E-Learning Composites Academy".

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Prepreg training courses

For his new training course, the E-LEARNING COMPOSITES ACADEMY is focusing on the business rules governing prepreg materials and has joined forces with STELIA Aerospace North America Inc. (STENA), a manufacturer of composite structures for the aerospace and defence industries. The aim of the partnership is to improve the skills of collaborators in the manufacture of composite parts.

Under the leadership of Rolland DELORME, Chief Operating Offi cer, STENA has embarked on a mission to improve the capabilities of its workforce through digital training. As Rolland DELORME explains, ?Jean-Pierre CAUCHOIS, composite materials expert and CEO of COMPOSITES EXPERT, joined this initiative. The training organization's state-of-the-art digital platform for composite manufacturing processes proved to be perfectly suited to STELIA North America's needs, facilitating the creation of customized training material for thermoset prepregs, hand lay-up and autoclave curing?.

E-LEARNING COMPOSITES ACADEMY is the first training platform dedicated to the processing of thermosetting and thermoplastic composite materials, combining theory, practical exercises in the form of BOXes and the integration of software and digital twins into the courses.

Commenting on the move, Rolland DELORME said: ?This strategic collaboration is designed to fill the skills gap that STENA faces, particularly in the rural area of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia and competitive area of Mirabel, Quebec. STENA operates a primary facility in Lunenburg and a secondary facility in Mirabel, focusing on traditional composite manufacturing techniques such as hand lay-up of prepreg materials. The shortage of skilled labour, compounded by the lack of formal training programmes in composites, led to the search for an innovative and effective educational solution. Under the umbrella of the E-LEARNING COMPOSITES ACADEMY, the collaboration drew on the expertise of STENA's production and engineering teams and specialists from Hexcel, a leading manufacturer of advanced composite materials. The resulting training programme, available in English and French, not only will benefit our teams in Nova Scotia and Quebec, but is also an invaluable asset to the broader aerospace and composites industry.?

Carolina BRANTES, Technical Support Manager for France, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific at HEXCEL, explains that ?Developing our employees' knowledge of the applications of composite materials in industrial environments is an essential value for HEXCEL. This enables us to offer a quality service for our products and to support the development of our teams. By combining theoretical online courses with practical classroom work, E-LEARNING COMPOSITES ACADEMY is perfectly suited to the needs of today's industry and the flexibility demanded by the new generation.? This new module will lead to international certification in a few months' time (TOCTE® : Test of Composite Technical Evaluation). This final stage in the development and recognition of our teams is being carried out with some of the biggest names in the aerospace industry. No previous knowledge of prepreg materials is required for this new course, which is aimed at new entrants with no knowledge of the process, operators, technicians and methods offices, as well as experienced teams wishing to refresh or add to their knowledge. The course is structured around the following topics: general aspects of composite materials; health, safety and environment; transformation technologies in the aeronautical field; definition and manufacture of prepreg materials; vocabulary and technological stages involved in a school part.

In line with the quality standards required for the processing of prepreg parts in the aerospace industry, the new course covers almost 400 business rules.

E-LEARNING COMPOSITES ACADEMY offers a complete learning programme with implementationsin clean room, material storage, cutting, tooling, curing and demoulding. These six chapters,specific to this transformation process, set out all the business rules that need to be learnt andmastered. Each chapter is followed by a fun quiz, with a final assessment at the end of the course.

E-LEARNING COMPOSITES ACADEMY provides companies with a toolbox in which production managers, technical and methods department managers, can customize the training programmes of their employees according to their profiles and professional roles.It's a training programme with drawers, designed to help you master a rigorous transformation process. According to Jean-Pierre CAUCHOIS, this is an asset for the aeronautics sector: ?The human element in this technology is very important for parts with high added value, which is why E-LEARNING COMPOSITES ACADEMY wanted to put people at the centre of this approach and give them a learning structure and recognition for mastering this complex process? .

Looking to the future, Rolland DELORME says he is ?enthusiastic about supporting Composites Academy's goal of achieving international certification for its training programmes. This partnership not only responds to the industry's pressing challenges, but also reaffirms STENA's commitment to encouraging innovation and developing talent in the composites manufacturing sector?.

E-LEARNING COMPOSITES ACADEMY warmly thanks the following companies and individuals for their expertise, involvement, validation and contribution to this new learning resource:

STELIA Aerospace North America Inc.