Congratulations to IACMI member Endeavor Composites on the inauguration and ribbon cutting for their new facility in East Tennessee.
The approximately 22,000-square-foot advanced composites factory integrates fiber preparation, continuous wet-laid and air-laid production, research and pilot laboratories, machining, forming, and composite curing. Established in 2019, Endeavor Composites has doubled revenue every year and looks forward to serving major industrial and national-security markets.
“In this country, we need to manufacture more, faster,” said Endeavor’s CEO Hicham Ghossein. “The goal is speed without sacrificing quality. That’s what we’ve been focused on offering here.”
IACMI has been pleased to be part of Hicham’s journey for years, largely through his mentor and our CTO Uday Vaidya. From his PhD research at the Tickle College of Engineering at the University of Tennessee to joining one of the first cohorts of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Innovation Crossroads, Hicham gained access to valuable equipment at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) and Carbon Fiber Technology Facility (CFTF), UT’s Fibers & Composites Manufacturing Facility, and the IACMI – UT Collaboration Center where he set up his first headquarters.
Endeavor Composites has proven equipment + expertise = opportunity. IACMI CEO Chad Duty, commented, “Hicham is the poster child of the ecosystem that we have talked about for years.”
When asked, “What’s key to facilitating more startups?” Uday Vaidya answered, “Understanding the technology gaps, market needs, global landscape and connecting industry with these rising stars from the time they’re students. We want to provide them with clear pathways to value-add technology, associated risks/lows, funding resources, and integrating into their ecosystem. A lot of uncertainty is alleviated through the collective support from the ecosystem, encouraging them to consider the entrepreneurial route. It’s all about nurturing the innovating spirit.”
Opening this new facility represents the movement from research and early development into real production capacity, and it reflects how sustained collaboration can help an emerging technology become an American manufacturing operation.