1996 – The Coalition, a regional economic and development organization, establishes The National Composite Center as a not-for-profit research and development organization.
NCC acquires a building at the new Kettering Business Park (former site of the Defense Electronics Supply Center (DESC).
General Motors, through its Delphi Chassis Division, donates two compression molding presses, a pultrusion and pulmolding system and an assortment of composite test and finishing equipment.
1997 – 1000-ton SRIM press and P4 preformer equipment installed.
NCC signs the P4A project contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base for aerospace composite preform parts. The project begins shortly thereafter with the purchase of a new preforming apparatus uniquely designed to handle carbon fiber reinforcements.
1998 – NCC completes renovation of Building 1 at the Kettering Business Park and dedicates the building by showcasing the production of its automotive preforms for Focal Project II.
1999 – NCC demonstrates to the Air Force the complex shapes and cost reductions possible with the P4A process.
NCC successfully completes the preform and molding part of Focal Project II for the Automotive Composites Consortium (ACC), a division of the United States Consortium for Automotive Research (USCAR) with the delivery of nearly 700 pick-up truck boxes to the partners for test purposes. NCC’s broad range of preform expertise produces and delivers pick-up boxes in unit quantities of hundreds to ACC and helps birth technology for pickup box on GM Silverado.
2000 – NCC launches Phase I, Project 100, a state-backed initiative designed to capitalize on the anticipated growth of FRP composites for bridge decks and other infrastructure applications.
NCC teams with Hardcore Composites LLC and WebCore Technologies Inc., to develop lower cost composite preforms for Project 100.
NCC completes its portion of the project report for Focal Project II for the ACC.
NCC announces agreement with Lion Apparel for new development and pilot production of composite shells for Lion Apparel’s fire helmet product line and initiates its first technology transfer of aerospace technology to a commercial application.
2001 – NCC negotiates purchase of Delphi Automotive Systems’ composite spring business and helps establish Liteflex LLC, a new enterprise created to develop the technology for broad application to the automotive and medium to heavy-duty truck markets.
NCC begins work on the ACC’s Focal Project III which explores carbon fiber uses for application to the support piece between the front and rear doors on a four-door sedan.
NCC partners with Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and WebCore to install first composite vehicle bridge deck on federal property. NCC equips the bridge deck with substantial performance monitoring equipment.
Lion Apparel selects NCC to perform molding operations for the company’s newly acquired Paul Conway Helmets.
NCC partners with Martin Marietta Composites(MMC) and launches new Composites For Infrastructure (C4I) initiative.
2002 - NCC and MMC install largest composite bridge deck to date under C4I.
NCC completes first formal inspection of eight composite bridge decks installed under Project 100 to begin building critical performance data.
NCC receives donation of a robotic fiber placement machine from Boeing Phantom Works valued at $4.5 million and announces plans to create an aerospace preform composite parts company for the Dayton area.
NCC teams with Ashland Corporation and Why Not Composites to establish a Closed Molding Cell to help educate the industry about improved closed molding techniques with a special emphasis on vacuum infusion.
NCC is selected for the Ohio Third Frontier Project Regional Summit – the platform for Ohio Governor Bob Taft’s second in a series of meetings designed to discuss local priorities and high-technology resource. The Third Frontier Project is the state’s largest commitment to date to expand Ohio’s high-tech research capabilities, promote start-up companies and build high-wage jobs.
2003 – Governor Bob Taft presents NCC with a $1 million Wright Capital Project Fund award to help NCC develop high-strength, low mass thermoplastics parts for the automotive and mass transit industries.
NCC hosts press conference where ArvinMeritor’s Commercial Vehicle Systems Worldwide Suspension Systems business announces a joint agreement with Liteflex LLC, an authorized licensee of NCC for the manufacture of the composite springs. The agreement names ArvinMeritor as sole distributor of current Liteflex truck and trailer mechanical composite leaf springs on a global basis.
NCC teams with Utah State University to bring the composite 1905 USU Wright Flyer™ to Dayton for Inventing Flight and US Air and Trade Show celebrations. Highlights included recreation of one of the Wright Brothers’ famous flights over Huffman Prairie Flying Field and participating as a featured guest in the Birth of Aviation pavilion.
Governor Bob Taft awards NCC a $2 million grant from the Wright Capital Project Fund for installation of a Large Scale Preformer system and resin molding equipment. The new system allows NCC to fully develop the potential of its breakthrough Rapid Fiber Preforming process to produce cost effective, complex, very large composite products.
The Composite Fabricators Association (CFA) holds its first ever International Symposium on Vacuum Infusion Processing and Resin Transfer Molding at NCC.
NCC holds special press conference to unveil new aerospace and defense company Vector Composites, Inc. Vector is NCC’s first stand-alone company.
2004 – NCC is awarded ISO 9001:2000 registration by Eagle Registrations Inc., based in Dayton, Ohio. The scope of the registration covers the promotion, research and development, application and pilot production projects of advanced composite technologies.
NCC adds finite element analysis package, Genesis™ Design Optimization capability to help manufacturers integrate composites into structural designs and harvest substantial cost and weight savings among other benefits.
U.S. Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH) announces NCC has been selected to receive $1 million to build composite bridge decks for pedestrian and bicycle traffic along the Anacostia River waterfront in Washington, D.C.
NCC collaborates with partners University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and I-Plus to advance Long Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastics (LFT) technology for near-term commercialization on projects for the Federal Transit Authority (FTA) and Army Research Laboratory (ARL).
2005 - NCC and Composites One announce a joint agreement naming Composites One as sole distributor of NCC’s Rapid Fiber Preforming technology for North America .
Delphi Automotive Systems (NYSE: DPH) transferred its advanced composites technologies and associated business to NCC.
NCC unveiled a new company called Composite Advantage to take over production of a unique pump concept for the down hole oil field industry and deliver high value products to markets that do not traditionally use composites.
NCC and Ideation International Inc. announced a new organization called the Ohio Innovation Center (OIC) LLC established to revolutionize the state’s business, technology and education communities with a total solution for innovation and invention.
Findlay Hancock County Chamber of Commerce and NCC announce creation of the new North Central Campus for Emerging Technology (NCC-ET) for scale up of Advanced Cerametrics Inc.’s (ACI) patented flexible piezoelectric (PZT) ceramic fiber composite production.
NCC partners with the University of Dayton Research Institute to help commercialize nanocomposites through the Center for Multifunctional Polymer Nanomaterials and Devices (CMPND).
NCC announces expansion of its design capabilities with the addition of ABAQUS.
Working in close cooperation with Sinclair to become an integrated part of the college’s learning environment, NCC signs Joint Use Agreement (JUA) with Sinclair Community College and receives $2 million in capital appropriation funds for facility upgrades and new tooling to enhance current and future project work.