LIST’s SCMM Industry Day 2025 highlights composites for sustainable and dual-use mobility

Second edition of the flagship event gathered European industry, research, and institutional leaders to discuss lightweight composites for civil and defence applications. 
 
The Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) hosted the second edition of the Sustainable Composite Materials & Manufacturing (SCMM) Industry Day on 2 October at the Maison des Arts et des Étudiants in Belval. With more than 170 participants from across Europe, the event confirmed its role as an important platform for advancing composite technologies at the interface of civil and defence applications.

Building bridges between civil innovation and defence needs

Under this year’s theme “Sustainable and Lightweight Composite Technologies: From Civil to Dual-Use Applications – How to Bridge Civil Technologies with Defence Needs?”, the event opened with strong institutional voices. Yuriko Backes, Minister of Defence and Minister for Mobility and Public Works stressed the importance of “creating synergies for the development of capabilities and technologies addressing both dual-use and pure defence applications.” Highlighting LIST’s role within Luxembourg’s innovation ecosystem, she underlined the need to “bring national and EU defence industry players together to help Luxembourg’s industry integrate the European defence value chain through partnerships with EU defence prime contractors.” In the same spirit, Nathalie Guichard, Research, Technology and Innovation (RTI) director at the European Defence Agency, outlined how European frameworks are helping civil companies enter the defence ecosystem and build collaborative projects.

Aerospace and space industries push sustainability frontiers

Speakers from Turkish Aerospace Industries, Saab and ArianeGroup highlighted how composites are transforming aerospace and space applications — from thermoplastic solutions for next-generation aerostructures to eco-friendly polymers reducing the environmental footprint of launchers. The message was that innovation in composites is inseparable from the industry’s sustainability agenda.

Hybrid solutions redefine land mobility and protection

The Land Vehicles discussion block brought together leaders from John Cockerill, Leonardo, and Iveco Defence Vehicles, who discussed the difficult balance between mobility, operability and protection in modern defence systems, and presented new hybrid material solutions — from polymer-ceramic protection systems to multi-material hybrid cabins — that reduce weight without compromising performance.

A resilient supply chain as the backbone of innovation

A dedicated session gave voice to the supply chain, where representatives from Leonardo, Sonaca and Toray Advanced Composites explored how industrial players are accelerating innovation in aerospace structures and defence applications. The discussions revealed a strong focus on circularity, lightweight integration, and advanced materials supply, underscoring how collaborative approaches across the value chain are essential to bridge civil innovation with dual-use demands.

Strategy and policy must match technological ambition

The closing perspectives looked at the bigger picture. Speakers from Airbus, the European Commission and the Luxembourg Ministry of the Economy emphasized that advancing composite technologies is not only a technical challenge but also a matter of industrial ambition and policy direction. Airbus highlighted the complexity of embedding composites into large aerostructures, while the European Commission underlined the role of funding in accelerating sustainable dual-use materials. Together, these perspectives showed that technological innovation must go hand in hand with strategic alignment and long-term support.

Beyond the technical exchanges, the event also featured a presentation of SCMM’s demonstrators. This provided participants with a unique opportunity to discover LIST’s cutting-edge capabilities in lightweight and sustainable composites. The showcase reinforced SCMM’s role in accelerating technology transfer from laboratory to market applications.

Olivier Guillon, CEO of LIST said: “Luxembourg has identified defence and sustainable mobility as strategic priorities. This year’s SCMM Industry Day is our way of aligning excellent research with these national and European needs, to create an environment where public institutions, industry and research organizations can work together on solutions with real impact.”