Testbed and Training Center Will House the Largest Aerospace Composites Press in the World
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 3, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee this week, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg affirmed the critical role of thermoplastic composites in the future of aviation manufacturing, citing them as a “major, important technology area we should be investing in.” In response to questioning from Committee Ranking Member Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ortberg emphasized that thermoplastics offer a “huge advantage” and will “streamline the production of aircraft,” helping to drive innovation and job creation across the aerospace sector.
Senator Cantwell’s persistent focus on workforce development, advanced materials, and strategic technology investments drew strong praise from Ortberg, who acknowledged the importance of the Senator’s leadership and the foundational work of the AAMMC Tech Hub in Washington State. “First of all, I appreciate your leadership in this particular area,” Ortberg said. “The Tech Hub work that you’ve done in Washington is very helpful.”
As global demand for aircraft surges—projected at 40,000 new planes worldwide—Senator Cantwell underscored the stakes of investing in next-generation manufacturing capabilities. “If we neglect [thermoplastics], we could fall behind as a nation,” she warned, noting the opportunity to impact over 2 million workers in the aviation industry. Ortberg echoed the urgency, saying that while the U.S. may be trailing international competitors such as Europe, “we’re not behind in a way that we can’t recover.”
The hearing highlighted the transformative potential of thermoplastics to replace traditional metal parts in aircraft, introducing a fundamentally different manufacturing process that will require reskilling and expansion of the domestic aerospace workforce. “We’ll have to train a whole different kind of application, a different workforce to utilize thermoplastics,” Ortberg stated. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
This moment marks another key milestone in the growing recognition of the AAMMC Tech Hub’s mission and Senator Cantwell’s determined advocacy for American innovation, safety, and competitiveness in aviation. “Our partnership with Senator Cantwell and Kelly Ortberg will keep the Pacific Northwest at the forefront of the future of American aerospace,” said a spokesperson for the Aerospace Tech Hub. “With collaboration between industry, NASA, and the Department of Defense, American engineers can maintain our global leadership in commercial and defense aerospace and create new domestic supply chains.”
The AAMMC Tech Hub is a testbed and training center to develop cutting-edge technologies and equip a pipeline of aerospace engineers and technicians to lead in advanced aerospace materials.
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