Teijin Carbon Fibre Business Group wins JEC Innovation Award in Airbus-led public-funded projects SAUBER 4.0 and LeiWaCo
24. March 2026 | Blog
We are proud to announce that two projects to which Teijin Carbon contributed by sharing expertise in developing and producing dry fibre materials and thermoplastic prepregs, SAUBER 4.0 and LeiWaCo, won JEC Innovation Awards. The jury honoured the projects for their new generations of smart, sustainable and industrially scalable processes and materials.
Materials for the aerospace market form a vital part of the Teijin Carbon Fibre Business Unit (CFBU)'s portfolio. The unit is currently developing dry-fibre and thermoplastic materials to address the challenges and demands of the next generation of structural aerospace components for key customers such as Airbus and Boeing.
Close collaboration with our customers, including participation in publicly funded research projects, is an essential part of our development process. This efficient, customer- and market-focused approach is key to establishing our portfolio of commercially successful, high-performance, high-quality products. It is a great honour when our intensive collaborative work is crowned with one of the most important awards in the composite industry. This recognition is a great honour for Teijin and excellent for our visibility in the market.
Established in 1998, the JEC Awards recognize, promote, and honor innovative composite solutions worldwide and provide an international platform with high visibility among a professional composites audience. The winners in the 11 categories were announced during the JEC World Premiere on Monday, January 12, in Paris, France. We’re proud to announce that two projects we contributed to won awards.
"SAUBER 4.0," won in the Aerospace – Process category. The jury recognized the project for its new generation of smart, sustainable, and industrially scalable resin transfer molding (RTM) processes for aerospace applications. The project fosters close collaborations between industry and research to combine technological excellence, digitalization, and sustainability. With SAUBER 4.0, a comprehensive manufacturing technology approach was developed to enable the production of complex, large-scale components, balancing ecological responsibility with economic efficiency. This enables Airbus's next-generation single-aisle aircraft. Also, it strengthens Teijin’s position to be a key material supplier for this high-volume product. As part of a strong industrial and research consortium, Teijin Carbon Europe contributed to the project by sharing our expertise in developing and producing dry fiber materials. Thank you to our project partners.
In addition, the LeiWaCo project won the JEC Award in the Pipes, Tanks and Hydrogen category. As the first composite liquid hydrogen (LH2) system, LeiWaCo is designed to eliminate cryogenic microcracking. It is based on a tailored thermoplastic matrix laminate, an optimized design, and advanced manufacturing processes that address the challenge of microcracking in carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) tanks at -253 °C. The composite system consists of a tough thermoplastic matrix with a higher cryogenic strain capacity and thinner materials that reduce internal stress. The optimized layups balance mechanical loads and thermal contraction, and the all-composite liner eliminates CTE mismatch. This significantly reduces weight and costs, allows for automated manufacturing, and enables green hydrogen mobility. The project has been validated by a functional subscale demonstrator.