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Message from Andre:
Greetings! It's a new year full of expectations. This is a time for developing new strategies, implementing new manufacturing technologies, and focusing on lean manufacturing. At GRPguru.com, we are actively going to be part of that for the Closed molding Industry. But first, have a look at what we accomplished recently, and then on to our new initiatives, which include more on-line interaction with our ever growing customer base.


Attendees at the MATC
Attendees at the MATC observe an exercise in core layout and flow testing, a topic of the 5-day Advanced CMT course

MATC: (Maine Advanced Technology Center): Mission accomplished!
The contract for the start up of the MATC Center in Brunswick has been completed, the Center is up and running, full of positive energy under the competent leadership of the new Director, Debra Mattson. The 5-day CMT course during the week of February 23-27 will be the last time that I am in front of the class in Maine: with six instructors (all with an industry and/or educational background) on board, I can finally back off from spending lots of time in the class room and the training lab.
Besides the continued customer support, I am going to focus on more R&D and on-line content development… I will still be around for coaching the new instructors and will be helping out with the new courses that are being launched this year by SMCC. Visit the MATC website for details on courses or contact: "Debra Mattson" <DMattson@smccme.edu>


The ACMA CCT-VIP Study GuideThe ACMA CCT-VIP curriculum is ready!
We did a dry-run with 12 attendees at the MATC, and ACMA is putting the last touches on the study guide, which should become available in the next weeks. For more information visit http://www.acmanet.org/cct/ Or contact: Larry Cox, Director, CCM, CCTI, Director of Education, e-mail: lcox@acmanet.org.

March 11, 2009: I apologize for this announcement; I was just informed by ACMA that, due to the budget restraints, the CCT-VIP guide will not be published till July 09. There will be a temporary solution for people who want to take the CCT-VIP certification. Please contact Larry Cox , see contact info above.



ACMA COMPOSITES 2009: ACE AWARD!
ACE Award for Technical Innovation in the Corrosion Industry.
With a team of vendors and an innovative client, we scored big time at the ACMA Composites 2009 Conference: Kenway won the ACE Award for Technical Innovation in the Corrosion Industry. See the full press release under the ACE AWARD tabPDF Document, but have a look at the pictures below: Kenway Corporation of Augusta Maine built this "blind flange" with a diameter of 67 inches and a thickness of over 5 inches. The part was infused in a single shoot in 19 minutes, after stacking 100+ kitted plies. The pictures below show the finished part and a test section of the "slab". To put things in perspective: the aluminum tubing of the cradle supporting the "slab" is 1.75" OD, and the yellow strap that is hoisting the completed part is 3 inches wide. Congratulations and a warm thank you to all the contributors!

Award winning blind flange photos and ACE AwardAward winning blind flange photosAward winning blind flange photos




More Awards: ERMIS² "Best Power Yacht in the 22-40 meters"
ERMIS2Awarded in that category at the 2008 International Superyacht Society Design and leadership Awards, announced during the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show. Most of you have probably seen reviews of ERMIS², the 37 meter high speed luxury yacht built by McMullen & Wing, NZ. In a review of the vessel in the May 2008 issue of Yachts International, I got a little plug that made the trips to New Zealand even more worthwhile: here's a quote from David Porter, Managing Director of McMullen & Wing: "Several different options were discussed with High Modulus before the choice was made to use vacuum infusion".
"The owner said to assemble the best team possible. We went to the guru of infusion, Andre Cocquyt. Our builders had not tried this method before, which was good, because they had no bad habits, and could work well under Cocquyt's expert and insistent direction," Porter said. We are honored to be part of the A-team that created this vessel and congratulate McMullen & Wing Ltd, Humphries Yacht Design, Jo Humphries Interior Design and High Modulus (NZ) Ltd. See full press release Here.



AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST….
* We are creating a new platform: ASK THE COMPOSITES GURU.
Thousands of attendees of our seminars and courses over the past ten years have heard my “you need to know all 51 tricks to get it right” statement, and many of you have asked if I would ever publish those "51 tricks"….well, those tricks -or more precisely tips, instructions and guidelines- can be found in our VIP and CMT DVDs, as well as in the ACMA CCT-VIP study guide. But Closed Molding is a fast evolving technology, so I plan to keep everybody up to date on what is new in Closed Molding and help CMT and VIP practitioners out with troubleshooting. Here's how we'll do it:
Starting in March, there will be an "ASK THE COMPOSITES GURU" platform: Over the years, we have provided a free service: answering technical questions (again and again) about Closed Molding topics by e-mail, which now has led to a (delayed, I admit) light bulb moment: why not create a blog and post the answers? OK, it will be a bit more than just another blog; we are working on some bells and whistles.
This forum will exclusively focus on Closed Molding in general and Vacuum Infusion in detail, and will provide a wealth of information. You will be able to submit specific questions and get on-line answers, supported by pictures and video. And in the process, we'll "debunk" some myths and internet tales… To create a bit of extra incentive, we'll also put a "question of the month" out there with a free VIP Intro DVD for the best technical or comic answer. Details to follow. Check back in a few weeks.Meanwhile, the test blog is open; until we are up and running, you can fire your questions off to: http://compositesguru.wordpress.com


Andre Cocquyt, President
ACSM, Inc.
DBA GRPguru.com
GRPguru@Yahoo.com


Announcements:

Training DVDs

Closed Molding Technology DVD - NEW!

Closed Molding Technology DVD Andre is proud to announce the release of his latest training DVD, entitled CMT: Closed Molding Technology. More info.

VIP DVDs

VIP DVD's Master the techniques of the Vacuum Infusion Process with Andre's VIP DVDs. More info.
Purchasing for an Academic Institution? Email jamie[at]vat19.com for more info.

Customer Testimonials

Hi Andre,

Thank you for the copy on the XXX. If there is anything I can do to facilitate a school here let me know. Also I cannot tell you how impressed I was of your school and professionalism at Skagit Valley College. If at all possible I would like to spend a few more days with you. I don't want to impose but I know what type of learning curve I am on. Again, thank you for your time and patience, I hope to hear from you soon.

JB, WA


Andre,

 

Thank you for your presentation, time and help last week in Montreal at XXX National Sales mtg. We left you in such a haste to go cart racing that I did not get a chance to say good-bye to you or your lovely wife either. You did a great job in teaching this old dog new tricks...for that I wish to thank you. I have watched a number of folks VIP, but as always the devil is in the detail and in doing the small box, I learned much. I wish we could have seen it turn out, but knowing how to do it was quite valuable.

RP, Kansas City, KS


Andre & Lydia:

Just a quick note here to tell you I enjoyed the class and am looking forward to putting what I learned to use. I especially liked the hands-on and casual style. I'll keep you posted on our progress!

MM, Annapolis, MD


Dear Andre san,

Many thanks for all you did for us when we visited you last month. I was impressed very much by what you said and show us at that moment. Your experantial pastral care will help us in the future. Especially, I was encouraged by your words "We do what nobody has done". I realize that you gave up a great deal of your spare time for us, but it geve us a real valuable experiance. We look forward to meeting you in the near future. Rgards,

KK, Tokyo, Japan


A "BIG" THANK YOU ANDRE FOR THE VIP COURS. IT WAS A VERY EDUCATINAL WEEK . HOPE TO SEE YOU IN THE NEAR FUTURE. NEXT TIME YOUR IN THE MARITIMES GIVE ME A CALL.AGAIN THANKS.

 

GD, NB Canada


La démonstration que vous avez réalisé la semaine dernière au Nouveau Brunswick devant les mouleurs de bateaux a remporté un vif succès et je tenais à vous exprimer personnellement mes sincères remerciements.  Vos propos, particulièrement convaincants et non dénués d'exemple, contribueront à la longue réflexion que nos clients devront faire dans un avenir rapproché du au nouvelles normes environnementales qu'ils devront rencontrer. Ce sont des témoignages de cette nature qui enrichissent véritablement notre industrie et nous permettent de progresser. Espérant, que votre démontration portera fruit pour le bénéfice d'un plus grand nombre de mouleurs. Nous vous prions d'agréer, Monsieur. l'_expression de nos sentiments distingués. 

    

JGP, Montreal, Canada


          

Hi Andre

I hope your return trip went smoothly? I would like to thank you once again for spending the week with the boat builders here to teach them Vacuum Infusion and to share your boatbuilding experience. It was a good eye opening experience for many of our manufacturers and I hope it will be the start of more projects down the road. The results of the course have far exceeded my expectations. When I first started to organise this I had hoped maybe one or 2 boatbuilders would decide to give it a try and that the others would simply keep the information for when they would be forced to change. Instead I expect that we will be able to work with at least 4 of those present to start getting them switched over to VIP. Once this happens I have no doubt more will follow. I have no doubt that your methodical teaching approach made it easy for them to understand that it can be simple as long as nothing is overlooked. I hope that in the next few years we will start to see positive changes in the way boats are manufactured in XX. We will surely keep you up to date on what is happening. You had a chance to see our current state and I hope on your next visit you will be able to see improvements based on what you have taught us.

MT, NB, Canada


To All:

This was the best technical school I have ever been too. Andre was very engaging and is an excellent teacher. I was expecting this to be a waste of my time as I have a fair amount of infusion experience. However I went in with an open mind hoping to pick up on a trick or two. I ended up taking eighteen pages of notes! So did RH who is also a very accomplished at Infusion. I think that Andre would be an excellent addition to our team of closed mold experts to work with customers. Much in the same fashion as DS currently works with us. I further think that all sales within XXX should attend his school.

Thanks,
DA.

Well said!

RH

Strong endorsement!

GS (their boss)


HI Andre,

 

11:15 and everyone has gone home. We're 99.999999 percent complete. Everything went well. Next time around I would add a 3rd inlet per side. We used 310 gal of resin/hdn….The other thing we did was made taller pleated suctions (4"-5" above the surface instead of 2" ) and that saved our butts. I would also raise the feed line to  4' above the flange and carry down the colbond strips to within 20" of the distance to the outboard edge of the flange. All the above should reduce the time. We infused 140 gal in 20 min. 

Sonny was here to observe and comment. He was skeptical about the colbond spacing,single bag and raised pleats and just about everything else we did. It was nice to see him pleasantly surprised at how well everthing went.  Again, thanks for your help and friendship. We look forward to working with you more in the future.

 RD, Saint Croix, VI


Hi, Andre -

Thanks for your call.

Thanks even more for sharing your knowledge and experience with us in Your class. I am so grateful to you and to Mike for putting this on. It is impressive how well you hold up to the pressures of doing this sort of instruction. It must be unbelievably tiring.

RJ, Reno, NV


Hello

One of our employees ( RS ) attended the XXX Training seminar in Oak Harbor, WA. He was very impressed with the class and has some new tricks to use. He did talk to you for a while, and I wanted to thank you for spending the time with him. Also NT would like to offer our facility to you for any other training you might want to do. We have a 33000 sqft lamination building and a conference room for up to 25 people. Again, thank you for your training seminars and talking with our employee

BF, Anacortes, WA


Dear Lydia,

Once more I would like to thank you and André for the warm welcome, The really superb learning atmosphere and last but not least the Excellent practical training we got from André, exeptional and unique!

I am personally still amazed that we came all the way to Florida to meet the man who built the Maxi yacht that, certainly since the last two weeks, has offered me the passion for boating and probably a kind of direction in my life. Really amazing!

We will certainly keep in touch and I am convinced that we will meet Again in the upcoming years!

Say hello to André.

Greets,
MG, Belgium


Mr. Cocguyt,

Hello!  We met briefly this week at the class you put on hosted by XXX here in Southern California.  The course was an excellent introduction to the process.   You are very good at teaching it and make it very understandable


Andre, thanks for a great week.  The team consistently spoke very highly of the learning that took place-- now let's keep their energy up! 

MD, WV, North Carolina


Dear Andre & Lydia,

Thanks so much for giving me a fantastic week of training!  I am absolutely confident that I'll be able to demonstrate here the concepts that you've taught me.  I'll be frustrated a few times because I don't have something that I need, but after a few demonstrations I'll be able to have what I need on hand. Your shop is so well stocked it really makes it easy to make progress.

   

I'm sure I'll have a few questions along the way and I really appreciate your offer to provide assistance as we move forward.

   

My boss is out today, so I'll finalize shipping details tomorrow and let you know if I'll take the swamp boat or not.  I hope the tool wasn't too much trouble to get ready for shipping.  Our favored shipper is XXX, so I'll make arrangements with them.

 

Thanks for the excellent shopping list and checklist!

 

BL, Kent, Ohio


Andre and Lydia,  

I wanted to let you know how much my students and I appreciated the Workshop you held at Seattle Central Community College . The program was very understandable and contained just the right amount of information to encourage us to try a few things out. We have viewed the CD, again and are considering ways to approach some small projects, here in our shop. I will keep my eyes on your website (wonderful links, also) in anticipation of attending one of the more comprehensive workshops.

Thank you,  

CG, Tacoma , WA


Andre,  

I attended your technical session last week at CFA and I still had a Couple of questions after viewing your paper. By the way I thought your session was terrific; I wish there were more university professors with your teaching ability.  

TB, Los Angeles , CA


Andre,  

Thanks for the quick response and the leads. It's nice to know there are people like you in the industry who are willing to share their experiences and their valuable time with others.  

Regards, BT, Oskosh, MN


Andre,  

I just wanted to start out by saying that me and Danny really enjoyed your class on VIP. We learned a lot from it.

Thank you for your time, WM, Vonore, TN


Thank you for such an enlightening seminar.... I really took away a lot of insight from your class.  I am very much excited about the coming Seminars.  My knowledge base is limited, but I am extremely interested in going to a process such as this for the near future.  I liked the open atmosphere in the class, being able to converse verses just sit and listen. Again, Thank you for such a great class. 


Thanks for the demonstrations and information regarding the infusion processes. They were very informative and concise. The open format lent itself for discussion of the processes and I thought that was a nice change from a more structured, no question asked till after the demonstration format style.  

FS, New Bern , NC


Andre,

I thank you and everybody that footed the bill for the seminar. We did gain more knowledge that will help us lighten the learning curve. I thought you were quite thorough. Thanks.

RB, Edenton, NC
RF, Charleston, SC

 

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