#195 Poland’s Composite Revolution: From Research Labs to JEC World 2026 Interviw with Anna Boczkowska
09.01.2026 12 min Staffel 5 Episode 153
Zusammenfassung & Show Notes
Poland’s Composite Revolution: From Research Labs to JEC World 2026
Why is Poland making headlines in composites?
At the first-ever JEC Forum Central Europe 2025 in Krakow, Composites Lounge spoke with Prof. Anna Boczkowska from the Warsaw University of Technology, a pioneer in materials science and engineering. Her insights reveal why Poland is becoming a strategic hub for advanced composites.
Engineering Highlights from Warsaw University of Technology:
Natural Fiber Integration: Basalt and hemp fibers are being engineered for wind turbine blades, reducing environmental impact while maintaining structural integrity.
Surface Engineering for Longevity: Advanced coatings deliver ice-phobic and low-wettability properties, critical for aerospace and energy applications.
Recycling Innovation: Modified recycled carbon fibers are achieving near-virgin performance, enabling circularity in high-performance composites.
Bio-Composites Future: Combining bio-resins with natural fibers to create fully sustainable composite systems for automotive, transportation, and construction sectors.
Natural fibers not only reduce weight and cost—they actively absorb CO₂ during growth, offering a negative carbon footprint. Many originate from agricultural waste, turning by-products into high-value engineering materials.
Poland is stepping onto the global stage as a first-time exhibitor at JEC World 2026!
📍 Visit the Polish Pavilion at Hall 5, Stand 5G142 to explore cutting-edge research and industrial applications driving sustainable composites forward.
YouTube Episode: https://youtu.be/cX9zszbutSo
Why is Poland making headlines in composites?
At the first-ever JEC Forum Central Europe 2025 in Krakow, Composites Lounge spoke with Prof. Anna Boczkowska from the Warsaw University of Technology, a pioneer in materials science and engineering. Her insights reveal why Poland is becoming a strategic hub for advanced composites.
Engineering Highlights from Warsaw University of Technology:
Natural Fiber Integration: Basalt and hemp fibers are being engineered for wind turbine blades, reducing environmental impact while maintaining structural integrity.
Surface Engineering for Longevity: Advanced coatings deliver ice-phobic and low-wettability properties, critical for aerospace and energy applications.
Recycling Innovation: Modified recycled carbon fibers are achieving near-virgin performance, enabling circularity in high-performance composites.
Bio-Composites Future: Combining bio-resins with natural fibers to create fully sustainable composite systems for automotive, transportation, and construction sectors.
Natural fibers not only reduce weight and cost—they actively absorb CO₂ during growth, offering a negative carbon footprint. Many originate from agricultural waste, turning by-products into high-value engineering materials.
Poland is stepping onto the global stage as a first-time exhibitor at JEC World 2026!
📍 Visit the Polish Pavilion at Hall 5, Stand 5G142 to explore cutting-edge research and industrial applications driving sustainable composites forward.
YouTube Episode: https://youtu.be/cX9zszbutSo
Transkript
So, dear community LinkedIn
members Composites Lounge members,
suppliers and buyers, I am here now
with JEC Forum Central Europe
2025 in Krakow and let me walk you
through the first day's conference program
here. We started this morning
with the opening sessions.
After of course, getting the badges
and in the opening sessions
there were some salient information
that I would like to give you.
So Poland is in the boat production,
in the yat production,
the number nine in the world.
Did you know that?
So I found that really fascinating.
Out of all Central Europe, of course,
the Polish market
is the largest Composites market.
By far the largest, which means the start
of JEC Forum Central Europe in Poland
is the right point of growing
into the Central European markets.
So I will be talking today
with Anna Boczkowska.
She's the university professor of Warsaw.
I will be talking with Andrzej Czulak
from PKTK. So the Polish cluster
of composite technologies
and see many,
many more people here and network.
And stay tuned with our coverage
from Krakow.
So wonderful good morning
dear LinkedIn community.
We are here at JEC Forum Central Europe.
This is the first time
JEC has organized a forum here in Poland.
Poland exactly
we are here in Krakow,
but with me together is Anna Boczkowska.
She is a professor
at the University of Warsaw.
Welcome to my show.
Anna, I have the first question
is for the people
who don't know the Warsaw University.
Can you explain us?
What is the Warsaw University?
And what was the reason for you
to support JEC Forum Central Europe?
I represent Warsaw University
of Technology.
Faculty of Materials
Science and Engineering.
My faculty is one of the smallest
at Warsaw University of Technology,
which is the oldest technical university
in Poland. Next year we will celebrate
200 years anniversary of our university.
At my faculty
we are working on composite materials.
Personally, I am interested
in composite materials
I think since 30 years even more.
That's why I am here. I am a partner
of Polish Composite cluster.
I also represent Polish Research Society,
Polish Composite Research Society.
So I'm working on composite materials.
I'm teaching of composite materials
at the university. So that's why I'm here.
-So, Anna, thanks for introducing.
Warsaw University to us
was very comprehensive.
Thank you so much.
Now, this is the second time
we are meeting.
Of course, I want to catch up with you
on what's going on regarding innovation,
technology and sustainability.
On which projects
are you working right now
that are hot topics?
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So we're currently working
on different projects.
Some of them
are related to sustainability.
Some are related to new materials.
Some of them are also related
to SHM techniques. We are going to develop
also new techniques
for the composite materials
related strictly to composite materials.
Regarding the new materials,
let's say green materials,
we've got new project deals
with introduction
of the natural fibers
to composite materials.
Especially in the wind turbine
energy systems.
We are working on basalt fibers.
We are working on hemp fibers
on the modification
of the surface of the fibers.
We also have projects on recycling
of the composite materials,
and we are working on the modification
of the surface of carbon fibers
coming from the recycling
to obtain the better properties
of the new product,
and also the new direction
on which we are working
also, and we have new projects on this.
This is the modification of the surface
of composite materials
to have longer life and better properties,
such as lower wetability
and coming into the ice phobic properties.
So this is also the direction
of our projects and our research work.
-So Anna, this is really
a great innovation
and a really great project.
Now Lately I have heard
that the bio fibers,
one of their main features and benefits
for using in composites is,
because bio fibers are in the atmosphere
in nature they are firstly absorbing CO2,
so the CO2 balance is negative.
Do you have any insights on this
or examples where you can explain to us
what will be the effect
for using it on composites?
-So the main advantage of natural fibers
is that they are growing each year
and absorb CO2,
as you said.
The new plants still absorbing the CO2.
So this is the main reason
why bio fibers are interesting for us.
And the second point why we are interested
so much in bio fibers
is that some of them are coming from waste
from the agriculture Industry.
So this is also very important.
And this is the benefits
and I think impact also
for let's say sustainability
of the composite materials production.
-So wonderful.
This is good news about the bio fibers.
Now let's talk about the future.
Warsaw University Krakow and Poland.
Of course you are using these fibers also
to maintain and to create a great future.
So where do you see the future
in composites
in the context of sustainable fibers
and of course, Poland,
in which strategic markets
are you going into? It's a very
complex question, I should say.
But the future of this bio fibers
and is the combination
with bio resins also to have
a completely bio
friendly composite materials. So I think
this is the future of Composites.
We shall also focus on the production
technologies for the future
and which sectors we targeted mainly,
let's say transportation,
automotive, wind, energy.
These are main sectors
on which we are going to work
and also building industry.
This is also a huge market
for composite materials.
So we also deal
with this construction industry sector.
So Anna, thank you so much
for these insights on the Polish market.
The Warsaw University.
This is the day one dear community
of Czech Forum Central Europe
and our show will continue.
Thank you so much for your insights.
Thank you very much. Thank you.