#202 Metstrade Manufacturing Innovation in Marine & Composites: Tahira Ahmed on Morphing Technologies
20.01.2026 11 min Staffel 5 Episode 160
Zusammenfassung & Show Notes
đŽ BREAKING | Manufacturing Innovation in Marine & Composites
At Metstrade Amsterdam, on the JEC Group booth, a quiet but important announcement was made.
During an onâsite interview for Composites Lounge, Dr. Tahira Ahmed revealed the upcoming launch of Morphing Technologies â a new machineâbuilding company set to debut at JEC World 2026 (Paris, 10â12 March).
This is not about morphing products.
This is about morphing the manufacturing process itself.
From oneâoff tooling to shapeâprogrammable production
Morphing Technologies is introducing a fully automated adaptive mould system that changes shape directly from a 3D CAD file.
Instead of machining a new mould for every curved composite part, one reconfigurable mould can generate an unlimited number of geometries.
đ For engineers, this directly addresses:
Oneâoff and lowâvolume composite production
Curved and organic geometries (marine superstructures, yacht interiors, façade panels)
Tooling waste, storage, lead time and embodied COâ
At launch, the system will be demonstrated with a 1.2 Ă 1.2 m mould at JEC World 2026, showing extreme singly and doubly curved shapes live on the booth.
Engineering fundamentals (no buzzwords)
The morphing mould system is based on:
A digitally actuated pinâbed architecture with a continuous interpolation surface
Direct CADâtoâmould translation (minutes, not weeks)
Tolerances suited for structural and semiâstructural applications (±1â2 mm, geometryâdependent)
Compatibility with thermosets and lowâ to midâtemperature thermoplastics
Applicability beyond polymers: GRC, concrete, curved glass
In short: manufacturing flexibility without retooling.
Marine engineering lives at the intersection of:
Curvatureâdriven structural efficiency
Low production volumes
Late design changes
High tooling cost per part
Morphing Technologies targets exactly this gap â replacing CNCâmilled, singleâuse moulds with reusable, programmable tooling.
The sustainability impact is processâdriven:
â no disposable moulds
â no tooling storage
â dramatically reduced waste upstream of the part
Leadership that understands production reality Morphing Technologies is led by Dr. Tahira Ahmed:
Aeronautical engineer (Imperial College London)
PhD in composites (TU Delft)
~25 years across thermosets, thermoplastics, automation and handsâon manufacturing and Chair of CompositesNL
This is not conceptual R&D.
This is productionâgrade manufacturing engineering.
đ Event: JEC World 2026
đ Date: 10â12 March 2026
đ Location: Paris Nord Villepinte
đ Exhibitor: Morphing Technologies
đą Booth number: to follow soon
At Composites Lounge, we look for innovations that change how composites are made, not just how they are marketed.
YouTube Episode: https://youtu.be/DKeABHdbEYE
At Metstrade Amsterdam, on the JEC Group booth, a quiet but important announcement was made.
During an onâsite interview for Composites Lounge, Dr. Tahira Ahmed revealed the upcoming launch of Morphing Technologies â a new machineâbuilding company set to debut at JEC World 2026 (Paris, 10â12 March).
This is not about morphing products.
This is about morphing the manufacturing process itself.
From oneâoff tooling to shapeâprogrammable production
Morphing Technologies is introducing a fully automated adaptive mould system that changes shape directly from a 3D CAD file.
Instead of machining a new mould for every curved composite part, one reconfigurable mould can generate an unlimited number of geometries.
đ For engineers, this directly addresses:
Oneâoff and lowâvolume composite production
Curved and organic geometries (marine superstructures, yacht interiors, façade panels)
Tooling waste, storage, lead time and embodied COâ
At launch, the system will be demonstrated with a 1.2 Ă 1.2 m mould at JEC World 2026, showing extreme singly and doubly curved shapes live on the booth.
Engineering fundamentals (no buzzwords)
The morphing mould system is based on:
A digitally actuated pinâbed architecture with a continuous interpolation surface
Direct CADâtoâmould translation (minutes, not weeks)
Tolerances suited for structural and semiâstructural applications (±1â2 mm, geometryâdependent)
Compatibility with thermosets and lowâ to midâtemperature thermoplastics
Applicability beyond polymers: GRC, concrete, curved glass
In short: manufacturing flexibility without retooling.
Marine engineering lives at the intersection of:
Curvatureâdriven structural efficiency
Low production volumes
Late design changes
High tooling cost per part
Morphing Technologies targets exactly this gap â replacing CNCâmilled, singleâuse moulds with reusable, programmable tooling.
The sustainability impact is processâdriven:
â no disposable moulds
â no tooling storage
â dramatically reduced waste upstream of the part
Leadership that understands production reality Morphing Technologies is led by Dr. Tahira Ahmed:
Aeronautical engineer (Imperial College London)
PhD in composites (TU Delft)
~25 years across thermosets, thermoplastics, automation and handsâon manufacturing and Chair of CompositesNL
This is not conceptual R&D.
This is productionâgrade manufacturing engineering.
đ Event: JEC World 2026
đ Date: 10â12 March 2026
đ Location: Paris Nord Villepinte
đ Exhibitor: Morphing Technologies
đą Booth number: to follow soon
At Composites Lounge, we look for innovations that change how composites are made, not just how they are marketed.
YouTube Episode: https://youtu.be/DKeABHdbEYE
Transkript
So wonderful good morning.
This is now day two at Metstrade.
And I'm here on the booth
of the JEC Group.
As you know, next year in March, JEC World
2026 will be rolling out.
And there will be also some content about,
of course, the marine industry.
And now I have with me Tahira Ahmed.
And she was here just walking by
and I recognized her because they have
a machine building company.
And I would like to talk with Tahira
about Metstrade.
What's going on here at Metstrade,
why she's walking here around,
and what she will be preparing
for JEC World 2026.
Thank you for being part of my show.
-It's my pleasure.
Yeah. Thank you for stopping me.
-Yes. So let's talk quickly
about Metstrade. How important
is the Metstrade in this industry?
It's so important.
I mean, Metstrade is the trade show
for relationships.
So you're here, you meet everybody,
you keep, you make sure
that your relationships are strong.
So it's very, very important
to be here every year.
Okay. So for years you come here and look
after the latest innovations
and technologies.
-Absolutely.
You are of course a composite expert.
-I would like to think so, yes.
For, for many, many years you are in this.
How did you come into composites?
What was the beginning?
-Well, I started life
as an aeronautical engineer.
Okay. That was my my studies.
And I focused on composites at one point
because I found
the materials very interesting.
And actually,
that was about nearly 25 years ago.
I should not really
explain my age too much,
but then basically never left the industry
and went deeper and deeper.
And it seen me through thermostats,
thermoplastics,
automation and production with the hands.
Yes. It's seen me
through the various facets of composites.
So what fascinates you from composites
so far that you said,
okay, you want
a specialized in that field?
Well, production is my main thing,
-the production.
That means the challenge,
because it requires precise production.
It requires a lot of calculation also.
-Yeah. But also the way
you have a crossroads
of trying to get within a certain budget
that the customer wants,
but also with the new challenges
of sustainability and trying to figure out
how to get a product
made in the least carbon footprint
ways with the least amount
of waste, that is the thing
that really fascinates.
So the sustainability part of Composites.
Composites Tahira
is always component parts,
pressing or even large parts.
But I stopped you
because I wanted to talk with you
about off shapes, curved shapes.
You call this morphing, I guess.
Yes. Well, actually, it's quite nice
that you bring this up.
So we're launching a new company,
and actually,
when I walk past the JEC booth
is because we're launching a company
next year at the JEC
it's called Morphing Technologies.
Okay. And we're going to be launching
a product of these adaptive molds
that are fully automated
that can change shape
from a 3D CAD program.
And we're very excited
because these will be
a new generation type of machines.
So we hope that we can gain some interest
and have some people
checking out this new technology.
-Absolutely. So last year
I remember I was at the DLR booth.
They showed some morphing wings,
but this has not to do
with morphing in process
or in the application.
It's a morphing in the process.
In the manufacturing process.
-Correct. Yes.
So the DLR,
they've come up with a morphing wing.
And in that sense it's a wing
that sort of changes shape locally.
And that's the product.
And ours is a machine that changes shape.
So while it doesn't use
the same technology the idea is the same.
It morphs from one shape to another
and hence the name of the company.
I would love to see this tt JEC World
2026 in your operation.
Do you have this machine with you?
-We will have the machine with us. Yes.
Okay, so it's not that large?
I guess it will be very large.
It will be about 1.2 by 1.2m.
Okay. And we are going to be showing
some extreme shapes
that you can make with it.
It really is a fantastic technology,
because with that one mould
you can make an infinite number of shapes.
So no waste from tooling, really.
Do you already know your booth number?
Then we make some advertising
for your booth.
-I don't know.
You don't know it?
Okay. Don't worry.
But there's also a demo zone
at JEC World 2026.
But you are not at the demo zone.
You are on your booth.
Really on the booth.
-Okay. That's cool.
So let's talk about applications then.
Now we know you can morph to production.
So where is it inclined for a use.
What what typical use
would you say
for this kind of morphed parts?
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Oh, that's a good question.
So I think the application
would be quite broad.
But what we're aiming for
are a number of different markets.
One of the most obvious ones
are for architectural applications.
So producers of facade panels
that want to make organic shapes.
It's perfectly usable
for many different types of materials
that are used in architecture.
So not only fiber reinforced polymers,
but also for GRC.
The glass reinforced concrete,
also just concrete,
so it has a wide range of applications.
Also glass has an application
so curved glass and we also
have other types of applications.
Companies that make a lot
of different products, unique products.
And this is a fantastic application
rather than the alternative
which is a CNC machine mold
every single time.
So this is construction.
Okay. How about thermoset
thermoplastic resins.
-The mold can be used for both.
It can't go to a very high temperature.
So it can't do the very high
high performance thermoplastics.
But certainly the lower end
the lower temperatures and all thermosets
can be manufactured on the mold.
Very flexible.
-Okay. Now, you mentioned sustainability
before. This is my last question.
Do you think also
from the end in this process,
do you have some design build processes
that promote circularity, for example?
-Well, I think, you know,
our aim is really focusing
on the production technique itself.
So really it's the mold and the fact
that you're saving space as well,
while you're using such a mold,
you don't have to store the tooling
that you're only using once
or twice somewhere else.
So our sustainability is really focused
on technologies
around using this very low waste mold.
-Oh that's good. So in the production.
In the production itself.
-Yes. Okay. Wonderful.
So what would be
your final call to action?
Well, you know, please visit us.
Check us out.
Morphing technologies.
We'd be very happy to to meet you there
at the JEC next year.
-Wonderful. Thank you.
Tahira, for your interview.
Thank you.