JEC World 2026 recorded more than 45,000 professional visits, in line with 2025 results, despite the situation in the Middle East and challenging travel conditions, including airline disruptions affecting attendees traveling via major transit hubs in the Gulf. Visitors in 2026 came from 94 countries, once again demonstrating the event’s undisputed global relevance as a key meeting point for the composites industry.

“The strong international turnout at JEC World 2026 once again demonstrated the need for in-person collaboration across the global composites industry to foster business, partnerships, and knowledge sharing. Innovation and industry growth in our sector rely on close interaction between material suppliers, manufacturers, researchers, and academics. Every year, JEC World provides the unique global platform where these connections happen” said Eric Pierrejean, President of JEC.

A Festival of Composites: Where Materials Meet Applications across industries

The JEC World 2026 edition welcomed professionals from a wide range of sectors, including aerospace, marine, defense, renewable energy, mobility, as well as sports and leisure. Throughout the show, attendees explored a comprehensive offering of products on display, live equipment demonstrations, and a rich conference program. Dedicated conferences on construction, aerospace, marine, as well as circular materials were widely praised by participants.

“JEC World is not only the annual global meeting of the composites industry, bringing together materials, machines, equipment, manufacturing technologies, and services. It is also a unique “Festival of Composites,” a place where professionals from diverse industries can discover how composites address their key challenges, particularly in terms of sustainability, decarbonization, and durability. At JEC World, they can explore existing products and applications and find inspiration for the development of future solutions,” said Eric Pierrejean, President of JEC.

In this context, the official JEC selection of more than 80 parts and components presented at the Innovation Planets was a must-see, alongside the many innovative products displayed across exhibitors’ booths.

In addition, the Live Demo Area featured real-time demonstrations of composite manufacturing processes and equipment, allowing attendees to experience technologies in action and interact directly with experts. In the Discovery Planet, a dedicated exhibition on the History of Composites in Aeronautics highlighted how composites have been instrumental in the development of modern aircraft, paving the way for future developments.

A Powerhouse of Business Opportunities

JEC World is more than ever serving as a powerful business platform for the entire composites value chain — from raw materials and manufacturing technologies to end-user applications. This year, business activity was particularly strong, with more than 20,300 pre-scheduled meetings between buyers and sellers, organized through the JEC Business Meetings Service — an increase of 49% compared to 2025.

“Business is at the core of JEC World,” said Thomas Lepretre, Vice President, Events, Sales, and Operations at JEC. “This year’s numbers confirms that the event continues to strengthen its role as a global marketplace for composites. By bringing together the entire value chain, and key application sectors under one roof, JEC World creates unique opportunities for partnerships and investments. Where else can you do a year’s worth of businesses in three days?”

The business energy extended well beyond pre-scheduled meetings. The Country on Stage session on Saudi Arabia, hosted by OSP, highlighted how Vision 2030 is transforming the Kingdom into a hub for composites innovation, smart manufacturing, and advanced materials, with opportunities spanning energy, infrastructure, and high-tech industries.

Celebrating Excellence: From Startup awards to Student Design

More than 70 startups exhibited at JEC World, demonstrating the industry’s innovation pipeline. For the second consecutive year, JEC World also hosted a dedicated Investor Day, bringing together venture capitalists, some fifty startup founders and investors for one-on-one meetings, show floor visits and exclusive networking, giving investors privileged access to one of the most promising markets in advanced materials.

One of the highlights of the event, the JEC Composites Startup Booster — the world’s leading startup competition in composites and advanced materials — crowned three winners from 20 international finalists, selected from more than 160 applications.

Grand Winner: Soarce (USA). Developing nanofiber technologies that make composites up to eight times stronger than steel.

Runner-Up: nebumind (Germany). Turning production data into actionable insights for advanced manufacturing.

Sustainability Winner: Plastalyst by AC Biode (Luxembourg/Japan). enabling low-temperature recycling of hard-to-recycle waste.

The SMC BMC Design Award 2026, themed “Live Better, Live Green,” recognized outstanding student designs in SMC and BMC materials. Gold went to ‘Hedera’ (Elisava Barcelona, Spain), a modular vertical garden system for building facades; Silver to ‘Domum Shelter’ (TU Delft, The Netherlands), a rapid-deploy shelter for refugees; and Bronze to ‘GROWi’ (ESAD Oporto, Portugal / Shenkar College, Israel), a soil-free modular aeroponics system.

The 11 award-winning solutions of the JEC Composites Innovation Awards were also on display, offering attendees the opportunity to discover and engage directly with the teams behind some of the year’s most outstanding composite innovations. The laureates were also honored during the official Welcome Ceremony, highlighting JEC World’s commitment to celebrating excellence and fostering collaboration across the global composites community.

A Record Conference Program: 100 Sessions, 200 Speakers

JEC World 2026 delivered its most ambitious conference program to date, with over 100 sessions and more than 200 speakers sharing scientific expertise, industrial experience, and market perspectives over the three days. Highlights included a masterclass by industry pioneer Professor Steve Tsai on Double-Double (DD) laminates, which drew exceptional attendance, as well as the SAMPE Technical Sessions, where experts from around the world presented the latest technological advances across four major themes: True Circularity, Accelerating Materials and Process Development Through Digitization, Advanced Manufacturing and Extreme Composites.

As part of the SAMPE Global Emerging Engineers Challenge, three finalist teams took to the Open Stage on March 11th to present their projects live before a panel of industry judges, who then awarded the winner.

SAMPE Global Emerging Engineers Challenge 2026 Winner: The Future of Lightweight Spacecraft Structures | Nico Peters & Nick Elderfield, University of Calgary, Canada.

The two other finalists were:

• Structural Carbon Fibers from Waste CO₂ | Spencer Dansereau & Wesley Whitaker, Mach Electric, United States.
  

• Project Delta | Andrew Orr, Emma Clarke, Erin Callaghan & Stuart Dunlop, Boeing UK, United Kingdom
  

• A Media Hub for the Composites Industry — Content on Demand

Over three days, JEC world offered an unprecedented content program across three stages and a Live Demo Area, featuring keynotes, panel discussions, startup pitches, and live demonstrations. For the first time, JEC World also hosted a dedicated on-site Media Hub, bringing together a television studio, podcast room, and a blogging space in one location.

As no attendee fully can take in all content on site, the JEC Web TV, JEC’s online video platform, offers replays of all JEC World sessions, as well as exclusive interviews with industry leaders and experts.

JEC World 2027: 2–4 March, Paris Nord Villepinte

The global composites community will return to Paris from 2 March to 4 March 2027. To date, half of the exhibition space has already been reserved.

Key Figures — JEC World 2026

• 1,400+ exhibitors, 150+ new ones
  

• 45,000+ professional visits from 94 countries
  

• 27 regional and national pavilions
  

• 18 official delegations (national and regional).
  

• 20,300 pre-scheduled business meetings (+49% vs 2025)
  

• 3 JEC Composites Startup Booster winners & 20 finalists
  

• 11 JEC innovation awards winners among 33 finalists
  

• 100+ sessions featuring 200+ speakers on 3 stages during 3 days
  

• 140+ videos and interviews available on demand