Finalist for the Trophées PME 2021Bcomp has just been announced as one of four finalists for the Trophées PME 2021. We are very happy and honoured to have been chosen as a finalist for this award.Since the foundation of the company in 2011, Bcomp has been able to build on the great economic network and environment, that the canton and city of Fribourg represent. In a recent step of expansion, Bcomp has established a new production facility in the heart of Fribourg.Bcomp's CEO, Christian Fischer, comments: "When founding Bcomp, we selected Fribourg as the location for our facility because the city and its surroundings are quickly becoming a hub for innovation, know-how, and forward-looking companies. The great connections to all parts of Switzerland allow us to attract the highly qualified teammates we need from all the main population centres in Western and Central Switzerland. To be a finalist of the Trophées PME is yet another sign that we have grown out of our start-up phase, and is the result of a great team effort over the past years."The prize giving ceremony for the Trophées PME 2021 will take place on the 17th of November in the Forum Fribourg. Companies from the Fribourg region are invited to this great economic gathering, as well as their partners. Anyone interested can sign up through the following invitation until the 9th of November (registration is mandatory).Invitation to the prize giving ceremony of the Trophées PME 2021About the Trophées PMEThe Trophées PME competition was founded by the Fribourg Agglomeration Economic Promotion, with the aim of promoting dynamic companies and strengthening the regional economic landscape.The Trophées PME prize is organized by the Fribourg Agglomeration Economic Promotion, with the great support of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the canton of Fribourg, the employers' association of the canton of Fribourg, the Economic Promotion of the canton of Fribourg as well as other partners. The jury of the competition is mainly composed of representatives of the above-mentioned organizations. The media partners of the competition are the following: La Liberté, Freiburger Nachrichten and Radio Fribourg / Freiburg.More information: www.trophees-pme.ch

We are looking for an Automotive Customer Project Engineer to strengthen our team and further boost our entry on the Chinese automotive market. Bcomp Ltd. is a young and dynamic Swiss company specialized in the development, marketing, and sales of natural fibre composite solutions for high performance applications. To support the company’s current hyper-growth phase, Bcomp is looking for a Customer Project Engineer to strengthen its team and further boost its automotive market entry in China. You will provide technical support to our automotive customers for the use of Bcomp’s technologies in their interior and exterior applications and participate to the development of our solutions to full production readiness according to our customers’ needs. Bcomp’s technologies for the automotive market – mainly the powerRibs™ technology – are in their industrialization phase and ready to be used by our customers to manufacture interior parts such as door panels, instrument panels, seatbacks or trunk trim parts. Several projects are ongoing with customers in the Chinese market. The main focus of the project engineer lies in driving development projects with these customers, in order to reach serial production of parts for the automotive interior sector. Besides supporting Tier 1s in prototyping and process development, you will also closely interact with sales to support customer acquisition as well as with the product development team. Requirements M.Sc. in mechanical engineering or material science, fluent in Mandarin Chinese and English is an absolute must, any other language is a plus. Ability to work well with both a European and Chinese mindset, ready to travel extensively with periods of 2-3 weeks in China. Experience in polymer or composite processing, in the automotive industry, and/or with natural fibre composites is an advantage. For more information, check out the full job description by clicking on the link below. Come and work with us Our team is small, dynamic, international and works in a fast-paced, equal, and entrepreneurial environment. Each person takes responsibility for their work and contributes to a friendly work atmosphere with many laughs and a healthy appreciation for chocolate. Do you want to take part in the adventure of a young, fast moving company, which is in full development in the automotive sector? Come on board and contribute to the development of our processes and products with your technical and practical knowledge and take part in the amazing working atmosphere of our company.We happily invite you to send us your full application through: workwithus@bcomp.ch Full job description: Job opening - Automotive Customer Project Engineer for Chinese Market

Bcomp's natural fibre composites in GT4Swiss sustainable lightweighting company, Bcomp, has developed an all-new high-performance natural fibre composite interior together with Porsche for their Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS. Bcomp’s lightweighting solution replaces nine interior carbon fibre parts with significantly more sustainable composite components that also help to minimise vibrations. Following the tremendous success of the partnership’s sustainable bodywork project, Bcomp and Porsche Motorsport worked to overhaul the GT4’s interior to further cut carbon emissions. Nine parts were reverse engineered by Bcomp, including the air channels, consoles, instrument cluster, glovebox and roof panel. New possibilities for interiorsThe new interior parts were manufactured using Bcomp’s innovative ampliTex™ and powerRibs™ technologies, which harness the natural advantages of flax fibre. The powerRibs™ reinforcement grid uses the high specific bending stiffness of flax to build up height very efficiently, boosting the flexural stiffness of thin-walled shell elements significantly. The parts made with ampliTex™ and powerRibs™ are not only light but also very safe as there are no sharp edges or splinters in the event of a crash or collision. Bcomp and Porsche have already reaped these safety benefits in the previously developed bodywork, resulting for example in a reduced risk for tire defects. Offering 250% better vibration damping than carbon fibre, there are also noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) advantages to using ampliTex™ and powerRibs™.Eduard Ene, Specialist Interior GT-Road Cars, Porsche Motorsport, commented: “We must all ensure that natural fibre composites are used more and more in the world of automotive components.” Sustainable lightweightingAs part of the project, Bcomp conducted a full sustainability analysis comparing the natural fibre composites to the conventional carbon fibre parts. The Bcomp solution offered a 94% reduction in material emissions and a 90% reduction in cradle-to-gate emissions. While carbon fibre parts are often discarded in landfills, Bcomp’s alternative brings a number of sustainable end-of-life options to help further minimise the cradle-to-grave impact. Thanks to highly efficient thermal energy recovery, components that are no longer in use or broken can be used to supply the production of new parts with renewable energy and form a sustainable process without residual waste. The components are now with the Four Motors racing team to undergo extensive endurance racing testing at the legendary Nürburgring. Four Motors has raced the new interior components for the first time in the six-hour race of the Nürburgring Endurance Series (11th of September). "Thanks to the collaboration between the Porsche engineers and the natural fibre specialists at Bcomp, the quality of natural fibre components has been raised to a new level in recent years and beats carbon fibre components particularly in terms of the carbon footprint. We are pleased that with the bio-interior we can now gradually replace all carbon fibre parts in our 718 Cayman GT4 CS with natural-fibre parts.", commented Thomas von Löwis of Menar, Managing Director, Four Motors, before the six-hour race.From racetracks to the roadAll visual components were painted with a matt lacquer to match the finish of the GT4 CS series rear wing, which also utilises Bcomp’s ampliTex™ and powerRibs™. With the GT4 car closely resembling its road-going version and high-quality finishing options available, the racing parts highlight a possible pathway to road applications. Bcomp’s award-winning technologies are already used in 16 racing series around the world but their applications are not restricted to motorsport. From automotive interior panels to luxury yachting and the European Space Agency’s latest natural-fibre satellite panels, Bcomp’s technologies are relied upon wherever weight, stiffness and sustainability are important. Christian Fischer, CEO and Co-Founder at Bcomp, said the following about the natural fibre interior: “Our previous work with Porsche Motorsport on the Four Motors Bioconcept-Car helped to demonstrate the capability of Bcomp’s high-performance natural fibre composites. We continued to work with the Porsche team, investigating interior applications for the same GT4 programme. This confirmed the previous findings since the new natural fibre composite parts not only convince with their performance, but we also achieved a reduction of material emissions of 94% compared to the carbon fibre parts."He went on to say: “Alongside these primary benefits, our natural fibre technologies also improved vibration damping and deliver a splinter-free crash behaviour due to their inherent mechanical properties and design. Given the popularity of race-to-road technology transfer – and the similarity between GT4 and road-going sportscars – this proves the possibility of volume road applications for our technology. We look forward to continuing our work with Porsche Motorsport and exploring new possibilities and applications for sustainable composites in racing and beyond." Learn more:Full press release Images © 2021 Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG