Chicago, IL – The Composite Fabricators Association (CFA) and 31st SAMPE Technical Conference in Chicago hosted the annual Awards for Composite Excellence (ACE) competition on October 26, 1999. The competition included approximately 20 entries including Matrix Composites’ SMC offset reflector. The composite television dish, manufactured for Lockheed Martin Corporation of Orlando, Florida, was molded using OPTOR® low pressure sheet molding compound supplied by Premix. Unique low-pressure characteristics of OPTOR® made it possible to utilize low-cost composite compression molds. The tools were fabricated using Ad*Tech’s EC-430 ceramic-filled epoxy casting system. The resulting integrally heated ceramic tools were constructed at a fraction of the cost of conventional machined metal tools.