The Center of Excellence for Composites and Advanced Materials (CECAM) is a division of the FAA’s Joint Advanced Materials and Structure Center of Excellence, established in 2004 to assist in ensuring the safe and reliable application of composites and advanced materials to commercial aircraft. CECAM is headquartered at Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research.

CECAM Mission:
To provide the nation with a center for the validation and quality assurance of composites and advanced materials to be applied in the construction of aircraft through:

  • Research, testing, certification, and technology transfer
  • Coordination and cooperation with the FAA, aircraft manufacturers, materials suppliers, and airline companies
  • Education of the aircraft manufacturing and maintenance workforces

Core Members:

FAA Sponsor: William J. Hughes Technical Center
Director: John Tomblin. Ph.D., National Institute for Aviation Research, Wichita State University
FAA COE CECAM Program Manager: Ahmet Oztekin
Primary CECAM Technical Advisors: Edward Weinstein, Larry Ilcewicz, Cindy Ashforth, Ahmet Oztekin, Dave Stanley, Lynn Pham, Danielle Stephens, Kevin Stonaker


Current Projects:

  • Additive Manufacturing Guidance for Aircraft Design and Certification
    John Tomblin, Rachael Andrulonis, Royal Lovingfoss, Joel White, Neville Tay
  • Advanced Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composite Materials Guidance for Aircraft Design, Certification and Process Control  John Tomblin, Royal Lovingfoss, Rachael Andrulonis
  • Bond Process Qualification Protocols for Aircraft Design and Certification
    Waruna Seneviratne, John Tomblin, and Upul Palliyaguru
  • Ceramic Matrix Composite (CMC) Materials Guidance for Aircraft
    John Tomblin, Matt Opliger, Rachael Andrulonis
  • Certification by Analysis / Full Scale Drop Tests / Effect of Defects / Effect of Disinfectants
    Gerardo Olivares, Luis Gomez
  • Core Materials Qualification Guidelines for Aircraft Design and Certification
    Rachael Andrulonis, Royal Lovingfoss, Nicole Stahl
  • Development of Guidance for a Technical Standard Order (TSO) for Composite Materials
    John Tomblin, Royal Lovingfoss, Rachael Andrulonis
  • Development of Higher-Level Building Block Testing Standards
    Waruna Seneviratne, John, Tomblin, Nalin Waas, and Reomal Vanderwall
  • Development of Process Specifications for AFP Tape Slitting
    Waruna Seneviratne, John Tomblin, Alex Martens
  • Evaluation of Aged Composite Structures
    Waruna Seneviratne, John Tomblin, Chris Trevino
  • Evaluation of Aged Structural Bonds on Rotor Blades
    Waruna Seneviratne, Caleb Saathoff
  • Resin Infused Fiber Reinforced Materials Guidelines for Aircraft Design and Certification
    John Tomblin, Royal Lovingfoss, Rachael Andrulonis, Michelle Man
  • Technology Readiness Assessment for Stitched and Unstitched Resin Infused Composites
    Christopher O. Bounds, Wayne Huberty