Preface

The volume represents Part I of a collection of edited papers pre- sented at the 4th virtual International Conference POLCOM 2020 – Progress on Polymers and Composites Products and Manufac- turing Technologies, derived from the collaboration between the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” in Italy and Politehnica University of Bucharest in Romania. The volume contains a selection of the scientific papers pre- sented at the conference. It addresses the main issues discussed during the conference related to the application of polymer-based composites in a wide range of fields: biomedical, transport in- dustry and sensors. Finally, some selected papers have been ded- icated to the additive manufacturing of polymer based materials and to the control of composite structures by means of structural health monitoring techniques. Scientists and researchers coming from 13 countries attended the conference and joined as a community to promote and exchange latest theoretical, computation and experimental research works on materials science, product technologies, mechanical design, additive manufacturing and intelligent technologies. But... what is a community? The term comes from the Latin word “communitas” and specifically means, a collection of peo- ple united by relationships or bonds, forming a whole, that’s Polcom! The sharing of research and experience is the basis for scien- tific progress available to all. The world has an amazing need to find ideas and solutions to continue its history and to guarantee to humanity the continuation of life in the best possible way. An innovative research, a scientific discovery, a winning idea have no sense if not shared with others; it is the task of each of us to develop and disseminate the results of progress to give hope to people and motivate new generations to do better and better their work. In Polcom we put courage and passion, we dedicate time and work trying to give our contribution in the best possible way. This year, the international health emergency deprived us of one of the most beautiful moments of our work, that is the possibility of meeting, greeting and discussing our work and our prospects together. We have adapted by performing a telematic meeting which is quite different but which has allowed us to recover our sense of community. Our wish is to be able to meet again as soon by person, for sure after all that is happening it will be a special emotion that we hope to share with many people already in 2021 for the new edition of the Polcom conference. Finally, we would like to thank all those who helped to organize this scientific event.