Book excerpt: It is well-known that the topic of composite mate- rials affects many engineering fields, such as civil, mechanical, aerospace, automotive and chemical. In the last decades, in fact, a huge number of scientific papers concerning these peculiar constituents has been published. Analogously, the industrial progress has been extremely noticeable. The study of composite materials, in general, is a challenging activity since the advancements both in the academia and in the industry provide continually new sparks to develop innovative ideas and applications. The communication, the sharing and the exchange of views can surely help the works of many researchers. This aspect represents the main purpose of this Conference, which aims to collect high-level contributions on the development and the application of composite materials. The establishment of this 21st edition of International Conference on Composite Structures has appeared appropriate to continue what has been begun during the previous editions. ICCS wants to be an occasion for many researchers from each part of the globe to meet and discuss about the recent advancements regarding the use of composite structures, sandwich panels, nanotechnology, bio-composites, delamination and fracture, experimental methods, manufacturing and other countless topics that have filled many sessions during this conference. As a proof of this event, which has taken place in Bologna (Italy), selected plenary and key-note lectures have been collected in the present book.