Composite materials can teach us a lot about collaboration and exploration. When you think about the act of making a composite, which is, in essence, to merge two constituent materials that have very different material properties to make a final, third, superior material. When two material become one, ‘collaborating’ and being better than the individual parts, is what makes composite materials so exciting to be a part of. 

We can learn from the act of making composites but also how composites have been made, to collaborate and think outside of the traditional solutions available. Whereby we learn from material science as well as studies on how materials have been utilised and produced in the past. 

DEXET Technologies is one such specialist in composites that is constantly curious and thinking outside the current applications for each material and manufacturing method. With a background in transforming high-performance vehicles with composite materials; making them lighter, stronger and more efficient. DEXET Technologies has created some of the greatest, ground-breaking and award-winning products and components within the high-performance automotive industry. But in many ways, it’s just getting started in showing and learning what composite materials can achieve for different applications, using innovative and creative engineering. You can read about what they achieved in 2020 here. 

The company’s founder Francesco Aglietti leads a team of experienced engineers and composite specialists in the UK and USA on a range of complex and exciting projects. He believes there’s an equal amount to learn from composite applications of old, new case studies of applications, design and manufacturing advancements from other engineering teams and of course their own at DEXET Technologies. However, what they find most exciting is looking at different applications in and outside of the high-performance automotive industry and transferring those skills and material knowledge to other industries and products.

DEXET Technologies’ founding members, led by Francesco, are excited about the future. One such project that they are taking inspiration from is the all-new Corvette C8, created by auto industry giants General Motors. The Corvette reported that ‘everything was on the table’ in an interview with Composites World. They used this ethos to create a finished product using glassfibre composite materials that are not only kind on the environment but also created cost-effective lightweighting, increased stiffness and torsional rigidity while also achieved with a low tooling investment. An excellent study in learning to evolve with composite materials is that all of Class A composite panels on the coupe and convertible C8 models are created using just 20 tools, something that many engineering teams fail to achieve with double the tools. 

General Motors’ application of glassfibre shows that we should be constantly curious and innovative, especially since most major applications of glassfibre have started since the late 1920s and early 1930s, yet it’s still showing how innovative it can be nearly 100 years later. However, glass fibre’s uses, and other composite materials for that matter, are not just reserved for mid- to high-end sports cars. They can be applied to urban mobility solutions too, where weight reduction, increased product lifecycle and efficiencies are crucial to not only cost savings but also emissions and speed to market entry. With the majority of the population growing ever impatient of how quickly they can have a product, an area of increased excitement with the team at DEXET Technologies is how it can use composite materials to help satisfy these demands and assist companies with urban mobility solutions. 

DEXET Technologies believes that we can learn a lot from the past and current applications to forge a bright future using composite materials. Although its current work is in high-performance industries such as Formula One and creating cutting-edge supercars and hypercars, it is also dedicating a significant amount of time and research into next-generation material solutions and applications for a number of projects in and outside of the automotive industry. 

Whether you’re looking to explore how you can learn about composite materials for future projects or if you’d like to discuss how the team may be able to help, email hello@dexet.tech. The teams are currently based and co-headquartered in the UK and USA.