The Quickstep Process is an Out-Of-Autoclave (“OOA”) polymer composite curing process using lower cost material technologies for the high speed manufacture of advanced composite, bonded metal, and fiber metal laminated structural components. Under the terms of the agreement, Vector and Quickstep will collaborate to create business opportunities in funded research and development (R&D), prototype development and demonstration of advanced composite structural components, and aerospace production programs. The activities will include joint presentations to potential customers and participation at industry trade shows, plus development of comparative material properties via the Quickstep Process for comparison to other processes, leading to prototype and commercial production contracts.

The teaming agreement resulted from Vector and Quickstep’s success in winning a major United States Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (“SBIR”) Phase II program, expected to total about US$4 million in funding over a 27-month period. Vector is the lead contractor and Quickstep is the principal subcontractor to conduct the joint research program, which will focus on process qualification of bismaleimide and epoxy resin carbon fiber reinforced composite materials using the Quickstep Process for application to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft. Industrial partners supporting the research program include Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems and ITT Integrated Structures.

Vector has also recently been granted a license to use the Quickstep Process in North America for aerospace and defense production applications, which will ultimately result in the purchase of a Quickstep production machine and associated services.

Commenting on the teaming agreement, Dale Brosius, President of Quickstep Composites and a Director of its Australian parent company Quickstep Holdings Ltd, said:
“Based on our close working relationship with Vector, and the increasing range of opportunities to demonstrate and commercialize the Quickstep Process in the U.S. and Canada, we are excited to formalize our collaboration. Not only will the two companies work together on curing of traditional autoclave qualified and new out-ofautoclave
prepregs, we will also advance the pairing of the Quickstep Process with infusion technologies brought forward by Vector.”

Vector CEO Lyle Dunbar further commented: “We are very pleased to be the first licensee of the Quickstep Process in North America, and now have several years of experience and understanding of how it fits within our manufacturing portfolio. We have the capability to offer customers interested in Quickstep a complete solution, from part and tooling design through to serial production in our AS9100-certified Dayton facility.”

Download the press release in pdf format here.

The Quickstep Process is an Out-Of-Autoclave (“OOA”) polymer composite curing process using lower cost material technologies for the high speed manufacture of advanced composite, bonded metal, and fiber metal laminated structural components.  The licensing agreement will allow Vector to develop and produce composite structural parts using the Quickstep Process for aerospace and defense customers in the North American market from its Dayton, Ohio facility.

Initially, Vector will lease time on a Quickstep machine from Quickstep Composites LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Quickstep, located adjacent to the Vector facilities in Dayton. However the non-exclusive license agreement includes thresholds which would trigger the purchase of a Quickstep manufacturing machine by Vector, together with the payment of associated royalties and service fees consistent with Quickstep’s business model.

Vector and Quickstep were recently awarded a major United States Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (“SBIR”) Phase II program, expected to total about US$4 million in funding over a 27-month period. Vector is the lead contractor and Quickstep is the principal subcontractor to conduct the joint research program, which will focus on process qualification of bismaleimide and epoxy resin carbon fiber reinforced composite materials using the Quickstep Process for application to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft. Industrial partners supporting the contract include Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, and ITT Integrated Structures. Vector and Quickstep have previously collaborated on two Phase I SBIR projects for the U.S. Department of Defense.

“Becoming a formal licensee of the Quickstep Process is an important addition to our portfolio of out-of-autoclave technologies,” Vector CEO Lyle Dunbar said. “Over the past several years working closely with Quickstep, we have identified a number of advantages in the Process that we can capitalize on to bring value to our current and future customers.”

Quickstep CEO and Managing Director, Philippe Odouard added, “This signing of this license agreement with Vector marks a hugely significant milestone in bringing our innovative Quickstep Process to commercial reality, especially in the strategic North American market. Our previous and current work with Vector has demonstrated
the value of our technology, and we are now looking forward to contributing to Vector’s growth as they offer our technical solution to the aerospace and defense marketplace.”

Download the press release in pdf format here.

VCI will be pursuing both R&D in advanced composites as well as composite production contracts. Current expertise includes out-of-autoclave processing of BMI resin systems, RTM of complex structures, nano-composite structures and composite electronic enclosures manufacturing technology programs. VCI equipment includes an 8’ x 8’ x 30’ oven, 4’ x 6’ autoclave, 5,000 square foot clean room, automated ply-cutting table, paint booth, 50-ton press, and large 5-axis router. VCI has also supported the National Composite Center (NCC) as an industry partner in facilitation of the Composite Technician Training Program. VCI played a role in administering hands-on training in composite materials fabrication to over 100 displaced workers in the past year. Tim Brocklehurst is the Vice President and General Manager in Dayton, OH. Lyle Dunbar is the President and Chief Executive Officer. Board members include Lyle Dunbar, Bob Stratton, Lou Luedtke, and Dennis Rediker.

About Composite Technology Investors LLC (CTI) – CTI is an investment holding company founded by Lyle Dunbar, Chief Executive Officer of Ledcor Enterprises, Inc., Solana Beach, California, the CTI Managing Member. The CTI majority owners and managing board members are Bob Stratton and Lyle Dunbar. Other CTI members include Lou Luedtke, Dennis Rediker, and Stu Rosenwasser. The CTI mission is to create value for its members through acquisition and management of companies engaged in the development and production of advanced materials and composite technology products for aerospace, defense, and selected commercial applications. The CTI members bring unique value-added to the CTI investments from their extensive industry management and technical expertise. Vector Composites, Inc. Dayton, Ohio, is the first CTI acquisition, and other initial acquisitions are in evaluation.

For more information on Vector Composites, please contact Tim Brocklehurst at 3251 McCall Street, Dayton, OH, 45417; tbrocklehurst@vectorcomposites.com; phone 937-281-1444. For more information on CTI, please contact Robert Stratton at bstratton@compositetechnologyinvestors.com or Lyle Dunbar at ldunbar@compositetechnologyinvestors.com

The Air Force award of the US$2.6 million base contract and potential US$1.4 million follow-on option (US$4 million total program authorization) to the Vector Composites (Vector), a Dayton, Ohio based advanced composites fabricator and Quickstep partner, has been deemed critical and, therefore, been awarded one of the highest levels of funding available under the U.S DOD Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to encourage successful transition and implementation. Material handling, preparation and fabrication of all test articles and prototypes will be conducted at the Vector facility and will be subsequently cured at Quickstep’s U.S. subsidiary, Quickstep Composites LLC, located in an adjacent facility in Dayton.

The research will focus on process qualification of bismaleimide (BMI) and epoxy resin composite materials using the Quickstep process. These two materials constitute the majority of the advanced structural composites used in the Joint Strike Fighter and have an extensive design database. The contract, planned for 27 months, will develop extensive mechanical properties data for comparison to the baseline autoclave results, as well as fabricate and test representative components based on the JSF design. Industrial partners supporting the contract include Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems and ITT Integrated Structures. At the conclusion of the contract, any or all of these companies can elect to pursue full qualification of the process for use in production.

Chief Executive of Quickstep, Mr. Philippe Odouard, said the Air Force’s decision to proceed with the Phase II award and the high level of funding awarded represented an important step in Quickstep’s two-pronged strategy to win manufacturing contracts for JSF.

“Quickstep has been actively working on two fronts to secure JSF manufacturing business,” Mr Odouard said. “This grant supports our founding strategy, which is to promote the patented Quickstep Process as a viable new technology for the manufacture of high performance composites such as those required for JSF components. Our parallel and complementary strategy targets specialist manufacturing contracts that can be completed at our manufacturing facility near Fremantle using traditional composites manufacturing techniques such as autoclave.”

“Quickstep has already enjoyed some success in targeting traditional manufacturing contracts for JSF – as demonstrated by the recent Memorandums of Understanding signed with Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Marand, and this significant teaming with Vector under the Air Force contract now indicates that we are also proceeding well with promoting our proprietary technology,” Mr Odouard continued.

Vector’s Vice President and General Manager Tim Brocklehurst said “The SBIR Phase II award to Vector launches Vector down the path to become a key supplier for advance composite applications for aerospace applications. We are pleased to be working with Quickstep and its “rapid cure” technology on this program. Through the demonstrated success of Vector‟s Phase I SBIR contract we worked with Quickstep to demonstrate the viability of this technology. The potential for cost reduction has been realized in our previous work with Quickstep. The outcome of the Phase II SBIR offers great potential to position both companies for growth while providing a means for low cost manufacturing of advanced materials. The program efforts for the Air Force Phase II program will push Vector toward becoming a certified supplier for the F35 program and will open the doors to other emerging markets.

“Our efforts to target key applications for the Quickstep Process – particularly in the aerospace and defense sectors – remains a key priority for the Company,” Mr. Odouard commented. “This ongoing work with our partner Vector Composites on behalf of the DOD represents an exciting opportunity for Quickstep to promote our proprietary technology to a very large and very important target market.”

Download the full press release in PDF form

“In Dayton, Ohio, Sinclair Community College has been a driving force in helping retrain the unemployed so they can find work after graduation. But high paying manufacturing jobs don’t seem to be coming back, and any good job is tough to find…”

Read the full article or listen to the story on the NPR website, here.

“Paul Kiefer spent 22 years working for Delphi before getting laid off in 2007.

So perhaps there’s a certain justice that Kiefer is training for his next career — as a composite materials technician — at the Dayton Campus for Advanced Materials Technologies, a former Delphi building on McCall Street.

Kiefer and about a dozen other students could be found at the campus last week, in the research and development space of Vector Composites Inc., wrapping up the final day of the training’s first phase. The National Composite Center (NCC), Sinclair Community College and the Montgomery County Job Center all had a role in selecting displaced workers for the training.

Tim Brocklehurst’s role may be the pay-off, though. Brocklehurst, vice president and general manager of Vector Composites, not only opened his doors to the students, he pledged to hire at least two when they graduate.

That’s a good deal for Vector, which today has three employees and hopes to shortly get word of a $4 million Air Force Research Lab contract award, Brocklehurst said. When the award is final, the firm will need more workers.

“I’m not fully staffed in terms of human resources,” Brocklehurst said. “So here we go.”

Of course, it’s a good deal for Kiefer, too, who used to work at what was the Delphi technical center on Cincinnati Street.

“It’s great,” Kiefer said. “I’ve been unemployed for three years. It’s just the way it goes.”

Brocklehurst, a 10-year veteran of General Electric Aviation, feels the future of composites is bright. Though the initial cost is high — ten pounds can cost $58,000, depending on the material — composite advantages include light weight and durability. Alan Fatz, composite technologies commercialization director for the NCC, believes that by the end of the century, composites will be more prevalent than concrete or steel.

Vector focuses squarely on the aerospace defense market, with customers such as Robinson Helicopter, of Torrance, Calif., the University of Dayton Research Institute, the Air Force and the Navy. Its material suppliers include local ones, like NanoSperse and Renegade Materials. Vector takes their material, cuts and cures it and produces the parts customers want.

Said Brocklehurst, ‘We’re trying to give composites some street value.’”

To read the full article at the Dayton Daily News, click here.

“Quickstep Technologies uses a process built around a low-pressure curing chamber that resembles a stamping press. A flexible membrane separates the circulating heat transfer fluid from the mold and composite component.

Read the full SAE International article here.

“Vector Composites, which produces composite structures for use in aerospace applications, said it has received a manufacturing quality certification that will enable the company to bid on commercial and military contracts.

The company received an AS 9100 certification from Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance Ltd. to affirm that Vector’s operations meet international manufacturing quality standards, said Casey Benedict, quality manager for Vector Composites. The company currently has four employees in Dayton, but could be looking for additional employees if it gets new work, Benedict said Wednesday, March 25.

Vector Composites is a wholly owned subsidiary of DR Technologies, San Diego. Vector began as an incubator business housed in the National Composite Center in Kettering, but grew out of those quarters. It now rents space from the National Composite Center in a building at 3251 McCall St. in Dayton.

The company has received funding support from the city of Dayton, the state and the Dayton Development Coalition, Benedict said.”

Read the article here.

“As businesses continue to close their doors, one Dayton company is defying the odds, and growing. The latest achievement for Vector Composites, 3251 McCall Street, is possibly the most important since its inception. The company has been granted AS 9100 certification, which basically means that it’s qualified to produce commercial aerospace parts.

The certification is the tool the business’s founders have been waiting for. It will allow them to start bidding for jobs building airplane parts, and that means good things for Dayton.

“For Dayton that means more jobs, and it means that we’re going to be able to hire some people and shed some light on the doom and gloom that GM and Delphi has brought on to the city,” said Casey Benedict, Quality Manager at Vector Composites.

Benedict felt that ‘doom and gloom’ first hand. He was laid off from Delphi about a year ago.

“I had that fear of how am I going to make these payments, and so on and so forth, and what I did was I stayed motivated,” Benedict said.

In less than a year he went from unemployed, to being the driving force behind Vector Composite’s new quality achievement.

Now Benedict has the chance to offer opportunities to others. Vector will likely begin looking to fill three or four positions in the coming months as it works on landing more customers.

Dayton is making a transition from the automotive industry to aerospace, and Vector Composites wants to be at the forefront, Benedict said. It’s already off to a good start by landing such a rare certification.

“To say that I was able to lead a team to get AS 9100 from no existing quality management system is an accomplishment in itself,” Benedict said.”

To read the full story from Dayton local news station, WDTN, click here.