Alpine Advanced Materials: Making Drones Lighter, Stronger and More Scalable 

Is there a way to make drones lighter, stronger and more scalable without sacrificing safety and integrity?

THIS WEEK’S GUEST

Jeremy Smith is the Business Development Manager at Alpine Advanced Materials, a leader in the design and manufacture of custom-engineered parts and products for the world’s most demanding aerospace, defense and space applications. The company commercializes high-performance materials originally developed and qualified by top defense contractors, including its flagship HX5® military aviation-grade nanocomposite. 

Engineered to replace machined aluminum, HX5 is half the weight and has been both tested and proven against the harshest environments in the world. HX5 is currently in use on jet fighters, high-speed helicopters, amphibious transport vehicles, rockets, and satellites.  It is highly adaptable without sacrificing strength or performance. Its customization and manufacturability here in the U.S. combined with its high tolerance and dimensional stability make it an ideal alternative to the cost and production challenges associated with aluminum.  That makes HX5 ideal for use in the unmanned aerial industry. 

At Alpine Advanced Materials, Jeremy works in the OEM and UAV markets. Previously, He served as a Sales Engineer for Franklin Products, which specializes in aircraft seating comfort and covers. He spent the past several years focused on aviation ergonomics working with airliners and interior OEMs to optimize customer in-flight comfort.  Over his career, Jeremy has specialized in the custom material markets for aviation, holding active roles in the design, sales, production and management of metal parts and their functional systems. He has served aviation, defense, energy and heavy manufacturing industries. 

WHAT WE LEARN

Jeremy talks about Alpine Advanced Materials, its aviation grade nano-composite and how it can help make stronger, lighter and more scalable drones.

MENTIONED LINKS

• Alpine Advanced Materials (www.alpineadvancedmaterials.com) 

A traditional injection molding tool, you’d be looking at two to three months at minimum to create a production level too and tens of thousands of dollars.  Whereas our process can produce that in sub-tens of thousands, usually $1,000 to $2,000 for a collective of parts within a few weeks.  And we’re working on bringing that timeline down to within 10 days.

Jeremy Smith – Alpine Advanced Materials