Specialty Materials, Inc.

Company History

In the late 60's and early 70's Avco Systems' Lowell, MA facility had been developing an expertise in specialty materials exclusively for its own internal use. Most of these materials had been developed through government funding, including the Apollo program to land a man on the moon. Management felt that there was enough demand in the marketplace to develop a separate business, and in 1978, Avco Specialty Materials Division was spun off from Avco Systems.
This new autonomous division consisted of three basic families of materials. One was a fireproofing material, another was carbon fibers made from PAN precursor, and the third was Boron and SCS™ SiC fibers made by chemical vapor deposition.
In 1986, Textron acquired Avco, and the division became Textron Specialty Materials. By 1987, it had added ceramic matrix composites (CMC), and was receiving Department of Energy support to develop CMC's for industry. It had also expanded its metal matrix composites product line. NASA was funding the National Aerospace Plane (NASP), and Specialty Materials Division had developed titanium matrix composite (TMC) face sheets as the baseline structural material for NASP. NASA then funded Textron to put in a 50,000 square foot facility for TMC's.
In 1996, shortly after the NASP program was shut down, Specialty Materials Division was rolled back into Textron Systems Division (specializing in sensor-fused weapons). Before too long, Textron Systems realized that specialty materials and sensor-based systems technology were not a good fit, and they decided to divest the materials group. The fireproofing and carbon fiber businesses were sold first.
Finally, in late 2001, a leaner and more efficient fiber business line, focusing on the manufacture and sale of Boron and SCS™ SiC fibers and preforms was sold and Specialty Materials Inc. was formed.

SPECIALTY MATERIALS, INC.
1449 Middlesex Street Lowell, Massachusetts 01851
Phone: 978-322-1900 • Fax: 978-322-1970
Email:info@specmaterials.com

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