“We've been envisioning wall art and signage as a great use for this recycled glass material for years now, and this project feels like the beginning of something.” That’s Alex Stiles, CEO of Vitriform3D, a startup member of IACMI – The Composites Institute®. He’s putting the finishing touches on the largest, most ambitious project he’s ever done. It’s a sign that does more than showcase IACMI’s logo. It represents one of the most important reasons IACMI exists: to foster collaborations.
Art as Inspiration
It started as a what if idea. What if we had a cool piece of art on the wall that used patent-pending technology to 3D print glass? And what if it also used other sustainable composite materials? Moving into IACMI’s new headquarters at Innovation South in Knoxville, Tennessee, was the perfect time to turn a what if into let’s make it happen!
Back in 2021, Stiles had identified wall art as a viable market in his initial business plan. Since then, he’s made several smaller framed recycled glass pieces for clients that sparkle and glow, the largest of which has been a 2-foot by 2-foot custom panel for the UT Research Park. Backlit with LEDs, they look amazing, but to scale this up further, there’s one problem—the weight. To make really big pieces of art, he would need to mix in lighter materials with the heavier glass.
His solution came in collaboration. “Partnering with Endeavor Composites, we could incorporate recycled carbon fiber, which of course is very high strength, very lightweight,” says Stiles, who was tasked with creating the 5foot-by-5foot sign.
Carbon fiber has been a go-to material for composites manufacturers for decades, but cost has been a limiting factor. By repurposing post-production excess from IACMI member Zoltek that would otherwise go to landfill, Endeavor Composites’ CEO Hicham Ghossein has created a non-woven mat that’s a third of the cost of a non-woven made with virgin material. Finding cost-effective solutions opens up all kinds of new markets.
As Stiles monitors the acrylic on a laser cutter, he adds, “It seems fitting that IACMI’s logo would be a combination of advanced composites and that it’s bringing multiple members together on a project. It’s what they do.”