Innovative Composite Engineering

Innovative Composite Engineering (ICE) is a big player in the Gorge’s technology sector with over 70 employees at their new White Salmon campus. ICE designs and manufactures structural carbon fiber parts for a broad range of customers with a specialty in hollow or tubular products.

Their competitive advantage is in their 22 years of manufacturing IP: while many composites manufacturers are limited to thin structures up to 0.1 inch thick, ICE has developed processes to manufacture structures up to 4-inches thick with diameters to 24 inches and lengths to 18 feet. This has allowed them to pass up commodity products like golf shafts and find industries where they can develop technical solutions working closely with their customers. ICE has developed products used in oil & gas, surveying, precision measurement, UAVs (including the ScanEagle), among others. Some of their primary customers include Baker Hughes, Lockheed Martin, Faro and they recently started development for Airbus. They even make carbon fiber furniture for Ralph Lauren, including the CF1 Chair, and continue to build windsurfing masts, being the only US producer for the last 6 or 7 years.

One of ICE’s most exciting customers is Lamborghini. Working with the company to build parts that are both structural and cosmetic, they’ve developed the carbon fiber suspension for the Sesto Elemento, a carbon X-frame brace for the Aventador and are working on carbon seats for a upcoming 2014 model. “It’s been a really good relationship”, says ICE’s CEO Steve Maier, “and speaks well to ICE’s ability to provide solutions that no one else in the world can.”

ICE and Steve Maier have been supporters of the GTA since the formation of the organization in 2004. They are a big sponsor of the GTA’s youth robotics program this year because they strongly believe in giving back to the community and in inspiring our kids into science and engineering careers. Learn more at innovativecomposite.com.