Brian Spencer began working in the field of composites in 1980, after being a project engineer in the aerospace industry designing and testing explosive components for aircraft and space use for seven years. During this time, one of his projects was the development of destruct charges for the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters.

Brian's composite experience began at Brunswick Corporation (now Lincoln Composites) in Lincoln, Nebraska. He was a design engineer and program manager. The majority of his projects at Brunswick involved the use of composites in new applications.

The Mk 48 Torpedo Warhead Case included the incorporation of metal components into the ends of a composite cylinder. These metal components served to transfer load through the composite shell and act as attach points to the torpedo body.

Several of Brian's projects focused on developing composite drive shafts for aircraft. These projects included the aft shaft for the Boeing Vertol Model 234. The 234 was the first production aircraft to use a composite shaft. The FAA certification tests ended in fatigue failure of the test machine support structure and not the composite shaft. The forward and aft shafts for the Boeing Vertol Model 360 all-composite airframe demonstrated the use of composites for large shafts. The 360 shafts eliminated all metal except for the gear attachment in the transmission and attachment to the rotor hub.

Other drive shaft projects included the drive shaft for the Sikorsky X Wing, drive shafts for the Navy yard boats at Annapolis, and the cross wing shafts for the Bell- Boeing JVX TiltWing Aircraft later called the Osprey.

Additional development/demonstration projects included an 8,000 psi composite flight control actuator and Mirror Support Rings for the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory X-ray telescope.