Strong exothermic reaction due to large negative enthalpy of mixing can occur among major components of bulk metallic glass forming alloy systems. Based on this idea, we developed a new technique to fabricate amorphous-based composite materials using Laser-induced Self-propagating Reaction Synthesis (LSRS). The LSRS of the Zr55Al10Ni5Cu30 alloy shows that the products mainly consist of the amorphous, Zr3Al2 and Zr2Cu phases. Hardness and wear resistance of the produced composite alloys are measured and are compared to the single amorphous phase alloy of the same composition. (C) 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers.