The objective of this study was to define and develop measurable processing parameters to guide the synthesis, design and characterization of reaction-synthesized TiAl-TiB2 composites.Measurements of energy release during the high temperature self propagating reaction between Ti, Al, and B were used to determine the effects of environment (air or helium), atomic percent Al, and volume percent TiB2 on the reactivity of the sample.Experimental results were compared to theoretical models developed using published thermodynamic data in order to inspect the adiabatic nature of the reaction.The compositions tested were those of Ti-50Al + 30, 40 and 50 volume percent TiB2 , Ti-43Al + 30, 40 and 50 volume percent TiB2 , and Ti-35Al + 30, 40 and 50 volume percent TiB2 .Experimental results showed that compositions tested in a helium atmosphere provided inconsistent results in both ignition temperature and heat of reaction that were counterintuitive to trends predicted by the theoretical models.Experimental results of compositions tested in an air atmosphere provided better consistency in ignition temperature, along with considerably higher heats of reaction which were much closer to predicted values.These results qualitatively followed the trends produced by the theoretical models.