SEATTLE -- The sound of a Lamborghini is seductive, and it means big bucks for the University of Washington.

The Italian automaker is donating a sizable sum to the school. And in exchange, UW researchers will help Lamborghinis become lighter, faster and safer.

In Professor Paolo Feraboli's labs, students research the latest technology in carbon fiber materials.

The lab is equipped with various machines, including one that stretches carbon fiber in every way you can imagine to determine its breaking point. Students also research how carbon fibers will break by slamming things into the front end of a real Lamborghini Chasis.

Someday this technology will be used to build not only Lamborghinis, but everyday cars to make them lighter and more fuel-efficient.

And UW researchers are no rookies to the scene. For the last few years they've been helping Boeing find lighter materials for the 787 Dreamliner.

"They're trying to take what, up until now,was a specialty material used only for a handful of cars to scale up to small production and eventually mass production," said Feraboli.

To mark the partnership, the president of Lamborghini brought some of the sleekest models with him to UW.

"Those cars have an aura about them. You don't drive by; you arrive," Feraboli said.