Rapid Fusion’s CEO Jake Hand and CTO Martin JewellOne of the UK’s leading specialists in robotic 3-D printing systems will lead the manufacturing element of a new £700,000 project to transform maritime vessel design and production. Exeter-based
Rapid Fusion, which develops advanced production solutions from its R&D centre in Exeter, will join forces with
Compute Maritime and consortium partners
BYD Naval Architects,
Siemens Digital Industries Software and the
University of Southampton on the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition initiative funded by the UK Government.
Together, the core innovation of ‘GenDSOM’ will be to advance maritime design by leveraging generative artificial intelligence (AI)-driven approaches and building foundation models, thereby significantly reducing the design-to-manufacturing cycle and enabling high-performing, innovative solutions. This will be achieved by embedding greater intelligence into modern design through the combination of simulation, optimisation, and validation against real-world manufacturing constraints and workflows.
The approach brings together the complementary expertise of the consortium partners: generative AI (Compute Maritime), design (BYD Naval Architects), simulation (Siemens), optimisation (University of Southampton) and manufacturing (Rapid Fusion). This integrated development will be powered by the advanced compute capabilities of
HP Z Workstations & Solutions.
Apollo robot systemA crew transfer vessel (CTV) provided by BYD Naval Architects - critical to supplying staff to the offshore wind sector - will be the test case and focuses on optimising hull design with hydrofoils produced in large-format additive manufacturing (AM) using Rapid Fusion’s Apollo robot system.
Pictured left: the Compute Maritime teamShahroz Khan, CEO of Compute Maritime, a London-based deep-tech company bringing intelligence to the core of the global shipbuilding industry, said: “Confronted by multi-faceted challenges, the maritime industry urgently requires truly evolved, smart design frameworks that balance sustainability with operational and economic viability.”
“The transformation of ship design is no longer optional - it is a critical survival strategy in an industry historically anchored in tradition. That is why this project is so important, and we firmly believe that through the power of NeuralShipper (our generative AI copilot) and the expertise of our consortium partners we can achieve a 10% reduction in design costs, 20% faster design cycles, and a 50% increase in overall design efficiency.”
He added: “GenDSOM responds directly to the UK's
2025 Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy, which targets emissions reductions of 30% by 2030 and 80% by 2040 for domestic maritime. As highlighted in the Call for Evidence, decarbonising smaller vessels like CTVs is critical to achieving these targets.”
Rapid Fusion has been chosen for its expertise in Large Format Additive Manufacturing (LFAM) and will be using ‘Apollo’, a full turnkey 3-D printing solution that uses the power of robotics to support the production of large components and moulds. It was the company’s first robotic cell to be launched and offers faster speeds than FDM printers (nearly 200-times quicker), as well as the ability to use hundreds of different engineering-grades polymers while achieving custom composites. Clients also have the potential to secure significant cost savings as pellets can cost 65% to 90% less than filament of the same plastic.
Modular strategyMartin Jewell, chief technical officer at Rapid Fusion, said: “AM has expanded design freedoms and is rapidly gaining traction for both small components and large structures, including hull forms, in the world of maritime. Yet scalability remains constrained. GenDSOM is going to adopt a modular strategy, breaking designs into manufacturable subcomponents compatible with both traditional and AM processes.
“Our manufacturing-aware approach ensures designs remains manufacturable while integrating constraints, building envelope limits, support structures, tolerance stacking and material compatibility for instance. All of this will ensure innovative, efficient, and production-ready solutions, while enabling decarbonisation across the design-to-manufacturing lifecycle.”
Pictured right: the £700,000 vessel transformation projectSet to take place over the next seven months, the Innovate-backed project brings together the expertise of Siemens Digital Industries, the research of the University of Southampton, and the team of BYD Naval Architects.
While not an official partner yet, Compute Maritime will also be tapping into the compute power of HP Z Workstations to train AI models locally rather than in the cloud, giving it more control over energy consumption and sourcing.
Shahroz Khan concluded: “We are really pleased to have Rapid Fusion on board for the manufacturing element of the project. It has a proven track record in pushing the boundaries of innovation whilst acknowledging the manufacturing constraints of what is possible – this will be critical in delivering what we believe will be an important breakthrough for the maritime world.”
The GenDSOM is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) programme in the Department for Transport. Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is the main delivery partner for UK SHORE interventions.