News & insights

Research, projects and practical answers on large-format 3D printing for the nautical industry and composites, written by the NUGAE team.

3D-printed hard top installed on a 50-foot motor yacht

8 September 2026 Hard topNauticalLarge-format 3D printingComposite materials

3D-printed hard tops: weight, lead time and what changes compared with fibreglass

Five hard tops built by NUGAE with robotic 3D printing, from 24 to 80 kg and from 20 to 100 printing hours, show why printing wins for one-off parts: no plug and no mould, less weight up high, delivery in weeks and the same finish as a fibreglass part.

The collaborative robot assembles the replica of the Voltaic Pile with the discs 3D printed by NUGAE, in the Sala Pasta of the Teatro Sociale in Como

5 September 2026 EventsComo3D printingInnovation

Volta, from the pile to the future: the components of the Voltaic Pile replica, 3D printed by NUGAE

At the Teatro Sociale in Como, from 5 to 27 September 2026, a collaborative robot assembles a replica of Volta's pile and lights a bulb. The copper, zinc and felt discs, the bases and the cap of the pile are 3D printed by NUGAE; an AI avatar of Alessandro Volta answers visitors' questions.

3D-printed sandwich panel under the hydraulic press at 2 tonnes

4 September 2026 MaterialsTestingUL-LFAMComposite materials

How strong is a 3D-printed part? The press test: solid wood versus UL-LFAM

In the Breaking Rules video we put a solid wood beam and a sandwich panel printed with the UL-LFAM method under a hydraulic press: the wood snaps at 1.5 tonnes, the printed panel takes 2 tonnes and springs back.

3D-printed rib-stiffened composite panels laminated with glass fibre

3 September 2026 ResearchComposite materialsNauticalLarge-format 3D printing

3D-printed composite panels for boats: the peer-reviewed study with Politecnico di Milano

Published in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering: NUGAE's patented hollow-rib 3D printing yields composite panels as stiff as a balsa sandwich but about 10% lighter, plus a RIB windscreen tested for 150 hours at sea and a hardtop for a 13 m RIB.