A crowd of more than 100 people saw what could be the future of marine technology Friday when the University of Maine christened and launched a first of its kind 3D-printed boat in Hampden.
The 30-foot, 300-horsepower boat printed in UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center is the only 3D-printed boat of its size that can reach up to 40 knots. The boat, named 3Dirigo X, is painted in an unassuming gray and touts a black bear graphic on the front of its hull.
The boat is the first of its kind and size to be publicly put in the water, according to Habib Dagher, executive director of the Advanced Structures and Composites Center. It’s a developed version of the 3Dirigo, which was a previous iteration of the boat, and took more than five years of research, development and testing after the 3Dirigo launched in 2020.
“Building a vessel like this takes a lot of effort, as you might imagine. You don’t just go out there and print a vessel and assume it works,” Dagher said.
The launch and demonstration shows how UMaine is advancing 3D-printing technology in collaboration with industry partners and the Department of Defense with funding from U.S. Sen. Susan Collins. Friday’s event was a celebration of cutting edge technology created by UMaine professors, students and employees that will be used by the military and possibly recreationally.
The boat will be used in the Atlantic Ocean to test its durability in natural elements, said Keith DeVries, director of the Office of the Secretary of War Manufacturing Technology Program.
The boat was the culmination of many hours of work from thousands of students and engineers who helped with its development, Dagher said. Working with two of the largest 3D printers in the world and using machine learning and AI development has made it so the university can print 500 pounds of material an hour, Dagher said. The 3Dirigo X weighs three tons.
Although the technology and advancements that made the demonstration possible were the main point of Friday’s launch, Collins pointed to the logo on the boat’s bow that may make “adversaries of the United States” run when they see it.
“3Dirigo X represents Maine ingenuity at its best — practical, innovative, forward-thinking, hardworking and focused on solving problems of national importance. What I like best and hope will always be part of the design of this boat, is the ferocious black bear that is on the front,” the Republican said.