About us
Twelve years of research to 3D print what used to require a mould.
NUGAE is an Italian deep-tech company that has developed a complete large-format robotic 3D printing system for the marine industry and for every sector that needs large, light, custom-made components. The system is called UL-LFAM (Ultra-Light Large Format Additive Manufacturing) and is the result of more than twelve years of research and development: a patented pellet-fed extruder, a patented method for printing structural panels with integrated hollow ribs, the NU-Slice slicing software and CoreLight3D®, the registered-trademark material engineered for lamination.
Our idea
Large-format composite parts are still made the way they were fifty years ago: pattern, mould, hand lay-up, waste. NUGAE removes the mould. The robot deposits the part directly from the file, with thin walls and integrated ribs, and the printed part becomes the structural core of a glass or carbon sandwich. The result weighs a fraction of its conventional equivalent and is ready in hours, not weeks.
The founder
Francesco Belvisi, co-founder and CTO, is a boat designer and one of the leading experts in large-format additive manufacturing. He has been studying and experimenting with robotics and additive manufacturing since 2010, designed the 43-foot catamaran 3D printed by NUGAE and won the 2018 Italian National Innovation Award. The hollow-rib printing method and the NUGAE extruder come from his work.
Research and validation
NUGAE technology has been studied and published in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering: panels printed with the hollow-rib method and laminated in fibreglass match the stiffness of a balsa sandwich at a lower weight, and the sea-tested components (windscreen and hardtop) passed real-use trials. Read more in the News ›
Where we work
Laboratory and production are in Lomazzo, between Milan and Como. The registered office is in Roccavaldina, in the province of Messina. Through the NU-Hub model the technology can be installed directly at shipyards and manufacturers.