Materials Research LLC (MRL) announces a new partnership with Springfield, Ohio’s Champions Park Lake Boat Club and Fairchild Racing to bring metallic 3D printed parts into the world of high-performance watercraft and powerboat racing.
MRL brings its metallic alloy and materials-processing research, development, and characterization capabilities to the partnership. Chris Fairchild, an F1 Powerboat racer, and Champions Park Lake Boat Club bring the talent needed to take advantage of new high-performance, additively-manufactured parts and serve as a testbed MRL’s research and development in powerboat racing.
“This is an exciting partnership,” stated Champions Park Lake promoter Dana Potts, “There is a long history of F1 Powerboat Racing development on Champions Park Lake long before it was a race facility.”
“Bill Chatfield—a renowned F1 Powerboat Team Owner—spent many years in the ’80s and 90’s on the lake developing anything from motor components to new computer technology for Mercury Racing. So it’s interesting to see MRL’s 3D printing and knowledge help powerboat racing move into new realms,” Potts said.
“We are excited about the opportunity with Chris Fairchild and Champions Park Lake Boat Club,” said Ayman Salem.
“This partnership is an opportunity to demonstrate the implementation of our knowledge and expertise at the highest performance level in powerboat racing. This partnership could be a great starting point for advanced manufacturing in powerboat racing. It could also turn the Dayton, Ohio, area into an incubator for more companies to join and grow jobs with involvement in F1 Powerboat Racing,” Salem added.
“I love partnerships like this. My title usually is test dummy,” joked Chris Fairchild, three-time World Champion and winner of the 24 Heures motonautiques de Rouen, “Ayman’s team is new to powerboat racing, but the knowledge and development work they are doing currently is state of the art in advanced manufacturing. For boat racing to tap into this knowledge will be tremendously beneficial for the growth of powerboat racing and the marine industry overall.”
MRL plans to work with various vendors and manufacturers throughout the performance period to conduct research and development and assist with developing multiple performance elements of a tunnel boat. MRL brings its expertise in alloy development, artificial intelligence, modeling, simulation, and analysis of responses of metallic materials to processing routes, applied loads, fields, and environments. MRL also plans to assess new metals technologies, materials selection for emerging applications, and transition of metallic materials and processing advancements. All of MRL’s activities in this project ultimately support the betterment of Powerboat Racing.
MRL has recently invested in a new 30-acre facility in Xenia township for the future development of its manufacturing hub. The company believes the effort will bring big tech companies to the Xenia township.
Founded in 2009 by Ayman Salem, Ph.D., MRL works with the DOD and its various agencies, including ONR, NAVAIR, NAVSEA, DLA, MDA, AFRL, and the Army, over 30 contracts related to alloy development and fatigue life enhancement of wrought and additively manufactured components.
Experts in both materials science and data science staff the company. MRL also employs machinists, lab technicians, and other support personnel to carry out the day-to-day activities required to transition research and development to commercial products.
