US propeller manufacturer Sharrow Engineering is increasing production capacity for its patented Sharrow Propeller through a collaboration with Ford Motor Company’s Advanced Industrial Technology & Platforms (ATP) team.
The work centres on 3D sand-casting techniques developed through connections within the Michigan Central innovation ecosystem. The firms say this revised approach can reduce production timelines from as much as 130 days under investment casting to roughly two weeks, while maintaining the tolerances required for the propeller design.
Michigan Central – a Detroit-based mobility innovation hub that connects startups, established companies and research partners – facilitated the collaboration between Sharrow Engineering and Ford Motor Company.
Over the past nine months, the companies have adapted the propeller design for a 3D-printed sand-casting process. The work has focused on refining and validating the method to support higher volumes and respond to rising demand.
“Michigan Central was built to bring together the people, infrastructure, and expertise needed to help companies move from breakthrough ideas to real-world scale,” says Carolina Pluszczynski, acting CEO of Michigan Central.
“It is incredible to see how Sharrow has scaled since joining our ecosystem. They have leveraged the prototyping labs here, found talent to grow their team, and expanded their footprint. And now, by connecting them with the Ford advanced manufacturing team, Sharrow has drastically accelerated its production processes, turning innovation into tangible impact.”
Ford Motor Company contributed to the development of the mould manufacturing process with its 3D-printing tech, and worked with regional foundries to bring the casting approach into use.
“Ford has been at the leading edge of 3D sand-casting for more than 20 years, and it’s rewarding to use that expertise to help another Michigan company scale so quickly,” says Dan Michalski, additive manufacturing operations supervisor at Ford. “This is about more than just propellers – it’s about making industrial innovation available to customers like Sharrow so they can compete on a global stage.”
Since its launch in 2020, the Sharrow Propeller has seen wider uptake among recreational, commercial and government users. The design is also being assessed for use beyond marine propulsion, including in mobility, defence and energy systems. As demand has grown, the firm has focused on scaling production.
“Since we introduced the Sharrow Propeller, the market response has been extraordinary, but scaling production has been our biggest challenge, particularly getting high-quality castings fast enough to meet demand,” says Greg Sharrow, founder and CEO of Sharrow Engineering and Sharrow Marine.
“That’s one of the reasons we came to Detroit – to tap into a level of manufacturing capability and ecosystem we couldn’t find anywhere else, including the network at Michigan Central. This collaboration with Ford Motor Company has solved that problem for us in a big way. What used to take an entire boating season to produce can now be made in just a few weeks. That’s game-changing. It’s a powerful example of what can happen when companies like Ford help bring breakthrough technologies to industrial scale.”
The development follows continued investment in US-based manufacturing, including a fourth expansion in five years at a 60,000-square-foot facility in Harper Woods, Michigan.
The collaboration also reflects a broader move by Sharrow Engineering into sectors beyond marine propulsion. The underlying technology is being explored for use in drones, air mobility, industrial fans, pumps and renewable energy systems.
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