Ford Motor Company and Sharrow Engineering Scale Production of the Sharrow Propeller in Detroit
Through collaboration with Ford Motor Company and Michigan Central's innovation ecosystem, production timelines are reduced from months to weeks, significantly accelerating output ahead of summer boating season
Sharrow Engineering announced today it is scaling production of its patented Sharrow™ Propeller through a collaboration with Ford Motor Company's Advanced Industrial Technology & Platforms (ATP) team, using advanced 3D sand-casting techniques thanks to connections made through the Michigan Central innovation ecosystem.
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The result is a significant reduction in production timelines, shortening what used to take as much as 130 days with traditional investment casting to approximately two weeks, while maintaining the precision required for Sharrow's designs.
Michigan Central – Detroit's hub for mobility innovation, which brings together startups, industry leaders, and other partners to help advance next-generation technologies – facilitated the collaboration between Sharrow and Ford, connecting Sharrow's proprietary propeller design with Ford's expertise in manufacturing innovation and industrial scale.
Over the past nine months, the teams worked together to adapt Sharrow's precision-engineered designs to a 3D-printed sand-casting process. The effort focused on refining and validating the casting process to enable high-volume production and help Sharrow meet growing consumer demand for the Sharrow Propeller.
"Michigan Central was built to bring together the people, infrastructure, and expertise needed to help companies move from breakthrough ideas to real-world scale. Sharrow is exactly the kind of company we're here to support — an innovator with proven technology and growing demand," said 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."
As part of the effort, Ford helped develop and refine the mold manufacturing process while working closely with experienced regional foundries to bring the new casting approach online. By combining Ford's expertise in advanced manufacturing processes with the deep metallurgical and pouring experience of local foundry partners, the collaboration has accelerated the path toward scalable production of the Sharrow Propeller.
"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, 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 rapidly growing demand from recreational boaters, commercial operators, and government agencies seeking improvements in efficiency, noise reduction, and performance. The breakthrough design has also attracted interest beyond marine propulsion, with potential applications across mobility, defense, and energy systems. As demand for the technology has expanded, scaling production to meet global interest has become the company's primary focus.
"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," said 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."
This advancement builds on Sharrow's continued investment in U.S.-based manufacturing, including its fourth expansion in five years to its new 60,000-square-foot facility in Harper Woods, Michigan, and supports ongoing hiring and growth in the Detroit region.
The collaboration also marks a broader step forward for Sharrow as the company expands beyond marine propulsion into new categories of mobility and energy efficiency. The same core technology behind the Sharrow Propeller has applications across drones, advanced air mobility, industrial fans, pumps, and renewable energy systems. With rapid prototyping at Michigan Central and Newlab Detroit, and Ford's manufacturing expertise helping scale production, Sharrow now has a clear pathway to move new propulsion technologies from concept to industrial production faster than ever before.
About Sharrow Engineering
Sharrow Engineering is a Detroit-based company pioneering breakthrough technologies in propulsion, energy, and mobility. The company is best known for inventing the Sharrow™ Propeller — the first major advancement in propeller technology since the 1830s — which delivers up to 30% greater fuel efficiency and up to 80% noise reduction compared to traditional designs. With over 200 patents worldwide, Sharrow Engineering serves as the parent company of Sharrow Marine, which manufactures and delivers high-performance marine propulsion systems to customers around the globe.
The Sharrow Propeller has been widely recognized, including being named one of TIME's Best Inventions of 2023 and Soundings Trade Only's Most Innovative Marine Companies, and honored by Fast Company's World Changing Ideas Awards and Innovation by Design Awards. With applications extending beyond marine into aerospace, defense, HVAC, and renewable energy, Sharrow is redefining what's possible in modern propulsion.
About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan, committed to helping build a better world, where every person is free to move and pursue their dreams. The company's Ford+ plan for growth and value creation combines existing strengths, new capabilities, and always-on relationships with customers to enrich experiences for customers and deepen their loyalty. Ford develops and delivers innovative, must-have Ford trucks, sport utility vehicles, commercial vans and cars and Lincoln luxury vehicles, along with connected services, including BlueCruise (ADAS) and security. The company offers freedom of choice through three customer-centered business segments: Ford Blue, engineering iconic gas-powered and hybrid vehicles; Ford Model e, inventing breakthrough electric vehicles ("EVs") along with embedded software that defines always-on digital experiences for all customers; and Ford Pro, helping commercial customers transform and expand their businesses with vehicles and services tailored to their needs. Additionally, the company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. Ford employs about 169,000 people worldwide. More information about the company and its products and services is available at fromtheroad.ford.com.
About Michigan Central
Michigan Central is a 30-acre technology and cultural hub in Detroit, where leaders, thinkers, communities, and creators come together to accelerate bold ideas and technologies that shape our collective future. By providing access to world-class infrastructure, tools, and resources, Michigan Central inspires innovators and community members to collaborate on real, ground-breaking solutions to global problems. Since opening in April 2023, Michigan Central has grown into a diverse ecosystem of nearly 250 companies and startups working at the intersection of mobility, technology, and society. Learn more at michigancentral.com.
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