2-03-2025
Waltham, Mass – Boston Engineering is proud to announce it has been awarded a $7.75 million contract through BlueForge Alliance to support critical industrial base advancements as part of the U.S. Navy’s Maritime Industrial Base Program. This contract aims to mitigate workforce strain and future-proof our nation’s defense capabilities through innovation, partnership, and a focus on supply chain growth.
Driving Innovation Across Three Strategic Areas
Under this award, Boston Engineering will focus on three core areas of impact:
The first area of focus is advancing the Family of Shipyard Assisting Robotics (FOSAR) initiative, which addresses shipyard production and sustainment challenges by creating common tools and capabilities to enhance worker effectiveness. This includes developing digital tools that capture institutional knowledge and improve worker communication, assistive robotics for a modern workforce, and open-source standards to increase technology commonality across shipyards. The first year of the FOSAR project lays the foundation for technology direction and advancement and establishes guidance for the six collaborating companies—Boston Engineering, Life Cycle Engineering, Southwest Research Institute, Compass Systems, IPOZ Systems, and McLaughlin Research Corporation. These efforts aim to achieve scalable, synergistic activities to meet program objectives.
Mark Smithers, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Boston Engineering, emphasized the transformative potential of these efforts: “FOSAR is a game-changer for shipyard efficiency. By combining robotics, digital tools, and open standards with the requirements our public shipyards need to adopt technology, we’re not just addressing today’s challenges but setting the stage for a resilient and innovative maritime capability our workforce needs to achieve production and sustainment objectives. These advancements are critical not only for immediate operational improvements but also for ensuring we produce and maintain technological leadership needed to field weapons systems needed for national security.”
In the second area of focus, Boston Engineering is accelerating the transition of shipyard technologies through demonstrations with shipyard stakeholders and executing technology de-risking. This effort demonstrates existing capabilities to gather Voice of Customer input necessary to advance to the product forms they need while meeting the shipyard requirements, including cyber security.
Many of the technologies developed have reached high readiness levels and are close to or ready for transition to assist our shipyard workers. The transition acceleration means workers can produce and sustain at a pace that meets our national security objectives while enhancing operational efficiency, improving inspection capabilities, addressing complex shipyard tasks, and enabling safer working options.
“These technologies are designed to modernize shipyard operations while reducing risk and improving outcomes,” Smithers added, “By delivering high-readiness tools, we’re ensuring shipyards can operate at peak efficiency and readiness.”
The final area of focus is an initiative to evolve supplier capability and capacity to address production and sustainment shortages. Leveraging the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) network, the program will identify opportunities to expand relevant manufacturing capabilities and capacity, ensuring a resilient MIB supply chain through digital transformation.
The goal is to advance operational and workforce efficiencies by applying a “digital lens” to existing or new supplier operations. Making our shipyard and production environments attractive to emerging workforce is critical.
“Most people under the age of 30 have been using smart technologies since they were two years old, and the environment that offers these advanced tools and capabilities will be better positioned to attract and retain the best our country has to offer,” according to Smithers.
Boston Engineering is working with MassMEP and Spinnaker Venture Partners to establish key performance indicators and define a framework for a nationally scalable program. This will be piloted in the New England region by conducting focused outreach to identify and vet new and existing MIB suppliers and develop roadmaps for ten pilot projects.
Why This Matters
This award comes at a pivotal time for the maritime industrial base and addresses several key challenges. By supporting advanced robotics and innovative digital tools, the initiative advances next-generation shipyard production and maintenance operations. This is critical to improve efficiency and attract and retain workers. It also expands and fortifies the supplier base by engaging new manufacturers and improving the competitiveness of existing suppliers.
Jose Vazquez, Defense and Security Business Unit Director at Boston Engineering and a Navy veteran, highlighted the strategic significance: “This program is not just about technology; it’s about revitalizing the industrial base that supports our warfighters. This initiative opens long-term opportunities for the industrial base to align with the needs of shipyards, ensuring we build an enduring framework that supports both readiness and innovation. By mobilizing manufacturers and breaking down barriers to entry, we’re creating a stronger, more resilient supply chain that ensures naval readiness for today and the future.”
Furthermore, the award helps establish a stronger national framework by creating scalable models for adopting new technologies and securing supply chain resilience, by expanding submarine production capacity to achieve critical strategic goals.
Smithers again highlighted the broader impact and significance: “The partnerships and focus areas we’re advancing go beyond immediate operational needs. They are about building a sustainable maritime infrastructure that bolsters resilience, ensures long-term readiness, and keeps the United States at the forefront of technological advancements. These collaborations are critical to securing our defense capabilities and fortifying the industrial base for future generations.”
About Boston Engineering
Boston Engineering provides product design and engineering consulting from concept through commercialization. Our mission is to improve the way people work and live through innovative product design and novel engineering, and we thrive on making the meaningful impact that comes from solving tough challenges.
With three decades of thought leadership and diverse industry experience, Boston Engineering has transformed hundreds of bold ideas into indispensable products and game-changing solutions. We help clients capture emerging market opportunities by understanding complex challenges and bringing together the right subject matter experts to drive innovation and true transformation.
Learn more about our centers of excellence, our technical innovations, and our engineering solutions by visiting www.boston-engineering.com.
For more information, please contact:
Robert Davis
Vice President, Sales and Marketing
Boston Engineering
Phone: (860) 786-8319
Email: rdavis@boston-engineering.com
Website: www.boston-engineering.com
