LUXURY boat builder Sunseeker International will be using a university’s £1.5million innovation studio to aid its research and development into manufacturing.

The Poole and Portland employer has become Arts University Bournemouth’s (AUB) first associate partner under a new innovation programme.

The scheme allows businesses access to the Innovation Studio, a creative facility housing equipment for uses from virtual reality and visualisation to additive manufacturing, digital textiles and 3D printing.

Sunseeker says it will be using AUB’s 3D printing and prototyping facilities to enhance its production process and test the viability of new materials, parts and fabrication techniques.

Sunseeker, which employs around 2,000 people in Dorset, has also pledged to engage with AUB students, whose production and creative skills could help it develop new ideas and concepts.

Ewen Foster, chief technical officer at Sunseeker, said: “Our partnership with AUB gives us the ability to explore new technologies as part of the wider research and development process, investing in research to further value-driven manufacturing in the marine industry.

“Co-creation allows freedom of thought for our designers and we hope that academic and industrial collaboration can further our goals of reducing material waste, improving our efficiencies and elevating our ability to offer product customisation.

“We’ll also endeavour to involve undergraduate students, inviting them to our facilities as well as offering a real-world brief; supporting future talent at the university to gain industrial exposure.

“The Innovation Studio gives us an opportunity to become more experimental in R&D, and allows Sunseeker graduates, designers, engineering and production teams to drive our business into a new era of manufacturing,”

Lucy Devall, innovation and executive education manager at the university, said: “We’re really excited to be partnering with Sunseeker. AUB has a long history of working with our local business community, supporting them in creative practice and research and development.

“This partnership offers a lot of opportunity for inter-disciplinary practice, from our creative skills here at AUB through to Sunseeker’s skills in the marine technology sector. It’s a wonderful opportunity to work with such a large and globally renowned business.”

The university has won £1.2m investment from the European Regional Development Fund to support research and innovation projects with Dorset industry, and £1.4m from the Dorset Growth Deal to develop its Innovation Studio, aimed at supporting start-ups in the region.

Business can find out more about associate partnerships with AUB at aub.ac.uk/associatepartner.