Case Study: LIFT Aircraft achieves flight-ready status in under 13 months with Materialise

How eVTOL Startup LIFT Got ‘Flight-Ready’ in Less than 13 Months with AM

LIFT Aircraft, a US eVTOL startup building the HEXA to make flight accessible to all, needed to bring a safe ultralight aircraft to market fast. The company faced the twin challenges of meeting strict weight limits (with a distributed powertrain of 18 motors and batteries) and ensuring critical parts—like the titanium ENDY that reinforces overhead rotors during parachute deployment—had an exceptional strength-to-weight ratio while avoiding high scrap rates in printing. Early on LIFT engaged Materialise for design-for-AM expertise, generative design, and 3D printing support.

Materialise used topology optimization (Siemens NX), generative design, and Magics print simulation to redesign and validate the ENDY for additive manufacturing, optimizing orientation and supports to reduce residual stress and detachment. The redesigned ENDY achieved a safety factor of 10, weighs about 40% less (152 g versus 250 g), saves nearly 600 g per aircraft across six parts, and cut rejected prints—helping LIFT go from prototype to a flight-ready HEXA in under 13 months.

LIFT Aircraft

Balazs Kerulo

Chief Engineer