June 3, 2026
Detroit, Michigan, USA
Jay Rogers, CEO, Haddy
The final day of Realize LIVE Americas 2026 in Detroit closed with two general session speakers who brought very different stories to the stage but shared a common thread: the power of software-driven engineering to unlock what wasn't possible before. From 3D-printing 40-foot boats to building hybrid rockets destined for orbit, the closing sessions were a fitting end to a week that reinforced why this community keeps showing up, and why the work they do matters.
Distributing the future of manufacturing with Haddy
Jay Rogers, CEO of Haddy, opened the final general session with a provocation: "The future is here, it's just not evenly distributed." He used it as the lens through which to tell the story of how his company is building a new model for large-format industrial 3D printing, one that combines scale, software-driven production and AI to reshape how physical structures are made in America.
Jay Rogers detailed Haddy's plan to reignite U.S manufacturing with local microfactories - all powered by Siemens Xcelerator
Rogers framed the opportunity by pointing to what he called "one of the greatest economic head-fakes of all time." For three decades, the U.S. traded manufacturing capacity for software development. The result is a gap that is now becoming a strategic liability. He cited shipbuilding as the starkest example: China now produces roughly 360 ships for every one built in the U.S.
Haddy's answer is an enabling layer for digital production. The company operates the largest large-format industrial polymer composite printing capacity in America, delivering across healthcare, defense, energy and entertainment using AI-trained industrial robots that continuously detect, analyze and correct during production. The systems run around the clock, printing at around 120 pounds of material per hour per robot and achieving 95 percent yield from validated digital files.
Underpinning all of this is the Siemens Xcelerator platform, which Haddy uses to connect product design, manufacturing planning and automation through a consistent digital thread. Large-format parts are designed in Designcenter and prepared for robotic production, while Teamcenter manages product data and configuration across Haddy's growing network of sites. On the shop floor, SINUMERIK provides the high-precision motion control that orchestrates the robotic additive manufacturing systems, combining CNC-based path control with industrial robot kinematics on CEAD's large-format robotic extrusion platforms. As the company scales, it is also expanding into Simcenter Optistruct for product optimization and validation, and NX X Manufacturing for cloud-enabled build strategy, NC programming and simulation of its complex large-format robotic processes.
The customer examples made the case. Brunswick Corporation, the boat manufacturer behind brands like Boston Whaler and Sea Ray, came to Haddy needing a radar arch for an autonomous docking system. Traditionally a 100 man-hour build, Haddy had a design ready for the robot within a week and printed the first unit in six hours. What began as a $40,000 project became a $1 million line of business. Within months, the U.S. Department of War approached Haddy to work across multiple programs, growing what started as a $6 million pipeline into something with the potential to reach close to $200 million within the next 12 months.
Rogers also highlighted Haddy's work with The Walt Disney Company, where a $500,000 pilot across multiple products quickly scaled into a $10 million program focused on bringing immersive environments to life faster and more efficiently.
At the heart of the model is the microfactory, a small production facility located close to demand. Haddy started in St. Petersburg, Florida, and is expanding to Los Angeles, Georgia and beyond, with plans to scale across multiple U.S. and international locations over the next 24 months. Everything stays within a digital workflow from the outset: scan to mesh to toolpath, through simulation, analysis and production. Haddy, which received the Sustainability Impact award at this year's Techcellence Awards on day one, is a compelling example of software reshaping how the physical world is built.
Reaction Dynamics: defying gravity with a digital backbone
Balin Moher, rocket propulsion engineer at Reaction Dynamics in Montreal, followed with a session that moved from childhood wonder to the edge of orbital flight, placing the Siemens toolchain at the center of the journey.
Moher opened with the memory of watching a shuttle launch from Cocoa Beach as an eight-year-old. "The ground shook. It went off. And I will never forget the sun cracking through rocket exhaust, between the Moon and the sky. That was the day I decided to dedicate my life to space."
Balin Moher, rocket propulsion engineer at Reaction Dynamics
That dedication led him to Reaction Dynamics, where the team is solving a 50-year-old problem in chemical propulsion. Classic hybrid rockets, which combine a solid fuel grain with a liquid oxidizer, suffer from a decaying thrust curve that makes it difficult to reach orbit. Reaction Dynamics has developed a novel hybrid architecture that delivers stable thrust throughout the burn, with half the plumbing complexity of a liquid system and at roughly half the cost.
The company's Aurora rocket is designed to carry 200 kilograms of payload to orbit. One satellite, on the customer's schedule, to their chosen orbit. Moher drew a vivid comparison: where SpaceX's rideshare program is the bus to space, Reaction Dynamics is building the Uber. For satellite operators who need a dedicated, responsive launch service, the economics of hybrids make that possible at a scale where liquid propulsion simply isn't viable.
Reaction Dynamics uses storable propellants, with liquid hydrogen peroxide as the oxidizer, enabling the rocket to remain fully fueled for months or even years. The entire system, rocket and launch infrastructure alike, fits inside standard shipping containers, opening up remote launch locations and bringing launch timelines from days to hours. The Canadian Department of National Defence recently awarded the company an $8.3 million grant as part of its Launch the North challenge, putting Reaction Dynamics on a funded roadmap of around $16 million over the next three years.
Balin Moher, rocket propulsion engineer at Reaction Dynamics detailed how his team is reinventing the design, test process with the power of AI
Moher credited the Siemens toolchain as the backbone of the entire development effort. All hardware is designed in Designcenter, from engine components and tanks to avionics and the test stand. Simcenter STAR-CCM+ handles the computational fluid dynamics (CFD), modeling the internal ballistics, flow behavior and combustion dynamics of an engine architecture that has no textbook precedent. Teamcenter manages revision control across every part, assembly, drawing and specification, serving as the structured ground truth from one iteration to the next. Partner Maya HTT has supported the team since day one, including on complex CFD campaigns.
Moher showed the audience the RE-102 engine, the final in-flight iteration powering Reaction Dynamics' suborbital demonstration flight this fall. Seven years of design, simulate, build and test loops, with the digital world informing the physical and the physical informing the digital, have given the team the confidence to build something fundamentally different. "That is a true digital twin," said Moher.
But the story didn't stop at propulsion. Moher described how the hours spent connecting one stage of the engineering cycle to the next, from data wrangling and documentation to design review, drove him to start building AI tools on his own time. The first, called CatMMP, uses natural language to drive engineering insights. The deeper challenge, he said, is bridging the unstructured world where engineers actually think (slide decks, spreadsheets, design notes, Teams meetings, emails) into the structured world of Teamcenter, so teams can move at the speed of AI and compress design cycles from days and weeks to minutes and hours.
He closed with a reminder of why it all matters: "Going to space has allowed us to look at the Earth as a single organism, from the outside in. Earth observation satellites are the most diagnostic tool we have. The only reason we know so much about climate change, deforestation, forest fires and pollution is because of space technology. And with Reaction Dynamics, we're providing a simpler, cheaper, more accessible way to get to orbit."
The eXplore tour: bringing the Digital Enterprise to your doorstep
Beyond the main stage, the Realize LIVE Solution Center played host to the Siemens eXplore tour, a customized 18-wheel mobile showroom that transforms into an interactive showcase for AI-driven manufacturing and digitalization. First launched at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, the truck brings Siemens software and automation technology to life through guided demonstrations, live use cases and hands-on engagement with the digital twin.
Siemens eXplore tour experience - coming to a city near you
At Realize LIVE, visitors experienced an industry-agnostic walkthrough centered on adaptive manufacturing, showing how combining the real and digital worlds enables manufacturers to respond to change in real time. The eXplore tour continues its U.S. roadshow at Automate in Chicago, June 22–25, North America's largest robotics and automation event. If it's heading your way, it's worth a visit.
Where next for Realize LIVE?
Realize LIVE Americas 2026 brought together 3,000 users, partners and the broader Siemens community for four days of learning, networking and hands-on technical immersion. With more than 450 sessions, 70 percent of which were delivered by customers, the event once again demonstrated the depth and diversity of this community and the real-world impact of the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio.
The next stop is Realize LIVE Europe, held June 30 to July 2 in Amsterdam, followed by Realize LIVE Asia Pacific in Bengaluru, India, August 4 to 5. For attendees in Detroit, session content will be available on demand in the coming weeks.
Link to Press Release
Detroit, Michigan, USA
Jay Rogers, CEO, Haddy
The final day of Realize LIVE Americas 2026 in Detroit closed with two general session speakers who brought very different stories to the stage but shared a common thread: the power of software-driven engineering to unlock what wasn't possible before. From 3D-printing 40-foot boats to building hybrid rockets destined for orbit, the closing sessions were a fitting end to a week that reinforced why this community keeps showing up, and why the work they do matters.
Distributing the future of manufacturing with Haddy
Jay Rogers, CEO of Haddy, opened the final general session with a provocation: "The future is here, it's just not evenly distributed." He used it as the lens through which to tell the story of how his company is building a new model for large-format industrial 3D printing, one that combines scale, software-driven production and AI to reshape how physical structures are made in America.
Jay Rogers detailed Haddy's plan to reignite U.S manufacturing with local microfactories - all powered by Siemens Xcelerator
Rogers framed the opportunity by pointing to what he called "one of the greatest economic head-fakes of all time." For three decades, the U.S. traded manufacturing capacity for software development. The result is a gap that is now becoming a strategic liability. He cited shipbuilding as the starkest example: China now produces roughly 360 ships for every one built in the U.S.
Haddy's answer is an enabling layer for digital production. The company operates the largest large-format industrial polymer composite printing capacity in America, delivering across healthcare, defense, energy and entertainment using AI-trained industrial robots that continuously detect, analyze and correct during production. The systems run around the clock, printing at around 120 pounds of material per hour per robot and achieving 95 percent yield from validated digital files.
Underpinning all of this is the Siemens Xcelerator platform, which Haddy uses to connect product design, manufacturing planning and automation through a consistent digital thread. Large-format parts are designed in Designcenter and prepared for robotic production, while Teamcenter manages product data and configuration across Haddy's growing network of sites. On the shop floor, SINUMERIK provides the high-precision motion control that orchestrates the robotic additive manufacturing systems, combining CNC-based path control with industrial robot kinematics on CEAD's large-format robotic extrusion platforms. As the company scales, it is also expanding into Simcenter Optistruct for product optimization and validation, and NX X Manufacturing for cloud-enabled build strategy, NC programming and simulation of its complex large-format robotic processes.
The customer examples made the case. Brunswick Corporation, the boat manufacturer behind brands like Boston Whaler and Sea Ray, came to Haddy needing a radar arch for an autonomous docking system. Traditionally a 100 man-hour build, Haddy had a design ready for the robot within a week and printed the first unit in six hours. What began as a $40,000 project became a $1 million line of business. Within months, the U.S. Department of War approached Haddy to work across multiple programs, growing what started as a $6 million pipeline into something with the potential to reach close to $200 million within the next 12 months.
Rogers also highlighted Haddy's work with The Walt Disney Company, where a $500,000 pilot across multiple products quickly scaled into a $10 million program focused on bringing immersive environments to life faster and more efficiently.
At the heart of the model is the microfactory, a small production facility located close to demand. Haddy started in St. Petersburg, Florida, and is expanding to Los Angeles, Georgia and beyond, with plans to scale across multiple U.S. and international locations over the next 24 months. Everything stays within a digital workflow from the outset: scan to mesh to toolpath, through simulation, analysis and production. Haddy, which received the Sustainability Impact award at this year's Techcellence Awards on day one, is a compelling example of software reshaping how the physical world is built.
Reaction Dynamics: defying gravity with a digital backbone
Balin Moher, rocket propulsion engineer at Reaction Dynamics in Montreal, followed with a session that moved from childhood wonder to the edge of orbital flight, placing the Siemens toolchain at the center of the journey.
Moher opened with the memory of watching a shuttle launch from Cocoa Beach as an eight-year-old. "The ground shook. It went off. And I will never forget the sun cracking through rocket exhaust, between the Moon and the sky. That was the day I decided to dedicate my life to space."
Balin Moher, rocket propulsion engineer at Reaction Dynamics
That dedication led him to Reaction Dynamics, where the team is solving a 50-year-old problem in chemical propulsion. Classic hybrid rockets, which combine a solid fuel grain with a liquid oxidizer, suffer from a decaying thrust curve that makes it difficult to reach orbit. Reaction Dynamics has developed a novel hybrid architecture that delivers stable thrust throughout the burn, with half the plumbing complexity of a liquid system and at roughly half the cost.
The company's Aurora rocket is designed to carry 200 kilograms of payload to orbit. One satellite, on the customer's schedule, to their chosen orbit. Moher drew a vivid comparison: where SpaceX's rideshare program is the bus to space, Reaction Dynamics is building the Uber. For satellite operators who need a dedicated, responsive launch service, the economics of hybrids make that possible at a scale where liquid propulsion simply isn't viable.
Reaction Dynamics uses storable propellants, with liquid hydrogen peroxide as the oxidizer, enabling the rocket to remain fully fueled for months or even years. The entire system, rocket and launch infrastructure alike, fits inside standard shipping containers, opening up remote launch locations and bringing launch timelines from days to hours. The Canadian Department of National Defence recently awarded the company an $8.3 million grant as part of its Launch the North challenge, putting Reaction Dynamics on a funded roadmap of around $16 million over the next three years.
Balin Moher, rocket propulsion engineer at Reaction Dynamics detailed how his team is reinventing the design, test process with the power of AI
Moher credited the Siemens toolchain as the backbone of the entire development effort. All hardware is designed in Designcenter, from engine components and tanks to avionics and the test stand. Simcenter STAR-CCM+ handles the computational fluid dynamics (CFD), modeling the internal ballistics, flow behavior and combustion dynamics of an engine architecture that has no textbook precedent. Teamcenter manages revision control across every part, assembly, drawing and specification, serving as the structured ground truth from one iteration to the next. Partner Maya HTT has supported the team since day one, including on complex CFD campaigns.
Moher showed the audience the RE-102 engine, the final in-flight iteration powering Reaction Dynamics' suborbital demonstration flight this fall. Seven years of design, simulate, build and test loops, with the digital world informing the physical and the physical informing the digital, have given the team the confidence to build something fundamentally different. "That is a true digital twin," said Moher.
But the story didn't stop at propulsion. Moher described how the hours spent connecting one stage of the engineering cycle to the next, from data wrangling and documentation to design review, drove him to start building AI tools on his own time. The first, called CatMMP, uses natural language to drive engineering insights. The deeper challenge, he said, is bridging the unstructured world where engineers actually think (slide decks, spreadsheets, design notes, Teams meetings, emails) into the structured world of Teamcenter, so teams can move at the speed of AI and compress design cycles from days and weeks to minutes and hours.
He closed with a reminder of why it all matters: "Going to space has allowed us to look at the Earth as a single organism, from the outside in. Earth observation satellites are the most diagnostic tool we have. The only reason we know so much about climate change, deforestation, forest fires and pollution is because of space technology. And with Reaction Dynamics, we're providing a simpler, cheaper, more accessible way to get to orbit."
The eXplore tour: bringing the Digital Enterprise to your doorstep
Beyond the main stage, the Realize LIVE Solution Center played host to the Siemens eXplore tour, a customized 18-wheel mobile showroom that transforms into an interactive showcase for AI-driven manufacturing and digitalization. First launched at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, the truck brings Siemens software and automation technology to life through guided demonstrations, live use cases and hands-on engagement with the digital twin.
Siemens eXplore tour experience - coming to a city near you
At Realize LIVE, visitors experienced an industry-agnostic walkthrough centered on adaptive manufacturing, showing how combining the real and digital worlds enables manufacturers to respond to change in real time. The eXplore tour continues its U.S. roadshow at Automate in Chicago, June 22–25, North America's largest robotics and automation event. If it's heading your way, it's worth a visit.
Where next for Realize LIVE?
Realize LIVE Americas 2026 brought together 3,000 users, partners and the broader Siemens community for four days of learning, networking and hands-on technical immersion. With more than 450 sessions, 70 percent of which were delivered by customers, the event once again demonstrated the depth and diversity of this community and the real-world impact of the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio.
The next stop is Realize LIVE Europe, held June 30 to July 2 in Amsterdam, followed by Realize LIVE Asia Pacific in Bengaluru, India, August 4 to 5. For attendees in Detroit, session content will be available on demand in the coming weeks.
Link to Press Release