Speakers and delegates from 18 countries gathered in Amsterdam late last month (May) for the 12th International Naval Engineering Conference (INEC 2014) held at the Marine Establishment Amsterdam, and described by one delegate as “probably the highest academic level marine conference in the world”.
With its theme ‘Innovative solutions to global trends’, INEC 2014 attracted nearly 300 attendees from navies and naval procurement at all levels from Sub-Lieutenant to Vice Admiral, and commercial attendees from a range of companies from prime contractors to SMEs.
Cdre John Newell MBE RN closing INEC 201 panies from prime contractors to SMEs.
INEC 2014 was organised by the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) in association with the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN).
“The Royal Netherlands Navy was the driving force behind INEC 2014 and supported the conference with active participation from both the RNLN and Defence Materiel Organisation. Vice Admiral Matthieu J M Borsboom, Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy was one of our keynote speakers together with the wholehearted support, and presence, of both Rear Admiral (Ret) Ruurd Lutje Schipholt KNL OON HonFIMarEST and Rear Admiral Dr Arie Jan de Waard who are Patrons of INEC, ” explains IMarEST Chief Executive, David Loosley.
“We were also extremely grateful to Tony Graham RCNC, Director Ships at the UK Ministry of Defence who stepped in to give the other keynote address on behalf of Vice Admiral Simon Lister CB OBE.
“I would like to thank conference chairman Cdre John Newell, his committee and all involved with the organisation of this key event in the naval engineering calendar; and agree wholeheartedly with the opinion of one of our delegates who said ‘INEC 2014 was an outstanding event and the highlights had to be the involvement of the RNLN and the visit to HNLMS Tromp’. The Conference Reception was hosted by the Royal Netherlands Navy aboard HNLMS Tromp at the end of the second day of the conference, providing all participants with a unique opportunity to visit this innovative class of ship and to learn more about the role of the Royal Netherlands Navy worldwide.
“The committee refereed the largest proceedings produced for INEC at 870 pages – no mean feat and something on which they are to be congratulated. On behalf of IMarEST and INEC delegates over the past 12 years, I would like to pay especial tribute to the hard work of Cdre John Newell who is standing down as INEC conference chairman.”
Sir Donald Gosling Award winners
There were a record number of candidates for the Sir Donald Gosling Award for authors aged 35 or under. The award aims to encourage involvement and attendance from younger participants from the military, industry and academia. The presentations were made on the last afternoon of the conference when Patron, Vice Admiral Sir Robert Hill KBE FREng HonFIMarEST presented the prizes.
Dominic Burger of the UK Naval Design Partnering Team won the first prize of £5, 000 with ‘Unmanned Naval Aviation and its Impact on Future Carrier Design’. Dominic Burger is a Naval Architect working within the Naval Design Partnering Team, on secondment from Steller Systems Ltd. He graduated from University College London in 2004 and has since led the concept design programmes for a range of future UK Ministry of Defence ships. He has worked within the Ministry of Defence Naval Authority Group as the Ship Stability Desk Officer and as a Senior Naval Architect for QinetiQ GRC.
The second prize winners (£2, 500) were Sub Lieutenant Jordy van de Mheen RNLN, University College London and Netherlands Defence Academy, the Netherlands and Ian Whitelegg, University College London and Ministry of Defence, UK for their paper ‘A comparison of energy storage methods for conventional diesel-electric submarines’.
R Jordy van de Mheen is currently a naval engineering officer on HMS Walrus. Prior to this, he obtained his BSc from the Royal Netherlands Naval College and his MSc in Marine Engineering from University College London (UCL). Ian Whitelegg is a PhD researcher at UCL, undertaking a PhD on behalf of the Ministry of Defence into the impact of pulsed loads on electric power systems. Prior to this he obtained a degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Loughborough University, before joining the Ministry of Defence, where he gained his MSc in Marine Engineering from UCL.
There were two third prize winners each earning £1, 500 as the judges agreed they just could not separate the two. One of the third prize awards went to Dr Thomas Coe, Peter King, and Jonathan Hirst of the UK Naval Design Partnering Team for their paper ‘Understanding Whole Body Vibration Exposures on High Speed Marine Craft’.
Dr Thomas Coe is a Consultant Naval Architect with Frazer-Nash Consultancy currently on secondment to the UK Naval Design Partnering Team as the High Speed Craft Group Manager and Technical Lead of the Ministry of Defence’s Maritime Whole Body Vibration (WBV) Project. He has an extensive background in WBV in small fast craft having completed a PhD in the field from Southampton University and is a member of a number of international committees on the subject. Prior to joining the Naval Design Partnering Team he worked on a variety of projects for Frazer-Nash including small craft design tool development, test rig design and development of lightweight composite solutions for dismounted infantry.
Peter King is a Naval Architect with the UK Ministry of Defence who is currently working within the UK Naval Design Partnering Team as a High Speed Craft Specialist. After completing a Marine Engineering degree at Plymouth University he joined the Ministry of Defence’s Defence Engineering and Science Group graduate scheme. After completing the scheme his interest in high speed vessels led him to orientate his career around the subject and he has been involved in a number of projects including concept RIB designs and the reduction of WBV.
Jonathan Hirst graduated from Keble College Oxford in 2010 and is on a part-time secondment to the Naval Design Partnering Team where his principle interests are mathematical modelling and simulation of high speed craft environments. He is a member of the Surface Ships Signatures and Acoustics group with Thales.
Axel Homborg, Royal Netherlands Navy, the Netherlands was the other third prize winner with his paper ‘Novel corrosion monitoring using electrochemical noise’. Axel Homborg works as a PhD researcher on electrochemical noise measurements at the Royal Netherlands Navy. After graduating at the Naval Academy as a naval officer and at Delft University of Technology as a materials scientist, he held several positions as a naval officer ‘in the field’ and as a system engineer for newly-built ships.
INEC’s sponsors and exhibitors
INEC 2014’s major sponsor was BMT Defence Services; with Babcock International Group, Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding, Imtech Marine, QinetiQ and Thales Nederland B.V. as associate sponsors. There were a dozen exhibitors: Babcock International Group; BMT Defence Services; Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding; Imtech Marine; L-3 Marine Systems UK Ltd; MARIN (Maritime Research Institute Netherlands); Metalock Engineering UK Ltd; QinetiQ; Rolls-Royce; Thales Nederland B.V.; TNO; and Wärtsilä Corporation.
INEC’s supporting organisations
INEC’s supporting organisations included KIVI (The Royal Dutch Society of Engineers) together with industry representation from NIDV (The Netherlands Defence Manufacturers Association) and UK NEST (UK Naval Engineering Science and Technology), as well as the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, the Society for Underwater Technology, Naval Forces and a long standing supporter of IMarEST’s Learned Society events, the Office of Naval Research Global.
INEC 2014 Patrons
- Vice Admiral Sir Robert Hill KBE FREng HonFIMarEST
- Rear Admiral (Ret) Ruurd Lutje Schipholt KNL OON HonFIMarEST
- Rear Admiral Dr Arie Jan de Waard
- Commodore (Dr) Rakesh K Rana
- Tony Graham RCNC
INEC 2014 Technical Advisory Committee
- Cdre John Newell MBE RN, Ministry of Defence, UK (Chairman)
- Jens Ballé, ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems GmbH, Germany
- Cdr Matt Bolton RN, Ministry of Defence, UK
- Capt Mark Dannatt RN (Rtd), GE Power Conversion
- Lt Alex Davies RN, Ministry of Defence, UK
- Frans de Wildt, ProRail, the Netherlands
- Ian Grant, QinetiQ
- Dr Alistair Greig, University College London
- Tim Hardy, BMT Defence Services Ltd
- Dr Michael Harper, Office of Naval Research Global
- Lt Cdr Ian Hassall RN, Ministry of Defence, UK
- Lt Cdr André Hertsenberg RNLN, Royal Netherlands Navy
- Keith Howard, Babcock International Group
- Simon Knight, Babcock International Group
- Lt Cdr Hugh Maddison RN, Ministry of Defence, UK
- Paul Maillardet, UK
- Dr Phil Rottier, The MathWorks Limited
- Cdr Dr Paul Schulten RNLN, Netherlands Defence Academy
- Prof Douwe Stapersma, Netherlands Defence Academy
- Cdr John Voyce RN, Ministry of Defence, UK
ENDS
About the Institute of Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST)
The IMarEST is an international membership body and learned society for all marine professionals. The IMarEST (a registered charity) is the first Institute to bring together marine engineers, scientists and technologists into one international multi-disciplinary professional body. It is the largest marine organisation of its kind with a worldwide membership of around 15, 000 based in over 100 countries.
Working with the global marine community, the IMarEST promotes the scientific development of marine engineering, science and technology, providing opportunities for the exchange of ideas and practices and upholding the status, standards and expertise of marine professionals worldwide.
The IMarEST has a growing network of Corporate Marine Partners who benefit from a tailored programme to support each global organisation’s specific requirements. Packages provide companies with a competitive edge by investing in staff and supporting Initial and Continuous Professional Development, supporting local, national, or international promotional programmes, providing specialised recruitment solutions, accrediting training courses, creating bespoke networking events and providing company employees with access to one of the largest online knowledge resources – the IMarEST Virtual Library.
The IMarEST is a respected authority in every maritime country. It is a Non-Governmental Organisation with consultative status at the International Maritime Organization (IMO), observer status at the International Oceanographic Commission, and it has special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC), which facilitates its access to other international intergovernmental meetings where its specialized marine expertise is of particular use, e.g., the United Nations meetings on Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) and the work of the International Seabed Authority on marine mining. It is a nominated and licensed body of the Engineering Council (UK), a member of the Science Council and has significant links with many other maritime organisations worldwide.
IMarEST runs a series of industry leading and technically excellent events and conferences as well as publishing internationally recognised publications: Marine Engineers Review (MER); Shipping World and Shipbuilder; Maritime IT and Electronics; Marine Scientist; and Offshore Technology. www.imarest.org
