28 March 2025 – Last night, the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) revealed the winners of its prestigious 2025 awards at its Annual Dinner (27 March). The awards were presented by the new IMarEST president, Professor Stephen de Mora.
This year’s awards included the flagship Outstanding Contribution Award, sponsored by P&S Automation, which was bestowed upon Professor Stephen Turnock, head of the School of Engineering at the University of Southampton. Over a distinguished 35-year career, Professor Turnock has demonstrated exceptional leadership in marine engineering. His groundbreaking research and commitment to education have significantly shaped the future of the field.
Beyond his academic achievements, Professor Turnock is also a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusivity in marine engineering. His mentorship and advocacy are helping to create a more inclusive future for the sector.
To honour academic excellence, the Denny Medals were awarded to the lead authors of the best papers published in the IMarEST’s journals: the Journal of Marine Engineering and Technology (JMET) and the Journal of Operational Oceanography (JOO).
This year’s winners were Erin van Rheenen, whose paper “Hydrogen Carriers for Zero-Emission Ship Propulsion Using Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells: An Evaluation” was published in 2024, and Florian Beiser, for his paper “Combining Barotropic and Baroclinic Simplified Models for Drift Trajectory Predictions.”
The IMarEST also recognised the rising stars of the industry. Alexandros Kalafatelis, a PhD student, received the Stanley Grey Fellowship for his thesis on predictive maintenance for maritime machinery. Jordan Tyers, an apprentice at BMT, was awarded the Lady Hamlyn Award for his outstanding commitment to professional development.
Additional awards presented included:
- Royal Navy Operational Engineering Award, awarded to Petty Officer Adam Chamberlain in recognition of his exemplary engineering performance in supporting all 847 NAS detachments over the past twelve months.
- Kevin Tester Award for Marine Journalism, presented to Nick Savvides for his article ‘Climate NGOs Call for Regulators to Rethink Emissions Rules.’
Chris Goldsworthy, CEO of IMarEST, remarked on the importance of these awards: “It’s fantastic to see talent from across all sectors of the marine industry receiving awards. As the only professional body uniting engineers, scientists, and technologists, it’s vital that we continue to reward and nurture talent throughout our industry
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Outstanding Contribution Award
Sponsored by P&S Automation, this award recognises the achievement of engineers, scientists and technologists in improving marine safety, sustainability, education or international development.
Winner of the Outstanding Contribution Award, Professor Stephen Turnock, Head of the School of Engineering at the University of Southampton said:
Quote: “I am deeply honoured to receive this award from IMarEST. I am very grateful to the support of my many colleagues and our exceptional students in making our collective work such a pleasure. Now is definitely the most exciting time to be in the profession. The challenges are significant – finding suitable zero carbon solutions for shipping is not easy, neither is ensuring crew safety as digital solutions and autonomous systems offer new opportunities to ship designers and operators. This is why it is so vital that we are collectively inspire the next generation of diverse talent to join our industry.“
Winner bio: Stephen started his career as a student apprentice working for a nuclear energy contractor while studying engineering at Cambridge University. He then worked as a research assistant at MIT investigating aircraft icing while studying for a Masters before finding his true home in the maritime sector. He joined the then Department of Ship Science to work on wind turbine design and studying rudder-propeller interaction for his PhD. Still at the University of Southampton his research is focused on seeking zero greenhouse emission solutions for future ship propulsion as well as examining the future of large ship autonomy, developing marine renewables and seeking to improve the energy efficiency of ships using wind assist, air lubrication and twisted rudders. >
Denny Medals
The Denny Medals are awarded annually to the best paper published in each of the IMarEST’s technical journals; the Journal of Marine Engineering and the Journal of Operational Oceanography.
Winner 1: Erin van Rheenen for the paper “Hydrogen carriers for zero-emission ship propulsion using PEM fuel cells: an evaluation” published in 2024. (Authors: E. S. Van Rheenen, J. T. Padding, J. C. Slootweg & K. Visser)
Quote: “Receiving this award was a complete surprise and a tremendous honour. As a PhD candidate, having my work recognized in this way is both humbling and incredibly exciting. This research, which comes from my very first project, has been a challenging but rewarding journey. I am thrilled to see our work on hydrogen carriers recognized this way. I am especially grateful to my co-author, Klaas Visser, for his invaluable mentorship, as well as to Johan Padding and Chris Slootweg for their support and belief in his work. I also want to thank the SH2IPDRIVE project for enabling this research. This milestone means so much, and I look forward to contributing even more to this field in the future.” >
Winner bio: Erin van Rheenen is a PhD Researcher at Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands. With a background in mechanical engineering and nuclear fusion, she now works on the energy transition in maritime transport. Her research focusses on integrating hydrogen carriers as alternative, safe and zero-emission fuels on ships. Within that, she integrates elements of mechanical engineering, energy systems, chemical engineering, and safety science to assess the feasibility of hydrogen carriers as alternative maritime fuels.
Winner 2: Florian Beiser for the paper “Combining Barotropic and Baroclinic Simplified Models for Drift Trajectory Predictions” published in 2024. (Authors: Florian Beiser, Håvard Heitlo Holm, Martin Lilleeng Sætra, Nils Melsom Kristensen & Kai Håkon Christensen)
Quote: “We are honored to receive this award as recognition of our work. Combining expertise from complementary fields with physical oceanography allowed us to pioneer unconventional approaches. Linking short-range ocean modelling, mathematical simulations, and high-performance computing could ultimately contribute to safer Norwegian coastal waters. I am grateful that we have such an open-minded and innovative research environment in Norway, as it enables advancement of novel ocean forecasting services through this type of cross-discipline collaboration. ”
Winner bio: Florian Beiser has a background in applied mathematics and completed his PhD at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology as part of the “havvarsel” project. The research focused on developing improved methods for local ocean forecasting and advancing computationally efficient ensemble simulation for data assimilation. The project was a joint effort by researchers from three Norwegian institutes: the Institute of Marine research, the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, and SINTEF Digital.
Stanley Gray Fellowship
The annual fellowship is awarded to an outstanding PhD candidate, enabling them to complete important research in the marine and maritime fields.
Winner: Alexandros Kalafatelis from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens for his thesis on predictive maintenance for maritime machinery
Quote: “I’m deeply honoured to receive this recognition and grateful to the IMarEST for their support and for awarding me this fellowship. This acknowledgement highlights the importance of advancing innovation in the maritime sector, providing also invaluable encouragement as I continue my PhD studies.”
Winner bio: Alexandros Kalafatelis is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the Dept. of Ports Management and Shipping of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA). Since 2021, he also serves as a Senior Research Scientist and Engineer at Four Dot Infinity P.C. He holds a BSc. (Hons) degree in Biomedical Sciences from the University of East London, a BEng. in Electrical Engineering, and an M.Sc. in Intelligent Management of Renewable Energy Systems, both from NKUA. Part of his research has been conducted in the framework of several European funded R&D projects. Notably, his current research activities include Predictive Maintenance applications utilizing Federated Learning, focusing on the development of secure aggregations tailored for the maritime industry. He also serves as a committee member for the Ship Maintenance, Repair, and Safety Special Interest Group at the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) and is the recipient of the Stanley Gray Fellowship
About National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), officially founded on April 14th, 1837, is the largest University not only of Greece but both of the Balkan peninsula and of the Eastern Mediterranean region. It has 2.000 permanent faculty members and more than 70.000 enrolled students. Today NKUA offers undergraduate studies in 9 Schools with 43 Departments and 279 Laboratories, which, besides educational goals, aim to perform innovative research and establish creative collaborations with leading research institutions around the world. Visit https://en.uoa.gr/ for more information.
About Four Dot Infinity P.C.
Four Dot Infinity (FDI) founded in 2019, is a highly innovative SME located in Athens, Greece and a proud 6G-IA, ADRA and Networld member, specializing in delivering cutting-edge AI and telecom solutions. FDI’s personnel has an extensive experience of more than 20 years on EU-funded projects and a robust track record in R&D within European frameworks (FP6, FP7, H2020, HE, 5G-PPP, JU-SNS), with projects like UniMaaS, CyclOps, 6G-CLOUD, 6G-LEADER, MARE, UNITY-6G, MANOLO, ENACT, etc. Visit https://fourdotinfinity.com/ for more information.
Lady Hamlyn Award
The award aims to help support apprentices throughout the course of their apprenticeship and ease their transition into a maritime career.
Winner: Jordan Tyers, BMT
Quote: “Since an early age I have been interested in engineering and excelled in subjects at school like maths, science, art, and product design. The apprenticeship route was always appealing to me: the chance to learn on the job and get academically qualified while being paid was always more appealing to me than the strenuous years of university and the debt which comes with it. This award not only brings recognition to myself and BMT’s apprenticeship programme, but also the re-assurance that an institute like the IMarEST supports my goals and aspirations. The award will also allow me the opportunity to attend events, training, and acquire resources I will need for my HND and degree. The award also pushes me to further improve and shows that going the extra mile is always worth it.”
Kevin Tester Award
The Kevin Tester Award for Marine Journalism recognises the work of a journalist or team of journalists for exemplary reporting relating to a marine or maritime issue.
Winner: Nick Savvides for his article ‘Climate NGOs call for regulators to rethink emissions rules’.
Quote: “I am honoured to receive this award, not only because this is a prestigious organisation, but also because I knew Kevin a little and I read some of his stories. From what I knew of Kevin he was a lovely man and a great journalist, and it does IMarEST great credit that they should remember Kevin annually through this award. Thank you to IMarEST for the award and for protecting Kevin’s legacy.”
Winner bio: Nick was born and raised in West London and attended comprehensive school leaving at 16 with no qualifications. After working in a variety of jobs he returned to education as a mature student studying politics and history at the University of Westminster and a masters degree in journalism at the same institution.
His first job in journalism was for Seatrade in Athens, and a succession of jobs as a shipping journalist followed, including at International Freighting Weekly, Containerisation International’s online news service, Llyod’s Register, The Naval Architect, Container News, The Loadstar and is now freelancing for a number of publications, including back at Seatrade Maritime News.
His main areas of interest are container shipping, regulatory affairs including environmental rules and safety in maritime, including for seafarers and the public.
Royal Navy Operational Engineering Award
Petty Officer Adam Chamberlain in recognition of his exemplary engineering performance in supporting all 847 NAS detachments over the past twelve months, particularly for the development and improvement of his team in fostering a more collaborative community while improving the lived experience and operational effectiveness of the Royal Navy’s people.
Quote: “In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity – I saw this written on the wall at one of our training centres and it has stuck with me.”
Winner bio: I grew up listening to my father tell us tails of his adventures all around the world and watching him be able to turn his hand to anything engineering wise around the house. I grew up wanting nothing more than a piece of that. At 18 years old I joined the Royal Navy with a handful of GCSEs and a college diploma. I joined as an Aircraft Engineer, and over the years have worked on multiple airframes including Seaking, Lynx and Wildcat. The Royal Navy has allowed me to complete 5 GCSE’s, a foundation degree and most recently a bachelor’s degree in engineering management, through the University of Lincoln. I have taken every opportunity that has been offer, travelled to the furthest corners of the globe, through stormy seas and ice capped mountains. I have seen things and done things that many people could only dream of. Completing a degree has meant that i am now able to pursue my passion for teaching and training, by commissioning into the role of training management.
