1 May 2026
Last night (30 April), the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) honoured Professor Jin Wang with its flagship Outstanding Contribution Award. The award was presented at the Institute’s prestigious Annual Dinner by new President, Professor Deborah Greaves
Professor Wang, professor of marine technology and director of the Liverpool Logistics, Offshore and Marine (LOOM) Research Institute, received the 2026 IMarEST Outstanding Contribution Award for his dedication to marine education and training. The past three decades have seen him tackle all aspects of the field, from continuing professional development (CPD) to postdoctoral research.
As both a researcher and educator, Professor Wang has also been a pioneer in research-led teaching as well as developing innovative degree programmes and curricula. He has also launched outreach initiatives that inspire young people to pursue careers in marine engineering and technology.
This is the second time Professor Wang has been presented with the Outstanding Achievement Award. The first was in 2017, for his contribution to marine safety.
Professor Wang said: “I am truly honoured to receive this recognition from the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology. This award reflects the collective efforts of colleagues, students, and partners worldwide. As our sector advances toward safer, smarter, and more sustainable maritime systems, it remains vital to foster collaboration, innovation, and the next generation of talent.”
Chris Goldsworthy, CEO of the IMarEST, said: “Professor Wang is a true inspiration to our sector and a role model for those entering the profession. I hope his achievement will encourage more people to put themselves forward for our awards programme, which exists to recognise and nurture talent across the sector.”
In addition to the Outstanding Contribution Award, three other honours from IMarEST’s suite of professional accolades were presented during the evening: two Denny Medals and the Royal Navy Operational Engineering Award.
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 Nan Lin for his paper “Towards reliable control takeover in ship remote-control system: a cyber-physical fusion testing approach”, and Jonathan Turton, for his paper “The Met Office moored buoy network – sentinels for severe weather and extreme events”. Both papers were published in 2024.
The final award of the evening went to LET Meghan Cuthbert, who received the Royal Navy Operational Engineering Award, in recognition of her exceptional engineering skills and outstanding performance. LET Cuthbert’s innovative contributions and significant achievements in enhancing operational efficiency have shown her to be a valuable asset to HMS LANCASTER’s Weapon Engineering Department.
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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: Professor Jin Wang, Director of Liverpool LOgistics, Offshore and Marine (LOOM) Research Institute
Quote: “I am truly honoured to receive this recognition from the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology. This award reflects the collective efforts of colleagues, students, and partners worldwide. As our sector advances toward safer, smarter, and more sustainable maritime systems, it remains vital to foster collaboration, innovation, and the next generation of talent.”
Winner bio: Professor Wang has made an exceptional and sustained contribution, recognised for the remarkable breadth, quality, and longevity of his work in marine safety, sustainability, education, and international development. A pioneer in research-led teaching, he has led major international training initiatives and supervised a generation of marine engineers and researchers who now contribute across academia, industry, and government. His research on the design and operation of large-scale maritime engineering systems has attracted significant international recognition, securing major funding, supporting impactful industry applications, and contributing to advancements in maritime safety, digitalisation, and decarbonisation. As founding Director of the Liverpool Logistics, Offshore and Marine (LOOM) Research Institute, he has played a central role in advancing interdisciplinary education and research in maritime engineering and technology.
Beyond his academic achievements, Professor Wang has been a strong advocate for skills development and international collaboration within the maritime sector. As Chair of the UK-Malaysia University Consortium (UK-MUC) from 2022 to 2024, and as co-chair since, he has strengthened global partnerships in higher education and research. His leadership in large-scale research and training programmes, combined with his long-standing commitment to outreach, professional mentoring, and community engagement, continues to inspire future generations and shape a more innovative and inclusive future for marine engineering and technology.
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: Nan Lin
Quote: “I am deeply honoured to receive this recognition from the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology. This award reflects the collective efforts of our research team at Wuhan University of Technology, and I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisors, Professor Xinping Yan and Professor Jialun Liu, for their invaluable guidance and support. Our work is driven by the vision of advancing intelligent and networked ship operations, and we hope it contributes to safer, more efficient, and more resilient maritime transportation systems.”
Winner bio: Nan Lin is a PhD candidate in Transportation Engineering at Wuhan University of Technology, working under the supervision of Professor Xinping Yan and Professor Jialun Liu. His research is conducted within a collaborative research team affiliated with the State Key Laboratory of Maritime Technology and Safety, focusing on intelligent ships and networked control systems, with particular emphasis on ship–shore–cloud integrated architectures, remote control technologies, and communication-constrained control mechanisms.
The team has made sustained contributions to the development of next-generation waterborne transportation systems, including theoretical modelling, control architecture design, and engineering-oriented validation. Their work addresses key challenges in ship remote control, such as communication–control coupling, control authority allocation, and system safety under uncertain network conditions. The research outcomes have been disseminated through high-quality academic publications and have supported ongoing engineering applications in intelligent maritime systems.
Winner 2: Jonathan Turton
Quote: “I am proud to receive the Denny Medal for my paper that describes the evolution and development of the Met Office’s moored buoy network, and how the data are used to support marine weather and wave forecasts and for marine climate assessment. However, credit must go to the many scientists and engineers who have worked to maintain and improve the network over the last 35 years or so.”
Winner bio: Jonathan Turton recently retired from the Met Office after 46 years’ service. Over this time, he has been involved in cloud physics research, defence meteorology, and for the last 25 years marine observations. During this time, he has been responsible for all of the Met Office’s marine and ocean observations – from instrumented moored and drifting buoys, Voluntary Observing Ships and Argo profiling floats. He is a past Chair of the WMO-IOC (World Meteorological Organization – Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission) Data Buoy Cooperation Panel (2014-2018), Vice-chair of the GOOS (Global Ocean Observing System) Observations Coordination Group (2015-2025) and a member of the International Argo Steering Team (2000-2024).
In 2011 he was awarded the Society for Underwater Technology (SUT) award for Oceanography, and in 2017 the JCOMM (Joint WMO-IOC Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology) Certificate for Leadership and Innovation.
Since 2013 he has been a CMarSCi FIMarEST and an active member of its Special Interest Group on Operational Oceanography (OOSIG).
Royal Navy Operational Engineering Award
Quote: “I’m honoured and grateful to receive the IMarEST Operational Engineering Award. It reflects the support of fantastic colleagues, and effort and commitment to doing the job I love. I feel proud to be recognised for my contributions to the operations within the Royal Navy. The Weapon Engineering Department was full of the best people I have served with and has helped develop and shape me as an engineer.”
Winner bio: LET Meghan Cuthbert has been in the Royal Navy for 8 years, and is currently undertaking the Petty Officer Engineering Technician (POET) career course, after being selected for promotion last year. She has served on HMS Defender, HMS Kent and HMS Lancaster. Her most recent draft in which she has been recognised for this award was HMS LANCASTER .
