Mid-October
2005
Table
of Contents:
Hampton Roads Section |
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New England Section |
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Pacific Northwest Section |
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Mid-October
2005
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Hampton
Roads Section September 8, 2005 The Hampton Roads Section started a new year of meetings on September 8, 2005 by celebrating SNAME’s newest Student Section – The Apprentice School at Northrop Grumman in Newport News, VA. This event marked the realization of the students’ efforts to create an organization that will benefit all students at The Apprentice School, as well as the SNAME membership throughout Hampton Roads. The guest speaker for the evening, Mr. Danny Hunley, Vice President of Trades, Education and Training for Northrop Grumman Newport News, reminded the students that The Apprentice School does not serve merely to teach them a trade, as the literal interpretation of its name might imply. Rather, The Apprentice School builds leaders; the kind of leaders that were being celebrated that evening.
The first meeting of the year began with introductions. First, Harris Leonard, the new chair, recognized the new Section officers. Then, Jim Hughes, the past Section chair, and Dr. Richard Boutwell, the faculty advisor for the Student Section, introduced the students. Dr. Boutwell pointed out that the new Student Section is unlike any other. He reminded the members that the students possess not only a firm theoretical understanding of ship design, but also a real-world understanding of the practice of shipbuilding. It is this unique knowledge of shipbuilding that distinguishes The Apprentice School students. Their knowledge and experience in construction, planning, and management will be a valuable asset in achieving their vision: to add to the body of shipbuilding knowledge across all the Student Sections of SNAME. It is that expertise that will prove invaluable as the new student section seeks to work with others across the country, developing new designs, leadership skills, and professional relationships. Before turning the meeting over to Mr. Hunley, Ron Adams, the Student Section chair, took the opportunity to speak. After recognizing the students seated in the center of the room, he spoke about the real purpose of The Apprentice School and how it would affect the lives of all the students. He said that it is about leadership and opportunity. For the students thus far, it has been the opportunity to begin something new. The opportunity to build, shape, and mold this organization as they all see fit. That is the opportunity they have all embraced; a challenge that has required a great deal of dedication and leadership.
Mr. Hunley, himself a graduate of The Apprentice School, had come to the meeting prepared to talk about the school, a junior college that is part of Northrop Grumman Newport News and is dedicated to educating students in the science and skills of shipbuilding. However, after being introduced, he put aside his notes. He continued Ron’s idea of leadership development and opportunity, adding scholarship and craftsmanship to the list. He encouraged the students to think big in the application of technologies unique to their experience (i.e. exotic materials, nuclear power, and complex ship systems) so that they might lead with innovation in ship design and construction. He reminded everyone the importance of craftsmanship and its necessity to implement the wealth of scientific knowledge in SNAME. Mr. Hunley’s advice to the students: “set a high bar.” Always strive to improve and succeed so that you may unlock your potential – an appropriate lesson for us all.
If you would like to learn more about The Apprentice School, visit the web at www.apprenticeschool.com/. You can also learn more about the new Student Section by visiting its website at www.nnapprentice.com/sname/. The Hampton Roads Section would like to thank Northrop Grumman Newport News for providing photography services for this meeting.
New
England Section September 23, 2005 The New England Section held its first event for 2005/2006 on September 23, 2005. The meeting started with a trip to the Maine Maritime Academy in historic Castine, Maine. The warm fall Friday was the perfect day to explore the campus and see the MUGs (Midshipmen Under Guidance) in the midst of their Regimental Preparatory Training. The meeting was scheduled to start with a tour of the T.S. State of Maine, but in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, she was deployed by MARAD to provide messing and berthing to emergency personnel in New Orleans. Instead, members and guests were taken on a tour of the Engineering Department’s labs including a working steam plant and simulators of both shipboard and power plant control systems. The tour ended in the Waypoint Lounge at the Student Center for a social hour followed by buffet dinner in the newly renovated Dinning Hall. Many sea stories about school days and training at sea were exchanged between the students and the old salts. The evening culminated with a lecture on Marine Engineering Training at Maine Maritime Academy: A Hands-on Approach presented by Professors Richard Kimball and Harold Alexander who are working on a paper with the same title. The lecture compared the engineering curriculum at MMA to those used at various other accredited marine engineering programs. The Engineering Department offers curricula in Marine Systems Engineering, Marine Engineering Technology, Power Engineering Technology and Marine Engineering Operations. Discussion focused on the Marine Systems Engineering curriculum, which includes significant amounts of hands on training not specifically required for ABET accreditation, but necessary for the development of professional mariners and meeting USCG licensing requirements. This major is designed to integrate engineering and design principles with hands-on experience on real world machines. The small size of the school limits the ability to accredit multiple majors, so Professors Kimball and Alexander are investigating creation of a core engineering curriculum which can be ABET accredited while allowing the students to follow different tracks in order to specialize in their areas of interest. During questions and discussion period after the lecture, many attendees attested to the importance of practical experience for engineers in all types of jobs. At the conclusion of the evening, Professors Alexander and Kimball were presented with certificates of appreciation from the Section.
Pacific
Northwest Section September 27, 2005 The September 27th, 2005 Pacific Northwest Section technical meeting was held at Cheer’s Restaurant in North Vancouver, BC. Twenty-two people turned out for what was to be an excellent meeting on “Marine Evacuation Systems” by Mr. Vlad Prato, the North American Manager of Liferaft Systems Australia (LSA). Mr. Prato began his presentation by defining marine evacuation systems (MES) as an approved means of evacuating a ship's passengers. He then laid the foundation of MES, by first defining the two basic types of MES: inclined MES (or slides) and vertical MES (chutes involving either active or passive descent). Vlad then stated that the three components of MES include: the deck housing (the enclosure within which the MES is housed onboard the ship), the MES itself, and lastly the mooring lines. MES is launched either by a hydrostatic release or electronically. Vlad mentioned his personal preference for the hydrostatic (or vacuum) release system as this system is much less likely to fail than an electrical system when a ship is suffering some sort of catastrophe. Finally, Vlad discussed the material of fabrication of the MES. He said that while several different materials are used successfully, polyurethane coated with nylon is the best. Given
this background, Mr. Prato then discussed the design and approval of MES.
First it is important to start with a simple and reliable inflation system.
Then the design must meet a myriad of international (SOLAS) and local
requirements. The MES must incorporate redundancies - not simply designing
to just meet requirements. The design must include a simple and reliable
housing and launching system, and a simple and effective mooring system.
The system must also be designed for speed of evacuation. An easy servicing
regime must be included into the design, along with an effective quality
system to ensure the system remains reliable. Vlad then detailed various
codes the MES must meet, as well as system approval and installation tests. The presentation was concluded with a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of MES. The main advantage of MES is speed of evacuation. An MES can evacuate up to 600 people safely in 30 minutes. The compactness of the system as well as the relatively few number of crew required to operate the MES were also cited as advantages of the MES. Disadvantages included that some MES may not be user-friendly to everyone eg. the elderly, children, and disabled. Also, some chute systems may not be compatible with some types of lifejackets, and training can be infrequent. However, these disadvantages can be overcome if all details are addressed during the early stages of the installation process. MES proficiency training can be accomplished though usage of simulators and periodic MED deployments.
A lively question period continued for some time as many in the audience showed great interest in this very important but often overlooked onboard equipment. Thanks to all that participated in this very interesting meeting. |
