The Atlantic Center for the Innovative Design and Control of Small Ships (ACCeSS) at Stevens Institute of Technology announced major funding for the next five years worth $4.5m by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) as part of its National Naval Responsibility – Naval Engineering (NNR-NE) program.

ACCeSS is a consortium of both University and Industry partners including: the U.S. Naval Academy, Naval Post Graduate School, University College London; Florida Atlantic University; Webb Institute; Lockheed Martin; AMSEC LLC (Northrop-Grumman); VT Shipbuilding and Band-Lavis Associates.

Established at Stevens in 2002, the ACCeSS Research Center brings together engineering disciplines associated with hull design and ship automation to develop innovative design concepts and ship design tools in response to future objectives of the Navy. This research activity has a vibrant educational component that seeks to enhance the recruitment and development of the U.S. ship designers of tomorrow.

NNR-NE recognizes the tremendous impact that research institutions have on Naval and ship-building capabilities. "With continuing support from the Office of Naval Research, the ACCeSS Research Center underlies our commitment to our nation's critical need for next-generation research and development, and highly-skilled graduates in shipbuilding and naval engineering," said Dr. George P. Korfiatis, Provost and University Vice President at Stevens.

Stevens Research Associate Professor Raju Datla is the Principal Investigator in this grant entitled, "Studies on Small Waterplane Area Center Hull (SWACH) Trimaran and Unmanned Surface Vessels." Key objectives include:
•    Unmanned Surface Vessels - hullforms, hydrodynamics, maneuvering and control, launching and retrieval
•    Trimaran - a new Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH) based concept, design exploration, large scale experimental and numerical studies in hydrodynamics
•    Education Exchange - student participation in research and in autonomous surface vehicle competition; faculty and student exchange and industry internships.