DNV GL Presents Award for Young Professionals

 

This year’s theme was finding innovative ideas for increasing safety, efficiency and sustainability in the maritime industry. As well as seeking out the best new research, the award aims to support young professionals in the maritime field and demonstrates how varied and interesting the engineering profession can be. Overall, more than 30 people from 16 different countries took part in the competition.

 

“We have a lot to learn from young professionals. Their fresh and innovative ideas help us find new ways to address and overcome the challenges the industry faces today and in the future,” said Tor E. Svensen, CEO DNV GL – Maritime, who presented the awards to the winners in a ceremony at Nor-Shipping today.

 

The prize in the category “Safer” and 1,000 Euros went to Alexander Iley from the University of Southampton in England. Iley won the award for his third-year thesis “Embarkation Modeling for Improved Lifeboat Design”, which demonstrates how modern simulation technology can make cruise ships safer by considering realistic variations of scenarios.

 

Eva Herradón de Grado’s paper “Predicting Added Resistance in Wind and Waves employing Artificial Neural Nets” won the award in the category “Smarter” and 1,000 Euros. The master’s student at the Polytechnic University of Madrid prepared her winning paper for an international conference. Wind and waves slow vessels down and increase their fuel consumption. Therefore, Herradón de Grado’s approach holds great potential for improving methods to better quantify this effect during the early stages of ship design.

 

The award in the category “Greener” and 1,000 Euros went to Damien Ducasse, who won it for his master’s thesis “Theoretical and Numerical Analysis of Oscillating Water Column Wave Energy Devices”. His simulations show how a so-called attenuator-type wave energy converter, which is made of 40 water column (OWC) chambers, could be optimized to increase each chamber’s energy absorption – making the device much more efficient.

 

The submissions for next year’s DNV GL Award for Young Professionals can be handed in between the January 1 and March 31, 2016. The range of topics includes shipbuilding and design as well as vessel operation and marine technology – once again, the theme is “Safer, Smarter, Greener”. The entries will be judged by their quality, complexity and their impact on society. All papers must be written in English and are not allowed to be more than three years old. The jury will announce the winners in May 2016.