DNV GL has rewarded three engineers for their scientific research and presented them with the DNV GL Award for Young Professionals.
The awards were presented during Nor-Shipping on 1 June.
Innovative Ideas
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 thirty people from sixteen different countries took part in the competition.
Safer
The prize in the category “Safer” and 1000 euros went to Alexander Iley from the University of Southampton in England. Iley won the award for his third-year thesis “Embarkation Modelling for Improved Lifeboat Design”, which demonstrates how modern simulation technology can make cruise ships safer by considering realistic variations of scenarios.
Smarter
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 1000 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.
Greener
The award in the category “Greener” and 1000 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 optimised to increase each chamber’s energy absorption – making the device much more efficient.
Next Year's Young Professionals
The submissions for next year’s DNV GL Award for Young Professionals can be handed in between the 1 January – 31 March 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.
