Preview: the IMarEST Annual Conference 2021
The not-to-be-missed event of the maritime calendar starts 28 June.
Significant disruptions and challenges face the maritime sector, and the work of the Institute is more relevant today than ever, Katharine Palmer and Jon Holloway, Co-Chairs of the TLB (Technical Leadership Board), which is the committee overseeing our technical work, explain.
Our annual conference is an opportunity to share with the IMarEST community and beyond how we are providing technical expertise and, through our collective efforts, combining the strengths of our IMarEST members responding to these challenges and disruptions in a meaningful way.
Building on the success of 2020, we are delighted to host our third annual conference to give everyone, IMarEST members and non-members alike, a glimpse of what our Special Interest Groups are currently working on, and what they have planned for the future.
The lifeblood of the IMarEST is in the membership, and without this knowledge and expertise nothing can happen. We hope that delegates are inspired by the sheer breadth and depth of what they hear, think, and feel, and will consider getting directly involved in our work.
We bring you just a few of this year’s highlights, and you can discover more here.
New currents in naval and defence engineering
A major challenge for all navies across the world is to balance affordability with the requirement to counter both established and emerging threats.
The design and operation of submarines is a complex business and a temptation to control acquisition costs by procurement of “oven-ready” designs can prove extremely problematic and expensive through-life when new capability needs to be integrated.
Decisions might be better informed if the ability to absorb design change can be understood earlier; and a proposal based on the application of Computational Fluid Dynamics will be discussed by Cameron Barry and Wayne Coote from BMT.
In the above-surface battlespace, there has been a rise in asymmetric threat activity and an increasing interest in the utilisation of unmanned systems. One particular application is to provide counter-piracy capability in the Indonesian Surabaya West Access Channel. In order to deploy unmanned surface vehicles with remote controlled weapons stations, Natasya Habibah of the Indonesia Defense University analyses the platform’s stability characteristics based on technical data for this specific environment, and benchmarks it against practical solutions.
Words: Matt Bolton, BEng(Hons) MSc CEng FIMarEST FIMechE and Chair, Naval Engineering Special Interest Group; and session Chair.
Date: 8 July, 11am-1230pm, BST
The UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development – first initiatives from the IMarEST
Professor Stephen de Mora FRSA FIMarEST CSci CMarSci, IMarEST Council Member, and the first IMarEST Ambassador for the UN Decade of Ocean Science, chairs this event bringing together a panel of leading ocean experts and advocates.
Professor Stephen de Mora
Professor de Mora will explain what the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030 means in practice, and how it has been designed to create a new foundation, across the science-policy interface, to strengthen the management of our oceans and coasts for the benefit of humanity – and reverse the decline in ocean health.
How can the global ocean community plan for the next ten years in ocean science and technology to deliver the ocean we need for the sustainable future we want? How will we deal with ocean plastic and marine litter, grow aquaculture – and give marine conservation the focus it desperately needs.
Eric Holliday, chair of the IMarEST Global Fisheries Improvements Special Interest Group (GFISIG), and CEO of the independent non-profit organisation, the FISH Safety Foundation, will chair one session on the critical importance of the small-scale fishing sector and introduce the Special Interest Group initiatives offering practical and technological intervention and support to a sector which comprises 50 million fishers and asks; how will it fare in the face of the emerging Blue Economy?
Date: 29 June, 830-10am, BST
Virtual networking sessions
An online conference is more accessible for attendees, but we all miss the opportunity to network, find like-minded people, send messages, and connect with other delegates.
Using the mobile and laptop-friendly Wonder means delegates don’t need to miss out on personal connections.
Date and times: Various, throughout the conference
Tomorrow’s fuels, technology, and the transition
With the drive to decarbonisation, what fuels and technologies are most likely to lead the way to greener, cleaner shipping? LNG, ammonia, methanol, and biofuels have their advocates; and could small nuclear reactors power offshore installation? What role will Asset Leasing Models play in supporting the adoption of Energy Saving Technologies.
John Butler FIMarEST is a council member and chair of the SPE Hydrogen Programme Committee. He joins Muhammad Naeem Javaid, Lloyds Register; Soon Heng Lin, the Society of Floating Solutions (Singapore); and Nick Williams, BMT, to debate the big decarbonisation challenges and solutions.
Date: 1 July, 3-430 pm BST
