Page 32: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 2004)

Offshore Annual

The Future is Now

By Greg Trauthwein

The maritime industry has an image problem.

Perceived to be an aging industry, many players in the maritime niche deal daily with the very real problem of replenishing its employment ranks, from desk jobs designing and operating vessels, to those at sea and in the construc- tion yards. While the problem is multi-faceted and without a clear solution, this article is not about problems. It's about hope and the future.

Traditional industries such as maritime are often lost to the youth, as higher- profile, more glamourous opportunities are found in computing and entertain- ment, for example. Simply put. many bright minds are lost before the battle has begun.

But for those who scratch beyond the surface will find an industry that is in the midst of a drastic transformation, as high technology — encompassing everything from computerized design and manufacturing, to enhanced perform- ance of machinery, electronics and satellite communications — makes it a dynamic opportunity for a generation of young minds, young entrepreneurs that want the opportunity to leave an indelible mark on one of the most viable and critically important industries in the world.

Five of those young minds belong to Victor DiSouza. Lou Detrisac, Scott

Opdyke. Mike Rugnette and Katie Sultani. the five members of a team from the University of Michigan that won the International Student Offshore Design

Competition (ISODC).

What is ISODC?

ISODC is an annual competition sponsored by the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME), the Ocean. Offshore and Arctic Engineering

Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the

Coastal, Oceans. Ports, and Rivers Institute of the American Society of Civil

Engineers (ASCE). The U of M team took home the highest honors last year with its ultra deepwater dual-activity Panamax entry Drillship Nereus. The entry was one of six projects submitted by students from universities around the world. Teams from Texas A&M University, the University of New Orleans and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) were among the top con- tenders competing this year.

Professor Tom Lamb and faculty advisor to the six-person University of

Michigan team, said. "The project provides a real design office experience for the final year capstone ship design course teams by requiring them to operate in an integrated concurrent design environment meeting real schedules and time constraints." Professor Lamb serves in the role of a design office manager for teams working on a variety of design projects. All of the team members worked together at the university. No direct assistance was provided by any company.

However, some of the team members received technical support from compa- nies such as Shell and ExxonMobil where they had previously spent a short summer internship. According to Lamb, the team prepared a complete contract design requiring them to complete all naval architectural requirements such as lines development, hydrostatics, stability, resistance and propulsion, maneuver- ing, and seakeeping, general arrangement, machinery arrangement, structure, distributive systems, weight, loading conditions, vibrations, cost analysis, and cover the special requirements for the specific ship type.

The owners requirements were developed to challenge the students in the areas of drill depth, onboard oil storage capacity, ability to transit Panama Canal, design for production, and cost effective design. Maritime Reporter recently spent some time discussing the project with the winning team members, and their collective responses are printed below.

Q How was the decision made to select the vessel type?

A The idea of designing a drillship was driving by the opportunity to produce

Drillship Nereus

Classification

Complement, Total

Drilling Crew

Deck cranes

Capacity

DnV 126 90 lydralift 16t/45m[max. 0t/18m]

Mud pumps

Model

Rating

Water makers

Model

National 4 x 14-P220 2.200 hp

Norwegian Maritime Eqpt 3 x MT25T

Sewage treatment plant Norwegian Maritime Eqpt

Model 1 x STP010

From left to right Mike Rugnetta, K

D'Souza and Thomas Lamb (facul

About the Team

Name:

Degree:

E-mail:

Name: Degrees:

Work:

E-mail:

Name:

Degrees:

Work:

E-mail:

Lou Detrisac

MSE in Naval Architecture

Marine Engineering [email protected] tie Sultani, Lou Detrisac, Scott Opdyke, Vic advisor). and

Katherine Sultani

BSE & MSE - Naval Architecture &

Marine Engineering

The Glosten Associates [email protected]

Victor DiSouza

BSE & MSE - Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering

ExxonMobil Development Co. [email protected]

Name:

Degrees:

E-mail:

Scott Opdyke

BSE - Naval Architecture & Marine

Engineering

MSE - Naval Architecture and

Marine Engineering (May 2004) [email protected]

Name: Michael Joseph Rugnetta

Degree(s): BSE, Naval Architecture and

Marine Engineering

BSE, Mechanical Engineering

Work: Northrop Grumman

Newport News 30 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News