Page 19: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 1991)

ANNUAL MEETING PREVIEW

SOCIETY OF NAVAL ARCHITECTS

AND MARINE ENGINEERS

A Word From The President

As the Society of Naval Archi-tects and Marine Engineers' 39th president, I have the privilege of leading the society up to its centennial. SNAME has grown from a small New York-centered organization to a society with world- wide membership, recognition and prestige. When it was established in 1893, private shipbuilding was at a low level; there were hints of a naval shipbuilding resurgence; steel was emerging as a material for ship hulls; and welding, refrigeration, electronics and high-pressure steam were yet to be developed. Yet the fall of the United States from a position of world leadership in ship- building, with the decline of wooden ships, stirred an idea among a group of marine professionals—profession- als with a vision and foresight. The idea was to create a professional marine-oriented society in the

United States similar to several in existence abroad—a society where members had the opportunity to relate on technical issues and re- ceive needed services.

The objectives, adopted in 1893, can be summarized as being to ad- vance the state of the art; to afford facilities for the exchange of infor- mation and ideas; to disseminate the results of research, experience and information among the mem- bers; to encourage and sponsor such research; to cooperate with educa- tional institutions and to promote the professional integrity and sta- tus of the members.

We've come a long way! Growing to about 2,000 members in its first 50 years and growing another five- fold to over 10,000 today is the ulti- mate testament to our wise founders.

These founders included such lead- ers as William H. Webb, David W.

Taylor, and Francis T. Bowles. Over the years, the society has achieved its objectives in numerous ways. It has established a scholarship pro- gram that provides graduate schol- arships for advanced study in ma- rine professional areas, and in 1957 it added an undergraduate scholar- ship program to encourage young people to enter the profession. Ten colleges are on the approved under- graduate list. Our society also pro- vides the visitors for the Accredita- tion Board for Engineering and

Technology (ABET) to evaluate and accredit colleges and universities offering degrees in naval architec- ture, marine engineering and ocean engineering. Clearly we have done more than "cooperate with educa- tional institutions."

In the area of research, SNAME established a Technical and Re- search (T&R) Program just over half a century ago. Through the T&R

Program the society encourages and sponsors maritime research into all areas of the sea sciences, with par- ticular emphasis on the construc- tion of large ships, small craft, ma- rine vehicles and offshore struc- tures.

SNAME was founded as an asso- ciation of individuals. There con- tinue to be no organizational mem- berships and no mandate for direct support of the industries from which it draws its members. Therefore,

SNAME is uniquely qualified as a professional forum for discussion of the problems faced by its members in their technical pursuits. The society is widely recognized for its contributions to projects and pro- grams of technical interest through- out the marine industry.

The T&R Program, through its committees and panels, reviews the state of the art, recommends, funds, and seeds needed research projects.

It initiates, coordinates and directs projects, and highlights the need for technical investigations.

In addition to work in safety, energy saving and efficiency im- provements, the program has also been instrumental in breakthroughs in hydrodynamics, structural de- sign, propulsion, auxiliary systems, materials, ship operating practices and ship production techniques that are significant to the advancement of the marine industry.

Support for this program comes from annual contributions from ev- ery segment of the maritime and ocean-oriented industries. The so- ciety solicits contributions from the shipowners, ship operators, ship- builders, suppliers, ship designers, ocean engineering organizations, specialty firms and individuals.

With the present depressed state of shipping and commercial ship- building, the con- tinued support of the program is important to en- sure that the in- dustry continues to explore needed Ronald K. Kiss research to keep up with changing technology.

The centralized national nature of SNAME began to evolve on a geographic basis when its first sec- tion was established in Philadel- phia in 1941. Since then, 16 more sections were created concluding with the Arctic Section which will celebrate its 10th birthday this month.

For a naval architect or marine engineer, SNAME is the premier technical society. It provides one of the best ways to keep abreast of change in our chosen profession. In particular, the technical sessions at the Annual Meeting are the key- stone of reported progress in our field. These are supplemented by symposia, local section meetings and outstanding journals (Marine Tech- nology, Journal of Ship Research and Journal of Ship Production).

For those members wanting to be involved with the evolution of change, the T&R Program offers the opportunity to work with tech- nical leaders in specific technical areas.

Today the situation in our indus- try is no brighter than it was when

SNAME was founded, but we have grown and flourished for 98 years.

Plans are being made to celebrate our centennial in a proper fashion.

But more importantly, through the hard work of numerous committees, plans are also being made to take

SNAME into its second century with the same commitment to excellence and technical growth that the origi- nal founders exhibited. We plan to remain strong so future profession- als in the field will have the same opportunities to benefit and learn from SNAME that thousands have already experienced.

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