Page 12: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (December 2005)

12 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News

John V. Wehausen, professor emeritus of engineering science at the University of California, Berkeley, and one of the world's leading researchers in hydrody- namics, has died at the age of 92. "Many of us in the marine academic field consider John Wehausen to be a pioneer in marine hydrodynamics," said

Ronald Yeung, a UC Berkeley professor of mechanical engineering who chaired the campus's former Department of

Naval Architecture and Offshore

Engineering and considered Wehausen a mentor. "His background as an applied mathematician allowed him to set the framework for mathematical analysis of important ocean- and ship-related prob- lems. This became increasingly impor- tant as practitioners sought to build off- shore drilling systems that could reach depths of up to 2,000 meters and ships that could reach speeds over 50 knots yet survive the worst storms at sea."

Wehausen contributed original research in the areas of wave resistance, floating-system motions, ship maneu- verability and ship-generated solitary waves. In 1960, he published one of his most influential works, the comprehen- sive review article "Surface Waves," co- authored by the late UC Berkeley pro- fessor Edmund V. Laitone. The article was originally published in the

Encyclopedia of Physics and to this day is still used as an important resource for understanding the dynamics of water waves. At UC Berkeley, Wehausen helped form the Department of Naval

Architecture in 1958 with support from the Office of Naval Research. At the time, only three other U.S. institutions — Massachusetts Institute of

Technology, the University of Michigan and the Webb Institute — offered accredited degree programs in naval architecture. The department eventually evolved in 1996 into a graduate group in ocean engineering within the Graduate

Division. This fall, it became a major field of study within the UC Berkeley

Department of Mechanical Engineering.

In 1937, Wehausen began his first teaching position as an instructor in mathematics at Brown University. He went on to hold other teaching positions at Columbia University and the

University of Missouri from 1938 to 1944. During World War II, he worked for the U.S. Navy in operations analysis from 1944 to 1946 before joining the

David Taylor Model Basin, a Navy research and development lab in

Bethesda, Md. now known as the

Hydromechanics Directorate at the

Naval Surface Warfare Center.

His three-year tenure at the David

Taylor Model Basin would prove forma- tive. There, Wehausen met and was greatly influenced by renowned German ship hydrodynamicist Georg Weinblum.

Wehausen's interest in water-wave theo- ry and ship hydrodynamics can be traced to this time period.

Wehausen served as head of the

Mechanics Branch of the federal Office of Naval Research from 1949 to 1950, and was then selected as executive edi- tor of the journal Mathematical

Reviews, a position he held from 1950 to 1956. In 1956, he was recruited by

UC Berkeley, where he developed the graduate degree program in naval archi- tecture. The rigorous curriculum would eventually become a model for similar programs around the world.

He retired from UC Berkeley in 1984, but remained active in research. He was a member of the National Academy of

Engineering and a fellow of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine

Engineers, which awarded him a

Davidson Medal for outstanding scien- tific accomplishment in research.

ACR Electronics, Inmarsat

Announce Agreement

ACR Electronics reached an agree- ment to sell more than 1,000 GlobalFix 406 EPIRBs (Emergency Position

Indicating Radio Beacons) to Inmarsat.

Inmarsat has already announced the closure of Inmarsat E services on

December 1, 2006, withdrawing the L-

Band EPIRBs currently in service and replacing them with the new 406 MHz

EPIRBs with GPS capability. The replacement program will commence

January 1, 2006. ACR was selected to fulfill the contract, which may reach $1.3 million.

Hägglunds Grows

John Duncan, President of Hägglunds

North American operations said "We are currently enjoying remarkable growth and in response have created five new sales regions headed by newly appoint- ed Regional Sales Managers. The new

Regional Sales Managers are: Kevin Sexton, based in Allenton,

Pa, will be responsible for New Jersey,

Pennsylvania and New York. Jack Shepherd, based in Hartford,

Conn., will be responsible for

Connecticut, Rhode Island,

Massachusetts, Vermont, New

Hampshire and Maine. Shane Roden, based in Denver,

Colo., will manage Colorado, Utah,

Wyoming and Montana. Doug Clark, based in Edmonton,

Alberta, will manage Alberta and

Saskatchewan. Lars Lattstrom, based in Rock Hill,

SC, will now be responsible for

Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia,

Virginia, and North and South Carolina.

In addition, Gary Sauder has been selected to head Hagglunds Aftermarket

Sales.

Exmar Orders LNG Ship

EXMAR confirmed a long-term char- ter party with Excelerate Energy LP, the liquefied natural gas shipper and mar- keters based in Woodlands, Texas, for another liquefied natural gas regasifica- tion vessel (LNGRV). The vessel will be built by Daewoo Shipbuilding &

Marine Engineering Co. Ltd (DSME), and will be constructed incorporating the GTT membrane containment system together with Excelerate's Energy

Bridge technology. It will have a capac- ity of approximately 150,900 cu. m., with delivery in the 2Q 2009.

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News

Wehausen, Leader in Marine Hydrodynamics, Dies

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