Students, staff and alumni of UM Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering gathered at Pierpont Commons for the department's first Sustainability Symposium—an afternoon of industry talks, student presentations, and insights into the future of sustainable maritime engineering.
The symposium was funded by a donation from Drew Orvieto (BS NAME '10), who has helped install electric systems on hybrid-electric ferries for Siemens Energy, including Wenatchee, Washington State's first ferry converted to hybrid-electric propulsion. He wanted to donate to the department to help share his passion for sustainability and inspire people the way his grandfather had inspired him to pursue engineering.
"He was a completely self-made civil engineer; [he] started his own business, traveled all around the world developing soil testing technology for roads, primarily in developing nations," said Orvieto. "He was such an inspiration to me that I thought it would be cool to give back to a department that gave me so many opportunities."
Orvieto presented on the tips and challenges to building and launching electric and hybrid ferries. Alum Eileen Tausch (BSE NAME ’13, MSE NAME ’14) also presented her work to develop marine batteries with Fleetzero, a mariner-owned start up in Houston. She is helping to launch a hybrid-electric support vessel for a Singapore-based company. The vessel is designed to deploy cushions for ships exchanging cargo.
After the industry talks, two graduate students presented their thesis research and two groups of undergraduates presented their capstone design projects. For their capstone projects, students designed a ship for an application of their choice. Their designs were comprehensive—covering the engines, electronics, hull shapes, propellers, crew areas, and any other components required for the ship to do its job. During the symposium, students presented calculations proving that their ships were seaworthy and met current regulations. They also defended every design choice, down to the types of steel selected to construct the ship.
The students were competing for a cash prize to the best graduate and undergraduate presentation. Owen Baldwin—who discussed decarbonization strategies for vessels in Michigan—won the award for best graduate presentation. The award for best undergraduate project was taken by the team that designed a vessel to clean up plastic pollution from rivers in the Philippines.
Photos by Gabi Iriarte, University of Michigan Engineering, and Ivey Ewang, University of Michigan NAME.
