When we submitted our design for the Society of Naval Architect and Marine Engineers (SNAME) 2023 Lisnyk Student Design competition in May last year, we had no idea how our ship would stack up against the other entries from around the world.
We had spent the preceding four months doing what Naval Architects do: rack up hundreds of hours performing stability calculations, develop the hull form, run resistance and powering predictions, develop preliminary scantlings, create general arrangement plans, and much, much more. But by the end of the term, we still felt that there were many aspects of the design that needed more attention. Somewhat reluctantly, and in a state of panic after noticing the time, we sent off our final report to SNAME five minutes before the deadline.
For those unfamiliar, the annual SNAME Lisnyk competition is a ship design competition open to all undergraduate students. SNAME is the largest international professional society for Naval Architects, Marine Engineers, and marine professionals in general, with over 4,000 members represented at the grassroots by sections and student sections around the world. The Lisnyk competition encourages students to develop innovative ship concepts and develop a greater understanding of the ship design process.
We were all students at Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) in the final term of the Ocean and Naval Architectural Engineering (ONAE) program, Class of 2023. As part of that final term, students complete a “Capstone Project” which usually takes the form of a ship concept design report. The due date for the Lisnyk competition overlaps with the capstone project, so we figured we had nothing to lose by entering the competition. Being students at Memorial, we decided to design a ferry to carry both people and vehicles between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. We reached out to Marine Atlantic who very kindly helped us by providing a list of owner’s requirements and relevant operations data. The result was the “Atlantic Puffin”, a 200m ferry that carries 1,000 passengers and has 3,000 lane meters available for cars and transport trucks. Its dual-fuel engines reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and a 9 MWh battery would allow it to manoeuvre around the ports without having to burn any fuel.
Soon, the day that SNAME was going to announce the winners had arrived. Every few hours we refreshed our emails to see if the results had come through. But by 5:00 p.m. we had still not received an email and figured our design did not make the cut. A full week went by without hearing anything. But then, an email from SNAME! Not only had the Puffin come in the top three, but we had also tied for first place! It was the first time a team from Canada had done so. We were both stunned and thrilled.
Since getting that email 12 months ago, we’ve been incredibly fortunate to have received so much support from SNAME, Memorial University, and the Canadian maritime industry.
In September, our project advisor, Professor Brian Veitch, a distinguished SNAME Fellow, organized our journey to San Diego for the SNAME Maritime Convention (SMC) 2023, where we were honoured with our award. It was a chance to meet members of the profession, particularly the many members from Canada. As is tradition, all the Canadian SNAME members got together for an impromptu pub gathering at the end of SMC. Even though our industry is small, this was the first time we encountered any Canadian SNAME members, having spent two semesters studying from home due to the pandemic. We made up for that lost time quickly. There were so many Canadians at the gathering, they had to put six tables together to fit us in! This was a great introduction to the SNAME rally cry of “Relationships are the Best Ships!”.
In January we were given the chance to present our design to the reinvigorated SNAME Canadian Atlantic Section. With SNAME’s global outreach, 60 students, professors and professionals from across the world tuned in as we listed the many, many, many mistakes made. For example, we inputted the station spacing in millimetres instead of meters for the seakeeping analysis. We realized something was wrong when the accelerations at the bow were predicted to exceed 10g’s. We also provided some hopefully useful advice to anyone considering entering the competition.
More recently, we were invited to participate in the Canadian Institute of Marine Engineers (CIMarE)-led and SNAME-supported MARITECH 2024 Conference in St. John’s. It was another great opportunity to meet fellow maritime professionals, be reunited with people we had met in San Diego, and learn about the many exciting projects taking place in Canada. With thanks to SNAME’s Laurie Balan, we were introduced to the Honourable Andrew Parsons, Newfoundland and Labrador’s Minister of Industry, Energy, and Technology and briefly talked with him about the value of the marine industry in the province (see photo). We owe additional thanks to Glenn Walters, SNAME’s head of membership, whose significant contributions have made many of these opportunities possible and have challenged us to grow beyond our comfort zones. As an informal mentor, Glenn arranged for us to give a presentation at MARITECH. He also assisted with the High School Outreach Program, arranged an interview with Gale Force Wins, and opened the doors to meeting a not insignificant portion of SNAME’s 4,000 members, including time with SNAME President Rick Spaulding. Rick shared many of his experiences with the design and construction of many U.S. nuclear aircraft carriers and submarines. Rick had a chance to inspect a small model we made of the Puffin and gave us a few pointers for the next iteration, which won’t be nuclear-powered unfortunately.
These priceless opportunities could only be facilitated by a global organization like SNAME, which gathers people with many different jobs, experiences and backgrounds under one roof. As students, we joined SNAME to become more involved in the industry we would be entering, be eligible to enter the Lisnyk competition and, most importantly, get great discounts on textbooks. Now that we have graduated, we continue to part of this great community of people. Throughout all the events mentioned, we received many words of encouragement, advice and tips on how to give presentations (something we stress a little less about now that we have done a few), and the opportunity to take on leadership roles within our local sections. This has given us the confidence to take on ever-increasing challenges.
The support we received from industry has not only been from SNAME, and not just since the competition. Throughout our undergraduate degree, we benefited on numerous occasions from MUN’s unique position as the only Naval Architecture undergraduate program in Canada.
One of the most impactful ways the marine industry supports Naval Architecture students is by hiring them for four-month work terms and providing them with an experience that will challenge them to pick up new skills. Through this we became familiar with all the various rules and regulations, and learned things that are not taught in any classes, such as how to create properly formatted and detailed drawings.
The industry supports students in several ways besides the co-op program, such as ship and facility tours. These are great opportunities for students to get a feel for how vessels are arranged and operated. They have the chance to ask the crew what they like and dislike about the design of the vessel and end up learning quite a bit about what works and what does not. Our class had the chance to tour the Oceanex Connaigra, which is a vehicle and container ship that regularly visits St. John’s. We toured the engine room, bridge, and everything in between, taking away valuable lessons that we later utilized in our design projects.
Industry also plays a key role in Capstone projects. Often students will reach out to an organization that operates a ship similar to the one they are designing to help with developing a set of requirements.
Throughout the project, people from several different companies and organizations, such as classification societies and engineering firms, were invited to come to our class and meet one-on-one with each group. We would show them the latest versions of our drawings, discuss considerations for the propulsion arrangement, or get their thoughts and feedback on how we could make improvements. We discussed almost every aspect of the vessel with them and came away from each meeting with numerous ideas for improvements.
There are many other ways that industry has supported us, but these are the ones that have stood out the most. Our success in the Lisnyk competition is due in no small part to that support and mentoring received from the industry and SNAME, and for which we are immensely grateful.
There is a lot that the industry gets out of supporting students too. Students enter the workforce having a more diverse set of competencies and more confidence to tackle challenging projects. It builds capacity and, through organizations like SNAME, fosters a collaborative competent community by enabling open and collegial discussions. We hope that current and future students will continue to benefit from these collaborations, which are a vital component of any student’s development and will ensure the continued growth of Canada’s marine industry.
If you would like to learn more about the MUN program, our project, or SNAME, please don’t hesitate to reach out.