By Sherry Dibari

The American Association of Port Authorities has invited ManWo Ng, associate professor of maritime management at the Strome College of Business, for a strategic partnership based on increasing the industry's awareness of the value of academic port research. Ng is well known for his research on port and shipping operations and serves as editor or editorial board member on eight international journals.

"Historically, academic research might not reach the decision makers and working professionals in the industry. That is a pity. I hope to change that, which is why I am very excited for this opportunity to share maritime research conducted at ODU with more than 130 port authorities in the Western Hemisphere," Ng said. "ODU's port research is widely known among academics worldwide, but it has not been able to reach the industry to the extent that I want to see."

"I am pleased to see the continued momentum in Dr. Ng's achievements. This is an extremely important milestone for ODU's maritime program," said Wayne Talley, executive director of ODU's Maritime Institute. "We will be able to share our educational and research programs with an audience that we have not served historically. Moreover, we will be able to reach an unprecedentedly large industry audience."

Ng is directly involved in ODU's maritime certificate program. "As the certificate coordinator, I have been working on making some key courses available online. This is a timely partnership to raise awareness of our offerings among a very important group of stakeholders," he said.

"This milestone will undoubtedly raise the profile of our graduates in the industry, making them more demanded than ever," Talley added.

ODU's expertise in port research stretches back decades. Recently, Talley was one of the two co-recipients of the $200,000 International Onassis Prize in Shipping, which is awarded every three years.