CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS INNOVATION AND EXCHANGE IN NAVAL ENGINEERING

Naval engineering education and research was on full display as students, faculty, and industry experts came together to discuss and share ideas about the future of naval engineering during the first annual Naval Engineering Education Center (NEEC) conference held June 13-15, 2011 in Norfolk, Virginia.

The first-time event highlighted almost 30 education-based projects focused on current and future technical challenges related to naval engineering, such as the use of alternative energy sources, energy conservation, total ownership cost reduction, use of unmanned vehicles, advanced ship design methods, and maintenance reduction.

"Our goal is to educate and develop the best naval systems engineers for the Navy," said Steven L. Ceccio, Director of NEEC.

The conference also featured a mentor's panel assembled by the American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE) and the Society of Naval Architects & Marine Engineers (SNAME) - both NEEC Consortium partners. The panel featured discussion and personal testimony from distinguished experts on the technical challenges, personal relationships, and satisfaction they encountered as naval engineers and architects throughout their careers.

Bob Keane, President and Senior Principal Engineer for Ship Design USA, helped organize the panel and added, "Anyone at the dinner would have arrived at the primary conclusions that all panelists are elated that they selected Naval Engineering as their life-time profession, that outstanding career development opportunities [in Naval Engineering] are still in abundance, and that they highly recommend students make a long-term selection for a rewarding career in Naval Engineering."

The NEEC is made up of some of the world's premiere institutes of higher education, the United States Navy and the major professional societies for naval architects and marine engineers. ODU Engineering is among those academic partners with which NEEC has established a long-standing and mutually beneficial relationship. The diverse group of students, educators and professionals, through this collaboration, can engage in knowledge and work sharing to build better engineers.