Shared understandings
Naval engineers frequently face complex and critical decisions. The IMarEST’s NESIG provides a space where they can analyse and question the sector’s key constraints and challenges in an atmosphere of shared experience.
Marine Professional speaks with Matt Bolton BEng MSc CEng FIMarEST FIMechE on the eve of the Platinum Jubilee weekend marking Her Majesty The Queen's 70 years of service, and he is looking forward to a family BBQ. Having retired from active naval service in 2020, he works in consultancy now, and has chaired the Naval Engineering SIG, or the super-SIG as he likes to call it, since it launched in 2019.
Bolton’s mind is far from bunting as he charts the operating environment for naval engineering. “You’ve only got to look at what's going on in the world with the war in Ukraine and the incident in the Black Sea,” he says, before adding that naval power isn’t necessarily about fighting wars - it’s also about projecting diplomacy and providing aid.
Bolton outlines that a firm grasp of technology is key in this broad and interesting sector. “Whether you are a nuclear engineer in a submarine or a rocket scientist involved with the latest hyper-sonic missile systems, naval engineers have to respond to advances in technology and deliver the best capability in a challenging environment. For a navy to compete and win, it needs to be at the forefront of technology.”
Agility is essential
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As the digitalisation of naval engineering sweeps through all areas of design, support and operations, machine learning and AI are becoming a reality. And Bolton says the shift towards autonomous vessels and having fewer operators at sea demands much more agility in naval engineering. Because conflict isn’t always peer to peer, naval engineers need to be able to adapt and mobilise different capabilities and platforms quickly.
The decarbonisation drive is also uppermost in naval engineers’ minds. But how does a navy reduce its carbon footprint while still delivering on naval capability? And should a navy be expected to lead or follow? What happens when adversaries take de-carbonisation less seriously? And how can navies future-proof when they don’t know what the fuel infrastructure will be like?”
UKNEST, of which the IMarEST is a member, posed these very questions at its Warship Net-Zero conference back in March. Bolton was in attendance as executive officer at UKNEST and feels it was important to discuss the challenges of reducing carbon footprints together with the potential operational impact on speed or endurance. “As a naval community we like to be interoperable with our allies so all our NATO warships currently use the same fuel. But if we are moving to a different fuel, what happens?” As a conference, Bolton says it raised as many questions as it answered – but the shared attendee experience will go a long way in providing understanding and pragmatic solutions.
Face-to-face dialogue
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Bolton believes NESIG’s success stems from its ability to bring people together throughout the year – whether that’s online or in-person. “It’s about knowledge sharing and engaging people from diverse organisations, globally.” Many naval engineers worked from home during the past two years and Bolton says the SIG will continue providing online webinars “because they work - but we also want to be face-to-face at conferences and exhibitions which are necessary to have conversations."
In that vein, Bolton is looking forward to INEC 2022 in November. INEC is widely praised for its high standards, with the naval engineering community papers being peer-reviewed, and the emphasis on attendees is to question, challenge and develop knowledge. Today, Bolton is a patron but he chaired the event in 2016 and 2018 before handing over the reins to Commodore Stuart Henderson RN, Ministry of Defence UK, who is also a member of NESIG.
Commodore Stuart Henderson says interest is high in this year’s event. “Paper submission numbers are up from previous conferences,” he says, and he highlights INEC’s unique synergy between military, academia and industry who will attend to hear papers on themes that include shipbuilding, climate change, future fuels, submarines, asset management, maintenance and upgrades, autonomous systems from micro to large uncrewed surface vehicles. Although INEC will facilitate online attendance, Henderson hopes many SIG members can come along in person and experience the conference and exhibitions in Delft.
Back at the SIG, Bolton is cognisant of the many uncertainties ahead for naval engineers globally, and encourages all IMarEST members who have an involvement in naval engineering to join NESIG. Proud of the current membership of 200+ representatives from international naval communities all over the world, Bolton champions the SIG as a space for interaction, which is certainly something to celebrate, as he logs off and kick-starts his Platinum Jubilee weekend.
To become a member of the Naval Engineering SIG, log into My account, click on My Special Interest Groups and then tick the boxes of the SIGs you’d like to join. You can then also join the group on Nexus, our networking platform.”