On Monday, March 6, 2017, Founder and President of 4aBetterBusiness Paul Vragel ’72 is scheduled to speak to students as part of Webb’s Monday Lecture Series.  Vragel will address students on the topic, “Using Systems Engineering to Achieve Transformational Business Results.”

Based on transformational results achieved by 4aBetterBusiness in manufacturing, distribution and B2B services companies, the presentation will cover the core insights that enable transformational results, an example of systems engineering applied to a design and manufacturing company, implementation issues to ensure management and employee buy-in, tools that can be used immediately, and resources for further reference and investigation by the students.

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Assistant Professor of Structural Engineering John C. Daidola, along with class of 2017 students Andrew M. Arnold and Michael J. Imbesi, have co-authored a paper entitled, “Trimaran Preliminary Structural Design Procedures for a Large High Speed Sealift Ship.” The paper will be presented at this year’s American Society of Naval Engineers Day, Technology, Systems & Ships on February 14, 2017 in Washington, D.C.

Structural design characteristics for a large high speed trimaran sealift ship are determined using the Lloyd’s Register Trimaran Rules. These are compared to characteristics determined utilizing a more traditional naval approach for monohulls and with a combination of naval and American Bureau of Shipping commercial criteria. The analysis also considers additional approaches for determining transverse hull loads and wet deck pressures by alternative procedures.

The research was sponsored by the Office of Naval Research under the ACCeSS University Consortium.

Hannah Wistort ’17 pictured with Johan Sperling, Vice President of Crowley Maritime Corporation.

In the Fall of 2016, Webb Institute, a four- year college specializing in naval architecture and marine engineering, announced the 2016-2017’s recipient of the Crowley Maritime Corporation’s Thomas B. Crowley Sr. Memorial Scholarship. The Webb’s scholarship selection committee chose Hannah Wistort (Class of 2017) from Niskayuna, NY, for her hard work, academic excellence, and superb leadership skills that she actively displays on and off campus.

Throughout her time at Webb Institute, Hannah has been involved with many student organizations and community projects because of her passion for Webb. She is a member of the Webb Leadership Committee, which organizes community service and outreach projects for students. She has also been the student representative to Webb’s Board of Trustees and is the Co-Chair of the Women of Webb. Her interests include workboat design, LNG fueling, and the energy sector. Upon graduation, Hannah would like to work for a company within the marine industry and earn a PE license. She will also look to further her education with an MBA degree.

“Hannah is hardworking and dedicated student who has been an important member of the Webb community for the past three and a half years.” says Dean Matthew Werner. “Her focus on excellence, professionalism, community service, and leadership illustrate that her guiding principles are in alignment with the Crowley Maritime Corporation and this award.”

“The Thomas B. Crowley Memorial Scholarship Program is a true testament to Crowley’s commitment to higher education and the future of the maritime industry,” said President R. Keith Michel. “Webb Institute is honored to continue its partnership with Crowley Maritime Corp. and this prestigious program that has generously chosen to highlight and support our students.”

Since 1984, Crowley has provided more than $3 million dollars in scholarship funding for more than 1,000 students studying at maritime academies and other select institutions in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Central America. In 1994, Crowley Chairman and CEO Crowley Jr. established the Thomas B. Crowley Sr. Memorial Scholarship Program in honor of his father.

During this year’s Alumni Banquet, several Webb Alumni and Faculty were honored by The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME). Some were named Fellows, while others received awards for their 50 years of membership, outstanding service, and work in the industry.

Congratulations to all this year’s honorees!

SNAME Fellows:

Michael Martin, Professor of Electrical Engineering

Richard Royce, Professor of Naval Architecture and Director of Research

Russell Hoffman ’74

50-year Golden Membership Certificate:

Peter Fontneau ’68

John Glaeser ’68

Michael Goodwin ’69

Ralph Johnson ’68

Thomas Koster ’67

William McCreight ’67

James Royle ’66

Paul Snyder ’69

Robert Walsh ’66

The Elmer L. Hann Award – Honorable Mention:

Christopher Rose ‘11, et al. for their paper, “Automatically Determining the Latest Possible Equipment Installation Times for Shipbuilding.”

The Lisnyk Student Design Competition – Third Place:

“Ice hardened Medium-Sized Combatant Design Proposal”

University of Michigan

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Matthew Collette ’99

Certificates of Appreciation:

Matthew Tedesco ’91 – For his dedication, service, and active participation as the Editor of MT

Bruce Rosenblatt (Hon.) and Webb’s Chairman of the Board, for 22 years of service and active participation on the SNAME Maritime Convention Committee.

Photos from the 2016 Alumni Banquet 

On Wednesday, December 14, 2016 a group of students, accompanied by President Michel, visited the Composite Prototyping Center (CPC) in Plainview, New York.

The CPC is a unique, state of the art facility that is staffed by experienced pioneers in the field of composites. It provides organizations with the opportunity to design, prototype, test, and train all under one roof. The center also offers workforce training opportunities for veterans, as well as STEM programs for high school and college students.

While touring the center, students had the opportunity to learn about advancements in composite materials including their design, construction, development, and applications. Students also got the chance to check out the center’s testing rooms, and have their questions answered by CPC professionals.

Experiencing the facility’s resources hands-on complemented the students’ materials science studies at Webb. We would like to thank the great staff at CPC for taking the time to host our students on not one, but two occasions this semester.

“Two Circle Goniometer” rendering done by Laurits Christian Eichner.

In early November, Webb’s Engineering Laboratory Technician and Machinist, James Swan, donated several mechanical drawings to the Herakleidon Museum of science, art and mathematics in Athens, Greece. Before their donation, Swan made all the drawings available to the Webb community by displaying each work in the campus Reading Room.

The drawings were rendered by a historically influential maker of scientific instruments, Laurits Christian Eichner. Eichner was born and completed his engineering degree in Denmark, but spent his professional career in Paterson, New Jersey.

Eichner’s work included telescopes and various other scientific instruments, many of which are still in service in laboratories and observatories around the world. During his career, Eichner studied the history of science, and was even commissioned by the Smithsonian Institution to create reproductions of many historically important scientific instruments.

After his death, the Smithsonian mounted an exhibit of his work and published a biography to accompany that exhibit.

Eichner’ mechanical drawings came into Swan’s possession through the state of his friend, Robert Deroski, a friend and collaborator of Eichner.

“I’m delighted to finally have an appropriate archive to place these materials that have been in my possession for years,” said Swan about the donation.  “It was also great to have the chance to share the drawings with Webb students before they were shipped off to Greece.”

The museum’s founder, Paul Firos, and his wife Belinda, came to Webb to collect the drawings in person where they posed for a commemorative group photo with Swan. Swan was introduced to Firos by Connecticut art dealer, Jefferey deSolla Price. Prices’ father was an important scientist who collaborated with Eichner and Deroski in studying, and making models of, the Antikythera Mechanism. The Herakleidon is set to mount an exhibition on the Antikythera Mechanism in the upcoming weeks.

Eichner drawing’s displayed in Webb’s Reading Room.