Vanguard Magazine

M A R I T I M E www.vanguardcanada.com AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2024 23 nificant portion of SNAME's 4,000 mem- bers, including time with SNAME Presi- dent Rick Spaulding. Rick shared many of his experiences with the design and con- struction of many U.S. nuclear aircraft car- riers and submarines. Rick had a chance to inspect a small model we made of the Puf- fin 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 back- grounds 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 gradu- ated, 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 un- dergraduate program in Canada. One of the most impactful ways the ma- rine 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 be- came 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 sev- eral 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 con- tainer ship that regularly visits St. John's. We toured the engine room, bridge, and everything in between, taking away valu- able 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 organiza- tions, 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 arrange- ment, 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 im- provements. There are many other ways that industry has supported us, but these are the ones that have stood out the most. Our suc- cess 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 en- ter 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 compe- tent community by enabling open and collegial discussions. We hope that cur- rent and future students will continue to benefit from these collaborations, which are a vital component of any student's de- velopment 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. Tia Button graduated from Memorial University's Ocean and Naval Architec- tural Engineering program in 2023. Tia was heavily involved in the Terra Nova Life Extension Turnaround in Bull Arm and is now working at Lloyd's Register. Robert Caulfeild graduated from Memo- rial University's Ocean and Naval Archi- tectural Engineering program in 2023. He now works as a Junior Naval Architect with the Canadian Coast Guard's Integrated Technical Services – Naval Architecture department where he provides engineer- ing support for the Coast Guard's large fleet of icebreakers, patrol vessels, re- search vessels, hovercra, and SAR boats. Alexis Benjamin graduated from Memo- rial University in 2023 from the Ocean and Naval Architectural Engineering program. She now works at A.F. Theriault and Son in Meteghan River, NS, aer completing four of her work terms with them during the du- ration of her engineering program. She is involved with a variety of projects ranging from fiberglass fishing vessels, steel ferries for the province of Nova Scotia, and vari- ous projects with the aquaculture industry. Kevin Wall graduated from Memorial Uni- versity's Ocean and Naval Architectural En- gineering program in May 2023. He is now working with a consulting company, Angler Solutions, in St. John's. Since graduating, most of Kevin's work has revolved around project logistics and execution with subsea assets, international work in maritime GHG initiatives, marine green transition studies, and the development of regulatory stan- dards. Oceanex Connaigra. Photo: Oceanex

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