SHIELD sponsors RINA Warship 2024 conference
Royal Institute of Naval Architect’s Annual Warship conference hosted in Australia for the first time.
The Shipbuilding Hub for Integrated Engineering and Local Design (SHEILD) represented the Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology at the Royal Institute of Naval Architect’s (RINA) Annual Warship conference, which was hosted in Australia for the first time in June.
SHIELD successfully won $20,000 to support the RINA International Warship Conference through the university’s Strategic Conference Sponsorship Fund earlier this year. The 2024 event was held on 18 and 19 June 2024 at the Adelaide Convention Centre with nearly 500 attendees over two days.
The event was officially opened by Rear Admiral Rachel Durbin CSC, Royal Australian Navy and Head of Navy Engineering. Her speech provided a strategic foundation of the Australian surface fleet landscape and fostered both naval and industry considerations for the new surface fleet tender for the RAN. She also thanked the sponsors individually for helping bring the event to Adelaide, in which the University of Adelaide was mentioned as a key sponsor.
The conference focused on how the increasingly complex warship design requires effective engineering assistance, design configuration control, supply chain and inventory management to meet operational requirements. As vessel designs live between 25 and 50 years, naval architects need to consider the effects of current and future technological and operational developments now.
As part of the conference, Eugene Lamnek – a research assistant from the School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering – presented his research project “Project Harmonia” to a highly engaged and enthusiastic audience. Project Harmonia is a small-scale model of a submarine with the inclusion of a digital twin able to collect vital information and data when the submarine is run under various simulations. This information – supported by Dassault Systems as the partner for the digital twin – illustrated the various real-time data variables that can be collected.
The well-attended exhibition booth also highlighted the University of Adelaide’s Master of Maritime Engineering and the industry-leading projects being achieved by students.
University of Adelaide (from left to right): Porscha Ryan, Eugene Lamnek and Dr Kim Harvey.
The conference received much international interest, with registered delegates attending from the UK, Denmark, Netherlands, Singapore and New Zealand. The conference proceedings included topics such as: future navy surface fleet mix, design for constructability and support, facilities and shipbuilding, automation in ship design and construction. Industry representatives included organisations such as BMT, Defence Science and Technology Group, Nova Systems, Navantia Australia, ASC, BAE Systems, QinetiQ, Siemens, Austal USA, and SAAB.
Further information:
- Find out more about SHIELD.
- Interested in undertaking an internship in France, supported by the Nicolas Baudin Travel Grant? Study Overseas
- Would you like to become a RINA Australian member? It is free for students to join.