[This event is cancelled]

{Co-organizing with the Hong Kong Joint Branch of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects and the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (HKJB of RINA & IMarEST) and the Hong Kong Institute of Marine Technology (HKIMT)}

Programme Highlights

Part of the Hong Kong Maritime Week 2019 activities.

Session 1: “The Changing World of Workboat Design” by Mr. Robert G Allan

2019 marks a century since Robert Allan Sr emigrated to Canada to work in the ship design industry, and 90 years since the foundation of Robert Allan Ltd. Since that time the company has grown to one of international recognition as a leader in many sectors of specialized workboat design. Using examples from the history of the company, Robert Allan (Grandson of the Founder) will trace how the practise of small ship/workboat design has changed over the past century and the many challenges which are currently faced in the modern technology-driven world.

Session 2: “Marine Hybrid Propulsion System” by Mr. James Tan

The Cat Hybrid Propulsion System is one of the innovative propulsion solutions, with diesel engines and variable frequency drive controlled booster motors tied to the vessel’s thrusters. The booster motors can be powered by generator sets and/or batteries and the load balancing and switching between operation modes are handled in a highly optimized control system.
The presentation will utilize a real case to demonstrate the components of the Hybrid Propulsion System, the design philosophy and operation modes, the architecture and logic of the control system, as well as the results of the life cycle cost analysis.

Session 3: “Design of a Novel Underwater Robot with Three Tails” by Mr. Jianan Li

As the maritime observations draw more and more attention in the scientific and military areas, the need for robots with full omnidirectional motion capabilities has become more vital. This research proposes the design and analysis of a novel omnidirectional underwater robot with multi tails, which is inspired from some biomechanical propulsion mechanisms such as octopus, marine turtle, frog and carangiform. The robot mainly consists two parts: a rigid head and three flexible tails. The head is made up by machining of printing grade polymer and contains the battery, communication module and control unit. The tail contains silicone tubes and stainless-steel tubes in alternate pattern with a caudal fin in the end. 

Speakers
Mr. Robert Allan is a third generation naval architect (all of the same name), whose family moved to Vancouver from Scotland 100 years ago this year. Since graduating with honours from the University of Glasgow in 1971 with a B.Sc. in Naval Architecture, Rob Allan has been designing high-performance commercial workboats of all types, most notably high-performance tugboats for tanker escort and offshore terminal operations. Mr Allan is a Registered Professional Engineer in the Province of BC, and a Fellow of both SNAME and RINA. He has twice earned the ABS Joseph H. Linnard Prize for Best Paper presented to the SNAME Annual Meeting (2000 and 2010).

Mr. James Tan is the Project Manager of Caterpillar Marine Solution Centre in Singapore. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering from Newcastle University and has substantial experience in Marine and offshore industry. James has been with Caterpillar since 2013 specialising in marine propulsion and system integration. He was involved in a number of hybrid propulsion projects integrated by Caterpillar, with contributions in consultation as well as project management. 

Mr. Li Jianan is a PhD student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He obtained his Master Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His main research interest centers on the structure and analysis of the bio-inspired underwater robots. His current research is to design high stability, agility, and mobility omnidirectional underwater robot, which can adapt to the complex and unexplored underwater environment.

Fee *
Free

Language
English

Registration & Enquiries
Prior on-line registration at MMNC Division website http://mc.hkie.org.hk/ is required.  The number of participants is limited to 80. Applications will be accepted on a first-come-first-served basis with priority given to members of organizers. Successful applicants will be notified by email. For enquiries of the seminar, please contact Mr. Sam C H Kwan at email: chkwan@mardep.gov.hk