University Of Minnesota News

HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division announced several promotions “designed to optimize its shipyard operations and accelerate execution”.“We have been on an aggressive journey to transform the way we run our business. Accomplishing this transformation while running our complex business is not a simple task,” said Jennifer Boykin, president of Newport News Shipbuilding. “Our Navy customer expects us to deliver ships on time and on budget so they can meet the evolving demands of the global security environment.

The results of a recent survey conducted by financial services company Bankrate, LLC show that naval architecture and marine engineering take the top spot as the most valuable college degrees in which to major.A total of 162 degrees were covered in the company’s research. Drama and theater arts, on the other hand, were shown to be the least valuable degrees in terms of earning power after graduation. The survey revealed that the overall median income for those trained to build, design and maintain maritime vessels was $90,000 and that less than 2 percent of degree holders were unemployed.

At his core Ken Konrad is an innovator and engineer, looking at problems and seeing solutions. Walk around Konrad’s manufacturing and testing facility for even a short time and it is easy to see that Ken Konrad, owner and president, possesses a sharp intellect and an engineer’s mind, as he clearly revels in sharing insight on business and manufacturing practice that goes in each of his company’s rugged stern drive units. While Konrad has quickly established itself as a quality name in the commercial stern drive sector, it is still a newer business line within the company’s overall scope.

Heavy rains and flooding swamped a broad swathe of the northern Midwest this week, halting the harvest of corn and soybeans and forcing the closure of at least two Iowa crop processing plants, traders and farmers said on Friday. Farmers' concerns grew that standing water in fields could damage unharvested crops, while floodwaters swelled the Mississippi River and threatened to disrupt the loading of export-bound grain barges. Parts of northern Iowa and southern Minnesota received several inches of rain at midweek, with two-day rain totals topping 10 inches (25 cm) in some areas, meteorologists said. The region is expected to see two days of drier weather before more showers through next week, said David Streit, agricultural meteorologist with the Commodity Weather Group.

Lake Lotawana Association celebrated the launch of its new 2015 Model 7012 HP Versi-Dredge at Buffalo Cove on May 1, 2015. In attendance was Dave Wagner, Dredge Committee Chairperson, outgoing Mayor, David Welsh and Ward III Alderman, David Tillema as well as IMS President, Jim Horton, IMS Vice President, Ryan Horton, and IMS Technical Sales Manager, Michael Young. Lake Lotawana was constructed in 1927-1928 and incorporated as a city in 1958. The lake is 450 acres of surface water with 27 miles of shoreline and has more than 2…

Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd today announced that Mr Ravinder Singh will replace Mr Sew Chee Jhuen as President of Singapore Technologies Kinetics Ltd (ST Kinetics). Mr Sew will take on a new role as President for Special Projects at ST Engineering. The appointments are effective 23 March 2015. Mr Singh is currently Deputy President, Corporate and Market Development at Singapore Technologies Electronics Limited (ST Electronics), a role he held since joining the Group in August 2014. He will relinquish this appointment in ST Electronics. Currently, in this position, he leads the Group's Smart Nation initiatives and will continue to do so in his new capacity.

DHL Global Forwarding say they have delivered the world's largest Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanner ever built to the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research at the University of Minnesota. The journey of the 100-ton heavy-load module from Oxford, United Kingdom, to its destination in the U.S. via ocean and road freight  took almost 6 weeks. "Even though we do have a lot of experience in heavyweight cargo transports, this project has really been an interesting challenge for us.

An Office of Naval Research (ONR) supported enterprise brings sweeping changes to electric power & energy education at U.S. universities. “The number of power engineers in the United States is dwindling just when the Navy and the country as a whole need them most,” said Dr. Peter Cho, a program officer in ONR’s Ship Systems and Engineering Research Division who is overseeing the project. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus has used a set of aggressive goals to guide the service toward renewable power as well as electric ships and weapons.

Hudson, Wis., on the border of Minn., with a population just over 12,000, is home to Konrad Marine, a manufacturer of stern drives for commercial applications such as patrol boats, fishing vessels and water taxis. “We do the design right here in Hudson,” owner and founder Ken Konrad said. “I’m a mechanical engineer myself. Konrad, a local to the area, saw some of the world before returning to his stomping grounds to build his business. “After graduating from high school I went to college for a little while and dropped out.

The Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute (GLMRI) has been awarded a $750,000 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5 Midwest Clean Diesel Initiative Grant to help reduce air emissions from a 1,000-ft Great Lakes ore carrier. Dr. Richard Stewart, GLMRI co-director, said the grant enables Key Lakes I, Inc., a Great Lakes vessel operator to repower the M/V Edwin H. Gott during the year-long project. The main engine installation will take place at Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, concurrent with the vessel’s winter layup and drydocking. GLMRI and Key Lakes I, Inc., are partners in the project that will significantly reduce the air emissions for the M/V Edwin H.

The Frank C. Munson Institute of American Maritime Studies at Mystic Seaport has been awarded a “We the People” grant of $166,094 from the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH). The grant will support “The American Maritime People,” a six-week college and university teacher institute for 25 participants on American maritime history from the colonial era to the present. As the third NEH Institute offered at Munson, the 2010 course will build on the latest research in studies of the sea, providing teachers with the opportunity to enhance course offerings by studying the influence of maritime activities on U.S. history and culture.

The Bayfront Center for Maritime Studies (BCMS) hosted the first ever Great Lakes Region Primary and Secondary Maritime Education Conference. The conference was held at the BCMS waterfront campus on May 11th and 12th, 2009, in Erie, Pennsylvania. There has been a growing movement nationally to encourage the development of maritime career opportunity awareness and K-12 maritime education. BCMS specializes in creating hands-on programs that provide maritime access and training ranging…

Veson Nautical, the U.S.-based maritime software developer that delivers chartering, operations and accounting solutions for cargo transportation, announced it is expanding its director level in Singapore as well as its project management and human resources personnel in the U.S. to keep pace with its continuing growth and to ensure that the needs of its customers are met. Additionally Veson has ramped up new training and post-implementation support for its current clients. John Veson, president of Veson Nautical remarked, “We continue to experience dynamic triple digit growth, with a significant portion coming from expansion within our existing customer base.

Veson Nautical operations and accounting solutions for cargo transportation, today announced it is expanding its director level in Singapore as well as its project management and human resources personnel in the U.S. to keep pace with its continuing growth and to ensure that the needs of its customers are met. Additionally Veson has ramped up new training and post-implementation support for its current clients. Andy Lee, Veson’s new Regional Director, Asia Pacific, comes to the company with more than 15 years experience in the enterprise software field. He has a strong track record in understanding client business processes and requirements, implementing tailor-made solutions, and supporting customers post-installation.

The Minnesota Centennial Showboat is returning to the Mississippi River. The Department of Theatre Arts and Dance of the University of Minnesota is announcing plans, pending approval by the Board of Regents, to purchase a historic replica of the nineteenth century floating theaters being built by the Padelford Packet Boat Company of St. Paul. The original showboat, also known as the General John Newton, was acquired and renovated in 1958 during the celebration of Minnesota's first 100 years of statehood. Throughout the next 35 years, more than 400,000 people from all 50 states and 48 nations attended productions by University theatre students-from Shakespearean comedies to vintage melodramas, mysteries, and musicals.

Maritime Administrator Capt. William G. Schubert today named Doris J. Bautch as Director of the Maritime Administration's Great Lakes Region. In her new position, Bautch will report directly to the Maritime Administrator in support of all agency programs, including supporting and conducting supplementary training for personnel in the maritime industries and participating in regional port and intermodal transportation development activities. Bautch will be the first woman to head any of the U.S. Maritime Administration’s (MARAD) five regional offices. “I look forward to continuing to work closely with Doris in her new assignment,” Schubert said.

Like most of the tourism business, the excursion/dinner boat market took a big "hit" right after 9/11. Markets that were geared for conventions and depended on fly-in business were especially hard hit since airline bookings went into a steep nosedive right after the terrorist attack and customers could not reach the destinations that offered riverboat entertainment. Most directly impacted by the World Trade Center attack was VIP Yacht Charters, a New York City dining yacht company located a few blocks from the WTC. Minutes after the attack the company immediately began a rescue effort shuttling 40,000-50,000 people across the river to New Jersey and opened their commissary to rescue workers feeding hundreds of workers at no charge.

The Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute (GLMRI), a joint effort by the University of Wisconsin-Superior and the University of Minnesota Duluth, will receive $2 million in federal funding. This is the second year of funding for the GLMRI collaboration, which now totals $2.75 million. Congressman James L. Oberstar (MN-8) secured the original authorization for the initiative, and Congressman Obey secured the funding in the recently-passed transportation appropriations bill. The Institute’s goal is to help maintain and promote maritime transportation on the Great Lakes. Initial research will focus on the economics and development of the Great Lakes marine transportation system…

A team led by Northrop Grumman Corporation has won a $5.4 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to determine the feasibility of using supercavitation technology for stable, controllable, high-speed underwater transport. The Underwater Express program is a DARPA technology research and evaluation program to establish the potential of a new technology. Supercavitation creates a gas cavity between the vehicle surface and the water, thereby reducing drag and increasing vehicle speed. The program's ultimate goal is a new class of underwater craft for littoral missions that can transport small groups of Navy personnel or specialized military cargo at speeds up to 100 knots.

controllable, high-speed underwater transport. and evaluation program to establish the potential of a new technology. the water, thereby reducing drag and increasing vehicle speed. specialized military cargo at speeds up to 100 knots. vehicle. University's Applied Research Laboratory in State College, Pa. Mass. and Technology business unit. The contract comes with two 15-month options. scale and establish the detailed design of the demonstrator vehicle. would operate at 100 knots for durations of up to 10 minutes. potential value of all three phases is $45.8 million.

PDI Personnel Decisions International, Minneapolis, Minn., Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer Lowell Hellervik, Ph.D., was in April 2007 appointed a Duluth Seaway Port Authority Commissioner by Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. He succeeds Thomas E. Cashman, who was appointed by Governor Jesse Ventura in February 2001. Cashman, a native of Mankato, is president of Feed Service Company, Inc., and executive vice president of the Northwest Agri-Dealers Association, both of Mankato. Hellervik began his career at PDI in 1967, was named President in 1975, and became Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer in 1989. A professional Industrial/Organizational Psychologist…