Virginia Tech University News

ZF Marine announced it has hired George Lewis as its new head of product line commercial-fast craft, North/Central America and the Caribbean, reporting to Wolfgang Schmid, ZF’s Industrial Division Head for North America.“ZF Marine welcomes George aboard and looks forward to the positive impact he will have upon the company’s sales across the Americas and Caribbean,” Schmid said. “With his deep industry knowledge and technical skill as a trained naval architect and proven sales leader…

Managing the risks associated with a new ship acquisition, whether commercial or military, can be a daunting process. For the commercial operator, the new ship must make a reasonable profit after the cost of design and the annual operating costs are accounted for. The warfighter must fit his new acquisition into ever-shrinking fiscal budgets while ensuring that a vital mission capability is met. Programmatic Risk – Will the selected hull form and associated requirements successfully meet the owner’s needs?

USNS Spearhead, the first of the Navy's joint high-speed vessels designed for rapid intra-theater transport of troops and military equipment, was christened Sept. 17 during a ceremony at Austal USA in Mobile, Ala. Military Sealift Command will own and operate Spearhead and the other joint high-speed vessels, or JHSVs, that are under contract to be built for the Navy. Spearhead will be crewed by 22 civil service mariners working for MSC who will operate, navigate and maintain the ship.

U.S. Navy Christens New Military Vessel in Mobile, Alabama at Austal USA. The Navy will christen the Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) Spearhead Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011, during a 10 a.m. CDT ceremony in Mobile, Ala. Chief Warrant Officer 4 Kenneth Wahlman, U.S. Army (Ret.) will serve as ship’s sponsor. His daughter Catherine, a Staff Sgt. in the Army ROTC attending Virginia Tech University, will assist her father in the christening, Mr. Wahlman’s wife, Chief Warrant Officer Five…

College Students from the United States and Canada will bring their robotic boats to Virginia Beach to compete for up to $20,000 in prize money. The event, the second International Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) Competition, is being sponsored by the U.S. Office of Naval Research and the Washington, DC-based Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Foundation. The competition will occur June 18-21 at the Founder’s Inn and Spa in Virginia Beach. The small lake on the resort’s property will be turned into the site of a simulated shipwreck of a ferry boat with passengers awaiting rescue. The student-built boats will be challenged to navigate a treacherous series of dangerous reefs and dock with the sinking ferry to rescue the passengers.