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Webmaster's Teaser September 08

You awake inside a small transparent capsule sitting on the surface of Venus. From a small speaker you hear a voice that says, "We will leave you here either for a day or a year. If you choose to stay a day, we will give you £1 million. If you choose to stay a year, we will give you £2 million. Either way, you will have sufficient food and water. We will make sure the temperature is a constant 20 degrees Celsius. We will also supply satellite TV."

What is your choice? (Don't let money decide your answer).

Type 45 Destroyer: Design and Delivery

The Type 45 or DARING Class Destroyer is the replacement for the long-serving Type 42 air defence destroyers of which HM Ships SHEFFIELD, COVENTRY and NOTTINGHAM are well remembered. At present there are 5 Type 42s in commission to be replaced by 6 Type 45s. The evolution of the Type 45 started with a national Type 43, which was discarded for a NATO Replacement Frigate (NFR90) only to be replaced by the Common New Generation Frigate (CNGF), and ended with the current DARING Class. BAE Systems as the prime contractor worked with the MoD Procurement Agency in the Type 45 Integrated Project Team to define the basis for the contract for first of class manufacture that was to be undertaken competitively by BAE Systems Marine in Glasgow and Vosper Thornycroft in Southampton. HMS DARING was launched on the Clyde on 1 February 2006 and, on 18 July 2007, started stage 1 sea trials which were successfully completed on 14 August 2007. [For an account of the development of the Type 45 please read http://navy-matters.beedall.com]

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On Tuesday 14 October, Commander Steve Thompson RN of the Type 45 Integrated Project Team gave a presentation to members and guests of the Joint Branch about the design and delivery of this first of class.

After a short video of the ship during stage 1 sea trials [see http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.6531] Steve described the all electric propulsion plant installed in the ship. Processing 21MW of gas generator, power-turbine drive through water-cooled alternators and HV/LV converters to 20MW induction motors driving each of 2 shafts controlled by a programmable logic controller was provided by Rolls Royce, Alstrom and Litton Marine/Rockwell Automation respectively. The intercooled, recuperated WR21 developed by Rolls Royce and Northrup Grumman, based on the RB211 and Trent engines, provides a very fuel efficient prime mover that satisfies RN and USN military specifications and uses 45% less fuel that the Type 42. Steve showed a short video of a successful shock test for the WR21 module in which an underwater charge was exploded below a floating module. Based on experience from the US Navy’s Integrated Electric Propulsion test site in Philadelphia, where Steve had served, Alstrom has built its own test bed at Whetstone, near Leicester and the whole propulsion system, including salt water cooled HV alternators, has been de-risked. The platform management system (PMS) is linked to the plant by a triple redundant optic cable system so that the controllers can be distributed around the ship in an open architecture. Steve described the brain of the ship as the single interface for platform systems where the status of propulsion, combat, navigation and communications can be accessed.

The presentation completed at 2030 with many questions, the usual salutations and a drink at the bar in the Royal Plymouth Corinthian Yacht Club.

The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology

Guidance notes for mentors and for companies establishing a mentoring programme

Introduction

This guide is designed to offer assistance to those members of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) who are considering becoming a mentor, or those members of the Institute seeking a mentor. A mentor can either assist an IMarEST Graduate member (GIMarEST) gain Corporate member status (Initial Professional Development - IPD) or assist another Corporate member progress in their career (Continuing Professional Development - CPD). This guide is intended to provide helpful guidance for mentoring for IPD but the techniques are equally applicable for CPD. This guide additionally offers advice to organisations and companies that wish to establish a mentoring programme as part of a formal, structured graduate or technician training programme.

It is emphasized that mentoring is a unique, personal relationship between the mentor and the mentee and as such this guide is offered as a basis for discussion. However, it is based on the considerable experience of the institute and those other authorise listed at the reference.

What is a Mentor?

A mentor is usually described as a “wise or trusted advisor or guide” who, in a business/organisational environment, is there to provide guidance or advice of a professional nature as part of the development of a graduate, work colleague or peer (the mentee). The process of mentoring is a voluntary partnership which can employ coaching or counselling techniques to encourage this development and progression. A mentor is usually more experienced and often more senior, with the skills and expertise necessary to provide support to the mentee. The fundamental role of the mentor is to guide the mentee along their chosen career path.

Mentoring has a wide range of benefits for both the mentor as well as the mentee and can have a positive impact on the business as a whole. It can help new employees acclimatise to the working environment faster and with greater ease and can facilitate communication between the different levels of hierarchy within the company. Every employee needs advice and reassurance at some point during their career and having a mentor offers a unique and personal approach to this.

The mentee receives ‘tailor-made’ advice that permits him or her to gain balanced and unbiased advice for their medium and long-term career progression. The mentor becomes aware of new ideas and perspectives from his mentee, improves his/her own personal reputation within the company and can groom his/her own successor (the mentee) to progress further within the organisation.

Click here to read IMarEST Mentoring Guidance.

Continuing Professional Development

Members should not be surprised to find that the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology and the Royal Institution of Naval Architects suggest that all members should undertake continuing professional development. The Engineering Council requires that registrants, on application, produce evidence of a continuing professional development plan, and the Science Council requires registrants to re-validate their competence every five years after registration. The Devon and Cornwall Joint Branch expect that all members should have a continuing professional development action plan as part of their portfolio of personal improvement objectives.

Continuing professional development is not just a standard applied by professional institutions and regulatory bodies, every chartered or incorporated professional commits to their own life-long learning and self-improvement process as part of a total quality ethos. Whether members are self-employed or employed, a vital part of business improvement is the identification, acquisition and review of new or perished skills that the business requires for success.

This ethos provides a win-win climate for the process and culture changes necessary for business improvement. Devon and Cornwall Joint Branch members will benefit from rewarding professional careers and the region’s maritime sector businesses will benefit from quality improvement.

Click here to read the IMarEST’s ‘CPD guide for members.’

Teaser 21 July 08

You are a prisoner sentenced to death. The President offers you a chance to live by playing a simple game. He gives you 50 black marbles, 50 white marbles and 2 empty bowls. He then says, "Divide these 100 marbles into these 2 bowls. You can divide them any way you like as long as you use all the marbles. Then I will blindfold you and mix the bowls around. You then can choose one bowl and remove ONE marble. If the marble is WHITE you will live, but if the marble is BLACK... you will die."

How do you divide the marbles up so that you have the greatest probability of choosing a WHITE marble?

Answer: Place 1 white marble in one bowl, and place the rest of the marbles in the other bowl (49 whites, and 50 blacks).

This way you begin with a 50/50 chance of choosing the bowl with just one white marble, therefore life! BUT even if you choose the other bowl, you still have ALMOST a 50/50 chance at picking one of the 49 white marbles.