2016 Events

2016 Events

Company Presentations

This year, Quarterdeck hosted many company presentations including Electric Boat, BMT Designers and Planners, SUPSHIP Bath, Chevron Shipping, ExxonMobil, Austal, Fincantieri Marine Group, Marc Castillo from SAFE Boats, American Bureau of Shipping, Jeff Hough from CISD, Tom O'Reilly from Astro Wave Systems.


Whirlyball, The Tradition - December

To wrap up the semester, Quarterdeck fulfilled their tradition of Whirlyball-ing on a fine Saturday evening. The event had perhaps the largest turnout in the history of ever with around 40 students who attended to play Whirlyball, eat Jet's pizza, and generally chill before exams got into full swing.


CAPT Paul Rinn from the US Navy (retired)- November

CAPT Paul Rinn of the US Navy spoke of his time aboard the USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58), which was one of the final ships in the US Navy's Oliver Hazard Perry-class of guided missile frigates (FFG). Commissioned in 1986, the ship was severely damaged by an Iranian mine in 1988. This is the story, told by the Commanding Officer, of courage, leadership, and engineering prowess as the crew fought to save the ship. He emphasized the power of knowing your people, all of your people, second chances, and willpower paired with thorough knowledge.


SNAME Maritime Convention - November

Quarterdeck was able to take 15 students to the 2016 Annual SNAME Maritime Convention in Bellevue, WA. These students, as well as several other Michigan students, attended technical presentations, built their professional networks, competed in a student design competition, and more. Some notable outcomes for our students include the following:

James Coller was elected Vice Chair of the Student Steering Committee, which oversees and supports students and their university sections in SNAME.

Taylor Allen, Andrew Earhart, Robert Emmitt, and Mark Parra-Shostrand, under faculty advisor Matthew Collette, took 3rd place in this year's Dr. James A. Lisnyk Ship Design Competition for their ice-hardened medium-sized combatant design proposal.

Macheng Shen won the John V. Wehausen Scholarship, and Teri LaForest won the SNAME Undergraduate Scholarship.

Our Quarterdeck website, managed by Teri LaForest, took 1st place in the SNAME Microsite Design Competition and won $500.

Darrell Hall and Quincy Lowman were on the winning team for this year's student design competition, which involved vessel speed and damage stability components, and they earned cash prizes and steins.

Teri LaForest won a SNAME firepit from Metal Shark in a raffle.

In addition to outstanding student success, several Michigan alumni attended the conference, including one who earned a medal:

William Hurley, Jr. won the Vice Admiral Emory S. "Jerry" Land Medal, a prestigious award for a person with outstanding accomplishment in the marine field; currently Mr. Hurley is the Chairman of Glosten.

Joseph Comer, III served as SNAME's President starting in 2015 and will be wrapping up his term at the end of the year.

NA&ME Department Professor Matthew Collette gave a technical presentation about his research regarding the H.L. Hunley, the first successful submarine in history and sank the USS Housatonic but was lost due to unknown causes.

THANK YOU to all of the individuals and companies who generously donated to Quarterdeck. You are directly supporting the growth and careers of the students in our NA&ME department. Also, shout out to our Quarterdeck officers, especially Commodore Jess Reid, for organizing a successful trip.

USS Detroit Tour- October

Made possible by Gibbs & Cox and their Chief Naval Architect Ben Capuco, NA&ME students were welcomed on board the USS Detroit for a ship tour before she is commissioned. Students were led through the littoral combat ship (LCS), learn about its features and systems, and ask questions of those operating and working aboard the ship.

Mr. Capuco was one of the lead designers of the LCS and presented about his work to Quarterdeck the day before. We are very thankful that we were able to hear from him about his experience and that he made this trip possible!

Tech Day - September

Each year, the University of Michigan College of Engineering hosts Tech Day. Prospective college students and their families are invited to explore engineering fields, engineering at Michigan, and other opportunities. The Naval Architecture Department hosted a competition for students to design a boat made of aluminum foil and other materials to hold the highest number of pennies.

Following this fun event, Quarterdeck members talked with the prospective students at a majors fair about the Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering Department, what classes are like, career opportunities, and more. 

Quarterdeck Goes Kayaking - September

On a sunny Sunday afternoon, we took to the water for some paddling on the Huron River for our first social event of the semester! Quarterdeck members, old and new, came out for the event to enjoy the summery, fresh air before classes really kick in. One might even say we row, row, rowed our boats gently down the stream...

Sunset Village Retirement Community - September

Students from the Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering visited the Sunset Village Retirement Community to speak with retirees about general department activities as well as student organization and career experiences in the marine field.

Whirlyball Fun - April

On a fine Friday evening, NA&ME students journeyed to Whirlyball of Ann Arbor to play in this department semester tradition. Special guests Professor Singer and Professor Maki played the game, and Professor Sun also stopped by. Pizza was dined upon, and fun was had by all!

NA&ME Annual Spring Reception - April

On a fine Friday evening, the NA&ME Department and Quarterdeck hosted a spring banquet to celebrate this year's accomplishments. We honored this year's Honorary Commodore Mr. Edward Shearer, who gave a speech filled with advice and wisdom for aspiring naval architects and marine engineers.

Also, we honored our Outstanding Faculty Member Dr. Armin Troesch, Outstanding Undergraduate Student James Coller, and Outstanding Graduate Student Harleigh Seyffert.The Outstanding Faculty Member was voted upon by the students, and the Outstanding Undergraduate and Graduate Students were voted upon by the faculty. In a fun new tradition, paper plate awards were voted upon by NA&ME students prior to the reception and awarded the evening of.

Left: Honorary Commodore Mr. Edward Shearer. Right: Quarterdeck Officers and Warren Noone.

Navigating the Marine Industry Panel - April

A few of the marine industry's top professionals came to speak to Quarterdeck about their experiences and answered students' many questions about a variety of topics.

- Bernard Bentgen, Director of Marine Sales at Tognum America Inc.
- Benedict Capuco, Chief Naval Architect at Gibbs & Cox
- Edward Comstock, Senior Engineering Fellow at Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems

They spoke to the advantages of graduate school as well as international experiences; gave their projections of where they see the marine industry is headed; and shared some of their favorite projects, which were ones where they could oversee an entire project from conceptualization to its actual building and launching. Additionally, all emphasized the connections they made with others, particularly mentors, people who have been in the field for years and are able to share their knowledge. We'd like to give a huge thank you to our advisory board speakers!

Round Table Night with the Mentorship Program - April

We held our first Round Table Night with the Quarterdeck Mentorship Program! As the we dined on pizza, students rotated between stations that focused on internships, senior design, graduate studies, and research/study abroad opportunities. This gave younger students the opportunity to speak with older students about what to expect in the upcoming years in the NA&ME department, and they could ask questions, share stories, and get to know each other.

Steven Kemp on the Glomar Explorer - March

Steve Kemp, an accomplished Michigan NA&ME alum and current Chair of the SNAME Great Lakes & Great Rivers Section, has 45 years of experience in the naval industry including working at Global Marine Inc., Chevron Shipping, and MTU Detroit Diesel and owning Stephen G. Kemp Marine and Process Controls LCC. For his presentation, Mr. Kemp talked about the Glomar Explorer, which was a ship designed to recover a Russian submarine from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in secret. To design and build this ship in secrecy and on an extremely tight schedule, as Mr. Kemp described, the engineers on the project had to successfully innovate, integrate, and implement numerous complex systems to ensure the vessel's stability and ability to retrieve the submarine.

Dave Singer on Graduate Programs - March

Dave Singer discussed the ins and outs of the NA&ME graduate programs (SGUS, Masters, and Ph.D) and what to expect in life as a graduate student. He explained the advantages and opportunities that are opened up with a graduate degree including higher salaries and better starting positions, and although you may be overqualified for some positions, you may not be able to attain other positions. Particularly for students aiming to get Ph.D, the sooner you start planning and determining what area of research you want to focus in, the better as this enables you to start talking with professors about future opportunities. Also, Dr. Singer highly encourages students to speak with current graduate students about their experiences to help you make the best decision for your goals.

Interested in a NA&ME graduate program? Check out this link to get you started: http://name.engin.umich.edu/academics/gradprogram/

Chesapeake Sailing Yacht Symposium - March

UMich NA&ME students had the opportunity to attend the Chesapeake Sailing Yacht Symposium at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Detroit Boat Show - February

What better way for naval architect and marine engineering students to bond than to wander through hundreds of boats at the Detroit Boat Show in the Cobo Center? The group got to go aboard numerous boats ranging from fishing boats to pontoons to yachts, and they also saw numerous engines and propellers.

Ice Skating Night - February

For a fun break in the midst of a busy semester, Quarterdeck took to the ice at Yost Ice Arena to skate the night away. (Shout out to ABS for providing the selfie-stick.)

Restaurant Night - February

Our Mentorship program had its first event at Buffalo Wild Wings. This gave mentor-mentee pairs the opportunity to meet each other, some for the first time, over wings in a relaxed setting. If you are still interested in joining, fear not, as it's never to late to join the program! Please contact James Coller (jcoller@umich.edu) for more information.