By Jackey Locke

Drs. Wei Qiu and Claude Daley, both ocean and naval architectural engineering professors in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, have been named Fellows of the Society of Naval Architect & Marine Engineers (SNAME).

SNAME is an internationally recognized, non-profit, professional society of individual members serving the maritime and offshore industries and their suppliers. With more than 7,000 members globally in more than 85 countries, SNAME is the international community for maritime and ocean professionals.

Being named Fellow is one of the highest honours at SNAME. It aims to recognize individuals who have made outstanding personal contributions to naval architecture, marine or ocean engineering, or related disciplines. It recognizes significant achievements in areas of design, research, production, operation, education, or associated management.

The election process involves a review of nominations by the Fellows Committee, which, in turn, makes recommendations to the council.

“I am honoured to be elected as Fellow of SNAME,” said Dr. Qiu, department head of Ocean and Naval architectural engineering. “The recognition by my international peers is very rewarding and I am thrilled to have made contributions to the marine and naval architectural field.”

Dr. Qiu joined Memorial in 2004. Prior to joining Memorial, he worked as a senior hydrodynamicist and then as a product manager for seakeeping software.

Dr. Qiu is also a vice-president of SNAME. He is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA), chair of the International Towing Tank Conference’s Ocean Engineering Committee, chair of the Ocean and Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering (OMAE) 2015 conference and associate editor of American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering.

Dr. Qiu’s research is in the area of marine hydrodynamics and its applications to ships and offshore structures. He specializes in solving fluid-structure interaction problems using experimental and numerical methods. Dr. Qiu has been involved in numerous projects with the marine and offshore industries, government agencies and private sectors.

Dr. Daley joined Memorial in 1995. Prior to joining Memorial he worked for an applied engineering research firm in Ottawa, focused on arctic and offshore engineering.

Dr. Daley is also a Fellow of Engineers Canada. He is the principal investigator on a GEM project, which is developing novel simulation software to model practical ship operations in ice. He is a former member of, and former vice-chair, of the Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Newfoundland and Labrador’s (PEGNL) Board of Examiners; former chair of the ocean and naval architectural engineering program at Memorial and former director of the university’s Ocean Engineering Research Centre (OERC). He was the principal investigator on the STePS2 project from 2009-2014, a research project with over a hundred different participants here at Memorial, as well as partners on three continents.

Dr. Daley’s research is in the area of Arctic marine structures. His areas of expertise include Arctic ships and structures; marine structural design and analysis; materials and mechanics; offshore and marine safety; safety and risk; simulation; and structures and materials.

“I was surprised and honored to be selected as a Fellow of SNAME,” said Dr. Daley. “I have always thought of SNAME as my favourite professional society, and enjoyed its spirit of openness. Now I have one more reason to think fondly of SNAME. This recognition says more about SNAME’s generosity than about my accomplishments.” 

“Congratulations to Drs. Qiu and Daley on this well-deserved international recognition,” said Dr. Greg Naterer, dean, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science. “Their significant contributions and our overall excellence of our ocean and naval architectural professors is a reflection of the international reputation of our program and high calibre of research.”