APPENDIX B: COMMITTEE ON MARINE STRUCTURES AND SHIP STRUCTURE COMMITTEE ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION
Establishment of Committees
The Ship Structure Committee (SSC) was established in 1946 on the recommendation of a board of investigation convened by the Secretary of the Navy to inquire into the design and methods of construction of welded-steel merchant vessels. As that investigation concluded, several unfinished studies and items worthy of investigation remained. The board of investigation recommended that a continuing organization be established to formulate and coordinate research in matters pertaining to ship structures.
The purpose of the SSC is to promote safety, economy, marine environmental protection, and education in the U.S. maritime industry through the advancement of marine-structures technology.
Since 1946, the National Research Council's Committee on Marine Structures (CMS) and its predecessors have rendered technical services to the SSC by developing a continuing research program. Sponsored by the SSC and funded collectively by its member agencies, this research program determines how marine structures can be safer and perform better without adverse economic effects.
Figure 2 shows the relationship of the organizations involved in SSC work.
Membership
The SSC is composed of one senior official from each of the U.S. Coast Guard, the Naval Sea Systems Command, the Maritime Administration, the American Bureau of Shipping, the Military Sealift Command, Transport Canada, and the Canadian Department of Defence. The SSC formulates policy, approves program plans, and provides financial support for the research program through its member agencies.
The Ship Structure Subcommittee, with four representatives from each agency, meets periodically to ensure achievement of program goals and to evaluate research results in terms of structural design, inspection, construction, and operation. Current membership of the SSC and the subcommittee, and the liaisons to them, are listed following Figure 2.
The CMS and its two work groups, the Materials Work Group and the Design Work Group, are composed of members with academic, governmental, and industrial experience, who were selected for their competence and experience in relevant areas. They serve as individuals contributing personal knowledge and judgment, not as representatives of organizations with which they are employed or associated. Current membership of the CMS and its work groups is listed in the front of this report.
SHIP STRUCTURE COMMITTEE
RADM James C. Card, USCG (Chairman)
Chief, Office of Marine Safety,
Security and Environmental Protection
U.S. Coast Guard
Mr. Edward N. Comstock
Director, Naval Architecture Group
Naval Sea Systems Command
Dr. Donald Liu
Senior Vice President
American Bureau of Shipping
Mr. H. T. Haller
Associate Administrator for Shipbuilding
and Technology Development
Maritime Administration
Mr. Thomas W. Allen
Director of Engineering
Military Sealift Command
Mr. Thomas H. Peirce
Marine R&D Coordinator
Transport Development Center
Transport Canada
Mr. Warren Nethercote
Head, Hydronautics Section
Defence Research Establishment Atlantic
CONTRACTING OFFICER TECHNICAL REPRESENTATIVE
Mr. William J. Siekierka
SEA 03P4
Naval Sea Systems Command
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
CDR Stephen E. Sharpe, USCG
Ship Structure Committee
U.S. Coast Guard
SHIP STRUCTURE SUBCOMMITTEE
AMERICAN BUREAU OF SHIPPING
Mr. Stephen G. Arntson
Mr. John F. Conlon
Mr. William Hanzelek
Mr. Philip G. Rynn
MILITARY SEALIFT COMMAND
Mr. Robert Van Jones (Chairman)
Mr. Rickard A. Anderson
Mr. Michael W. Touma
Mr. Jeffrey E. Beach
MARITIME ADMINISTRATION
Mr. Frederick Seibold
Mr. Norman O. Hammer
Mr. Chao H. Lin
Dr. Walter M. Maclean
NAVAL SEA SYSTEMS COMMAND
Mr. W. Thomas Packard
Mr. Allen H. Engle
Mr. Edward E. Kadala
Mr. Charles L. Null
U.S. COAST GUARD
CAPT. Gordon D. Marsh
CAPT. W. E. Colburn
Mr. H. Paul Cojeen
Mr. Rubin Sheinberg
TRANSPORT CANADA
Mr. John Grinstead
Mr. Ian Bayly
Mr. David L. Stocks
Mr. Peter Timonin
DEFENCE RESEARCH ESTABLISHMENT ATLANTIC
Dr. Neil Pegg
Dr. Roger Hollingshead
LCDR Steve Gibson
Mr. John Porter
SSC STUDENT MEMBER
Mr. Trevor Butler
Memorial University of Newfoundland
SHIP STRUCTURE COMMITTEE LIAISON MEMBERS
U.S. COAST GUARD ACADEMY
LCDR Bruce Mustain
U.S. MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY
Dr. C. B. Kim
U.S. NAVAL ACADEMY
Dr. Ramswar Bhattacharyya
WELDING RESEARCH COUNCIL
Dr. Martin Prager
SOCIETY OF NAVAL ARCHITECTS AND MARINE ENGINEERS - HYDRODYNAMICS COMMITTEE
Dr. William Sandberg
AMERICAN IRON AND STEEL INSTITUTE
Mr. Alexander D. Wilson
OFFICE OF NAVAL RESEARCH
Dr. Yapa Rajapaksie
CANADA CENTRE FOR MINERALS AND ENERGY TECHNOLOGY
Dr. William R. Tyson
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES COMMITTEE ON MARINE STRUCTURES
Mr. Peter M. Palermo
Dr. Robert A. Sielski
Responsibilities
The CMS advises the SSC on its research program in materials, loading, response, design, fabrication, and inspection of marine structures. Specific activities include:
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technical review and analysis of the active and projected SSC research program to improve marine structures in the areas of materials, fabrication methods, and analysis and design;
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preparation of an annual report, which conveys the committee's long-range philosophy, technical review, and analysis and recommends a research agenda for the SSC; and
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technical symposia to assess essential technologies.
Research Program Development
Each organization represented on the SSC annually presents its perceived needs for near-term and long-range research efforts. An annual joint meeting of the CMS and the Ship Structure Subcommittee is held to review these suggestions.
At a subsequent meeting, the CMS carefully considers these suggestions, those generated within the CMS and its advisory groups, those not funded from the prior year, and those obtained from other sources. At the fall meeting of the SSC, the CMS presents its considerations and those of member agencies.
Project Development
CMS work groups convene to review in detail the status of ongoing projects, suggested new work, and the 5-year research program plan. Then the groups (individually or in small task forces) prepare the descriptions of recommended projects. The groups then develop recommendations for the establishment of priorities of the recommended projects, and develop the 5-year research program in their respective area of competence. Each group also prepares a draft of the status reports on active, pending, and completed projects.
The CMS receives these documents and ranks projects for the biennial Marine Structures Recommendations report. Ranking is based on the composite judgment of CMS members, who consider the recommendations of the work group; applicability of the projects to the SSC research program in terms of needs, immediacy, program continuity, and likelihood of success; importance of the project to marine structures; potential of the projects for significant results; and whether the work is being done elsewhere.
Project Initiation and Review
The SSC determines which projects to support. Requests for proposals are prepared and issued through the cooperative efforts of the Naval Sea Systems Command, which provides technical contract administrative support services, and the U.S. Coast Guard, which handles the actual contracting. The requests for proposals are sent to research laboratories, universities, shipyards, and other organizations and are advertised in the Commerce Business Daily. Interested organizations submit proposals and cost estimates to the U. S. Coast Guard contracting office. In some instances, alternative means of contracting for projects are used.
The Ship Structure Subcommittee appoints a project technical committee to evaluate proposals and monitor the project. The Project Technical Committee generally consists of individuals from the subcommittee, its liaisons, or other agency personnel. In addition, the CMS chairman engages one or two members from the cognizant advisory group, the CMS, or other experts in the field as technical advisers to clarify technical issues and maintain CMS's awareness.
The subcommittee sends its proposal evaluations to the U.S. Coast Guard contracting officer who, following routine procurement practices, then awards a contract. After a contract has been awarded, the Project Technical Committee meets periodically with the contractor (investigator) to review project status.
Dissemination of SSC Research Information
Contractors prepare reports of tests or units of work upon completion, on major changes in a project, on significant discoveries, and upon project termination. The Project Technical Committee reviews all such reports. Normally, the SSC disseminates the research results through publication. In addition, the SSC encourages investigators to prepare papers for professional society meetings and technical journals.
To foster the use of the published information, the SSC distributes the reports to individuals and agencies associated with, and interested, in its work. These reports are available through the National Technical Information Service and are reviewed in various marine and naval architecture journals.