FINAL COUNTDOWN TO INEC 2016
Over 300 international delegates gather in Bristol this week for the 13th International Naval Engineering Conference and Exhibition (INEC 2016) opening tomorrow (26 April) at the iconic Passenger Shed at Brunel’s Old Station in Bristol, UK, with its strong engineering links. An important biennial date in naval engineers' diaries, this year’s conference has as its theme 'Engineering the Triple A Navy: Active, Adaptive, Affordable'.
Not only has this year’s event attracted keynote addresses being delivered by a trio of international naval luminaries, from the Netherlands, the UK and the USA; and by INEC’s Principal Sponsor, but Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal will also be visiting the conference. INEC 2016 is a Learned Society event of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) of which Her Royal Highness is an Honorary Fellow.“Our delegates come from all over the world including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, Poland, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sweden, The Netherlands, and USA, and of course from throughout the UK, for what is regarded as a “can’t miss” event for senior engineers, scientists and technologists working within the navies of the world and for their suppliers,” explains Cdr Matt Bolton RN, Chairman of the INEC 2016 Technical Advisory Committee. “We have a superb and highly relevant and topical conference where over 80 international authors from across the world’s navies, defence industries and academic establishments will be sharing the very latest thinking and developments in warship and submarine design, operation and support.
“I am looking forward to spending time with INEC 2016’s specialist exhibitors – Babcock International Group, Rolls-Royce, QinetiQ, BMT Defence Services, Lloyd’s Register, L-3 Marine Systems UK, Wärtsilä, and Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine - to learn more about the projects on which they are working. BMT Defence Services for example will be hosting a model of their Venator®-110 general purpose frigate, and displaying their thoughts on Total Ship Integration. It is going to be a stimulating and rewarding three days.”
The biennial INEC, which HRH The Princess Royal attended in 2010, has a long and proud history. This year, in addition to keynote addresses being delivered by Vice Admiral Arie Jan de Waard, Director, Defence Materiel Organisation, the Netherlands; Rear Admiral Richard Stokes, Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Support), UK; Mr Frank Kelley, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Unmanned Systems, USA; and Mr Simon Knight, Naval Engineering Director at Principal Sponsor the Babcock International Group, INEC features over 80 peer-reviewed technical papers. More than 20 of the presentations are eligible for the Sir Donald Gosling Award, designed to recognise young authors aged 35 and below.
Additionally, delegates will be taking advantage of the excellent networking opportunities both within the exhibition hall, and througout the social programme, which includes a reception aboard Brunel’s ss Great Britain. The Royal Navy Mine Counter Measures Vessel HMS Atherstone will be present in Bristol for the duration of INEC and delegates are offered tours of the ship; together with an Industrial Visit to Rolls-Royce which will include the opportunity to view the MT30 Marine Gas Turbine build/test facility.
The Principal Sponsor of INEC 2016 is the Babcock International Group together with Major Sponsors: BMT Defence Services, Rolls-Royce, QinetiQ, GE’s Marine Solutions and BAE Systems.