Category: Alumni
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NA&ME Welcomes New Assistant Professor
We are excited to announce that Dr. Alan Papalia will join our department as an Assistant Professor in January 2026. Dr. Papalia completed his Ph.D. at MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where he developed reliable, low-cost navigation solutions for large-scale robotic systems. Before joining us, he will spend 2025 as a postdoctoral fellow…
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Unlocking ocean power: $3.6M for community-centric wave energy converters
Coastal communities are partnering with a multidisciplinary research team to determine the best way to harvest wave energy at Beaver Island, Michigan, and Nags Head, North Carolina. The project is led by the University of Michigan, supported with $3.6 million from the National Science Foundation. It brings together researchers from five different institutions to help…
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Beers/Wood honored with 2024 Rosenblatt-Michigan award
Beers/Wood Honored with 2024 Rosenblatt-Michigan Award Gregory Beers, P.E. (MSE 95, BSE 94) and Cory Wood (BSE 93), esteemed alumni of the University of Michigan College of Engineering, have been awarded the 2024 Rosenblatt-Michigan Award. Cory Wood received his BS in NAME in 1993 and Greg. Beers was right behind a BS in 1994 and…
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Wilkinson named 2024 Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Department Merit Awardee
The Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering is proud to announce Kari Wilkinson as the 2024 recipient of the Alumni Merit Award. The award, presented at the Alumni Awards Dinner during Michigan Engineering Homecoming Weekend, honors alumni who exemplify the College’s tradition of excellence and have achieved remarkable professional accomplishments. Wilkinson, executive vice president…
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NAME alumnus and longtime Advisory Board member, Tom Mackey has passed at 84
It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of Thomas P. Mackey, alumnus of the University of Michigan’s Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering (NAME) department, and a legendary figure in the maritime industry. Tom passed away on August 12th at the age of 84. Tom’s maritime career was nothing short of extraordinary,…
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$4.1M Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering building renovation
We are happy to report that the $4.1 million renovation of the NAME building is nearly complete. The scope of the project included the renovation of 8,400 square feet of key spaces, including classroom 138, restrooms, the lounge, and the Undergraduate Marine Design Lab (UGMDL). Additionally, the corridors and the two main interior entrances received…
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University of Michigan Awarded NSF Grant to Establish the GO Blue Center for Growing Ocean Energy Technologies and the Blue Economy
The University of Michigan has announced the establishment of the Center for Growing Ocean Energy Technologies and the Blue Economy (GO Blue), a significant initiative under the umbrella of the National Science Foundation’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers (IUCRC) program. This center, a collaborative effort among the University of Michigan, Stevens Institute of Technology, and Texas…
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PhD candidate wins NSF Fellowship Award for Ocean Engineering paper
PhD candidate Kyle Marlantes for his National Science Foundation (NSF) Fellowship Award for the presentation of his work on hybrid force-correcting machine learning methods at the IACM 2023 Mechanic Machine Learning and Digital Engineering for Computational Science Engineering and Technology Conference. The work demonstrated how a force-correcting approach can be used to learn nonlinear damping,…
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Trilateral Partnership to Train U.S. Shipbuilding Experts
Macomb Community College, Michigan – July 23, 2024 In an exciting initiative to bolster America’s maritime workforce, the University of Michigan (UM), Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), and Seoul National University (SNU) have forged a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This collaborative effort aims to cultivate U.S. shipbuilding expertise through specialized training programs. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer…
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Recent PhD Graduates Use AI to Predict Ship Failures at the Marine Engineering Lab
Exploring New Frontiers with Artificial Intelligence At the Marine Engineering Lab in the Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Department, exciting research is underway that combines large data sets with cutting-edge technology. Researchers are applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) to predict and prevent problems in ship machinery. This work is especially important for autonomous, or crewless, naval…
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Student wins award for Innovative Design Paper at International Marine Design Conference
Connor Arrigan, a Ph.D. student under the mentorship of Professor Singer at the University of Michigan, recently won the inaugural Best Student Paper Award at the 15th International Marine Design Conference. His paper, titled “The Importance of Ontological Commitment and Linguistics in Relation to the Elucidation of Design Requirements,” explores how the role of linguistics…
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Tow tank control system upgraded to Couch Carriage
The Aaron Friedman Marine Hydrodynamics Lab manned carriage control system has completed a comprehensive upgrade thanks to an establishing gift by John Couch (NAME BSE MSE) in honor of his late father, Richard B. Couch. Couch spent a decade as Chair of UM’s Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Department (1957-1967) and remained a close friend…