P.E. exam for naval architects

[Archive]

Dear WoodenBoat:
In 1989 I moved to Rockport, Massachusetts, and about that time began to consider attending The Landing School's Yacht Design program. From time to time that year and the next I would make my way down Ferry Street in Gloucester to the Montgomery Boatyard and would tap on the side of Resolution to see if the master was about. Phil Bolger was very generous to me with his time, and when I attended The Landing School in 1990-91 we were treated to visits and more from Dick Newick, Olin Stephens, and Chuck Paine. I was happy to see these designers featured in your article "Challenging The Test" concerning the PE Exam in Naval Architecture, and SNAME's role in developing and promoting it. Though in Bolger's case he remained iconoclastic, these designers' interest in the next generation was always apparent to me.

P.E. exams have been around for a long time, and I am less bothered than Phil Bolger about the addition of one specific to Naval Architecture. People who take four years to get an engineering degree in Naval Architecture, and those from other disciplines who demonstrate an equivalent mastery, have a legitimate claim to a credential. But while I think the review of plans by a P.E. might be an appropriate alternative to plan approval by a classification society, I would be bothered if only P.E.'s were to be recognized as legitimate yacht designers. This would be parallel to only licensing structural engineers as building architects. Architects should have an appreciation of basic engineering principles, and should have knowledge of how to properly apply relevant standards and codes. They should know when it is necessary to seek the advice of a structural engineer, and should not hesitate to do so when it is appropriate. But people with architecture, industrial design, or nautical archeology backgrounds, yachtsmen, boatbuilders, apprentices and autodidacts have much to contribute to the field of naval architecture.

I would like to see someone, in consultation with the Society of Boat & Yacht Designers, the ABYC, the Industrial Design Society of America, the ORC, Westlawn, The Landing School, SAMS, and, yes, perhaps even the SNAME Small Craft Committee, develop a competency standard for professional yacht designers that does not require an engineering degree. It should include the ability to interpret Coast Guard CFR 46, ISO 12215, ABYC, and IMO intact stability regulations, and to perform and analyze an inclining experiment (I think there's an ANSI or ASME booklet on the procedure, and forms are available from the Coast Guard). The knowledge on which applicants are tested should be consistent with what is taught by Westlawn and The Landing School, and there should be no prerequisite to taking the exam.

Thank you again for covering this matter in both your publications.

Sincerely,

Stephen Ditmore
d.b.a. Forces At Work
3902 Manhattan College Pkwy Apt 2B
New York, NY 10471
cell: 917-731-7378

Links to ISO info:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise.../standards.htm
http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise...cdguide-en.pdf

----------
Stephen Ditmore
New York

[Jeff]

Eric Sponberg mentioned that the PE for Naval Architects will be one of the things discussed at IBEX on February 8th:

The naval architecture and marine engineering P.E. is brand new (just 2 years old), and its existence has raised a tremendous amount of controversy in the recreational boat arena. There will be a free explanatory session to discuss the NA&ME PE question at the International Boatbuilders Exhibition and Conference (IBEX) in Fort Lauderdale, FL, on Friday, February 8, at 5:30 PM at the Ft. Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center. For more information, contact www.ibexshow.com.

I will be on the discussion panel which will be headed up by Dudley Dawson, an independent naval architect. I think Dave Gerr will also be on the panel. Other representatives will be there from The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, The Landing School, Westlawn, and hopefully the Florida State P.E. Licensing board.

This is from:
http://www.boatbuilding.com/cgi-bin/....cgi?read=1425

Does anyone know?