P.E. exam for naval architects

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by Archive, Jun 12, 2001.

  1. Archive
    Joined: Jun 2001
    Posts: 169
    Likes: 1, Points: 16, Legacy Rep: 10

    Archive Senior Member

    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/maritime/maritime_regulatory/standards.htm
    http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/maritime/maritime_regulatory/rcdguide-en.pdf

    ----------
    Stephen Ditmore
    New York
     
  2. Jeff
    Joined: Jun 2001
    Posts: 1,368
    Likes: 71, Points: 58, Legacy Rep: 923
    Location: Great Lakes

    Jeff Moderator

    Eric Sponberg mentioned that the PE for Naval Architects will be one of the things discussed at IBEX on February 8th:
    This is from:
    http://www.boatbuilding.com/cgi-bin/designtalk.cgi?read=1425
     
  3. Guest

    Guest Guest

    What ever happened at IBEX on February 8th?

    Does anyone know?
     
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