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The University of Southampton
Engineering

Visionary engineer awarded prestigious Chair in Emerging Technologies

Published: 10 October 2019
Professor Susan Gourvenec
Professor Susan Gourvenec

Professor Susan Gourvenec from the University of Southampton has been awarded a Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies to drive forward intelligent and resilient ocean engineering.

The Chair will address technology gaps at each stage of the engineered life cycle of ocean structures, from characterising and forecasting ocean and seafloor behaviour, to the design and operation of novel platforms for ocean facilities.

By harnessing the intelligence of sensing, robotics and autonomy, this next generation of resilient engineered systems will unlock ocean resources more efficiently and more sustainably, with less risk to life.

Susan, a Professor of Offshore Geotechnical Engineering and Deputy Director of the Southampton Marine & Maritime Institute, is one of eight world-leading engineers that will share a total of £22 million from the prestigious scheme.

The ten-year support provided to the Chairs will enable them to progress their pioneering ideas from basic science through to full deployment and commercialisation, with Susan planning to develop a Centre of Excellence in Intelligent & Resilient Ocean Engineering.

“We will need to rely more and more on the oceans for energy, food and transport to meet the needs of an increasing and increasingly wealthy global population,” Susan says. “Smart, safe and sustainable ways of harvesting the wealth of the oceans while protecting their health are essential.

“Oceans are a critical ecosystem for a healthy planet and irresponsible or over utilization of the oceans would be catastrophic for humanity. Emerging technologies of sensing, robotics and big data have immeasurable potential to improve the safety of engineering operations in the ocean for workers and the environment, and open up new approaches to design and operations.”

The eight areas of research funded through the new Chairs in Emerging Technologies reflect the UK’s wider technological priorities, with many of the projects directly aligned to the government’s Industrial Strategy.

“The UK has immense renewable energy resources to provide clean, green energy to the UK and its neighbours, as well as opportunities for other uses of ocean space from tidal stream aquaculture to floating ports, which will create jobs and wealth for the nation,” Susan says.

“Ocean engineering expertise, manufacturing and service industries exist across the nation from our mature oil and gas industry and transitioning this strength along with building new capabilities to support clean growth through new ocean technologies are key aims of this Chair. The Centre of Excellence in Intelligent & Resilient Ocean Engineering created through this Chair will be a hub for these activities.”

Professor Themis Prodromakis, of Southampton’s Zepler Institute for Photonics and Nanoelectronics, has also been supported through the scheme this autumn to continue advancing memristive technologies for lifelong learning embedded AI hardware.

Professor Bashir Al-Hashimi, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, says, “These highly prestigious awards by the Royal Academy of Engineering enable world-leading and visionary academics to address some of the key challenges humanity and our planet are facing. Science and engineering have significant contributions to make to solve these issues and the research at Southampton led by Professor Gourvenec and Professor Prodromakis are testament to the impact and the relevance of their innovative approach to these challenges.”

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