Southampton marine engineering graduate wins UK 2020 Maritime Masters programme prize
Marine engineering graduate at the University of Southampton Andrea Chipolina has won the 2020 UK Maritime Masters Programme prize for her research into fuel efficiency on autonomous vessels. She beat masters' student researchers presenting virtually from nine participating universities voted on by an audience poll.
Ms Chipolina's research into 'flapping foil on a wave-powered autonomous vehicle' explored the use of wave-powered flapping foils as a form of propulsion that may contribute to the reduction of fuel consumption and environmental impact of vessels at sea. It was found to be ‘compelling and relevant’.
The annual Maritime Masters Programme is organised by Maritime UK to foster collaboration between academia and industry.
Maritime Minister Robert Court paid tribute to the collaborative research programme. 'It is more important than ever to be able to come together as a sector to celebrate progress, and look to the future research and innovation for our leading academic institutions will be vital to the recovery and future growth of the UK as a maritime nation.'
The 2020 Maritime Masters Finalist Reception took place on Thursday 15 October with the event being part of Maritime UK Week 2020 and was the conclusion to the third iteration of the Maritime Masters programme, where finalists from each of the nine participating universities presented their research to an industry audience and where the winner was named through a public vote.
Introduced and chaired by Maritime UK Vice Chair Sarah Kenny OBE, the students had exactly five minutes each to give the audience a brief introduction and overview of their research. Once all presentations concluded, the audience voted for their favourite research through the online platform. The award was presented by Harry Theochari, Chair of Maritime UK, and along with a trophy consists of a cash prize of £1,000 for the winner.
The Maritime Masters programme is run by Maritime UK and sponsored by Royal HaksoningDHV and Clarksons Platou. This year’s participating universities include: UCL, University of Strathclyde, Cass Business School, University of Plymouth, Cardiff University, Liverpool John Moores University, Newcastle University, Queen Mary University of London and the University of Southampton.
From a list of more than 30 shortlisted students from the participating universities, nine finalists were chosen based on academic abilities and presentation skills. The students shortlisted for this year’s competition represented a wide range of disciplines and a variety of research topics, including the legality surrounding autonomous vessels, the effects of Covid-19 on maritime businesses, alternative fuel technologies for shipping, port privatisation, emission reductions and environmental concerns, ship design, shipping finance and FFA trading.
The 2020 student finalists were:
- Huimin Hu, The Business School (formerly Cass, City, University of London - An analysis of UK nonferrous metal imports and exports
- Markella Pikouni, University of Strathclyde - Safety analysis of the navigational system of autonomous ships
- Andy Wibroe, Newcastle University - Titanic - a century of regulatory evolution
- Rafael Castillo, UCL - Addressing the challenges of transferring ship design into production
- Ioannis Palasis, Cardiff University - Port privatisation and container terminal concessions: the case of the Port of Piraeus
- Ankita Mishra, University of Plymouth - Alternative marine fuels and technologies
- Aleandro Mifsud, Queen Mary University of London - The legal implications of unmanned vessels at sea with particular focus on the SOLAS Convention
- Andrea Chipolina, University of Southampton - Foil performance of a flapping foil, wave powered autonomous vehicle
- Krishna Sooprayen, Liverpool John Moores University - Maritime cargo prioritisation during a prolonged pandemic lockdown using an integrated TOPSIS-Knapsack technique: a case study on small island developing states - the Rodrigues Island