Rowan and the Navy Moving Full Speed Ahead
Rowan and the Navy Moving Full Speed Ahead
May 7, 2004
The Navy and Rowan University's College of Engineering recently showed that they are moving full speed ahead together during an event highlighting their partnership as part of the Henry M. Rowan Speaker Series.
Speakers from the Naval Air Engineering Station at Lakehurst, which hosts NAVAIR and more than 20 other tenants, and the Naval Sea Systems Command of Philadelphia explained some of the challenges confronting engineers at the event, dubbed Navy Day at Rowan. Faculty, students and other spectators turned out for the presentation at the Betty Long Rowan Lecture Hall. Afterward, attendees had a chance to view displays set up by presenters and engineering students.
NAVAIR and NAVSEA have partnered with Rowan University several years, funding research efforts and hiring students as interns and employees. "Through Navy Day, Rowan University recognizes the extraordinary collaboration of NAVAIR at Lakehurst and NAVSEA at Philadelphia with the College of Engineering," said Rowan's provost, Dr. Helen Giles-Gee. "This partnership provides our students with opportunities for cutting-edge applications of theories and clinical work as well as postgraduate employment. The Navy also gains from having the best faculty and student minds at work on projects."
Capt. Lawrence Baun, commanding officer, Carderock Division, Ship Systems Engineering Station, Philadelphia, detailed the responsibilities of NAVSEA as well as its goals for the future. He encouraged students to think about joining the Navy as engineers and touted the importance of the Navy's partnership with Rowan.
"Young people bring new ideas, and the Navy needs to introduce new technology," Baun said. "That young college student working with computers since Day 1 has the fresh types of ideas that we need." His operation's partnership with Rowan creates an essential "information exchange" that benefits both sides, he said.
Baun said NAVSEA focuses on three general areas: the "current Navy," which includes ships in the fleet; the "future Navy," which will include new ships and systems; and the "Navy after next," which hinges on the research and development efforts of engineers and other specialists.
"The readiness of our fleet today is the highest ever, but it's the smallest fleet since 1916 and the smallest number of sailors since Pearl Harbor," Baun said. "It's important as engineers that we are able to man and design the ships."
That is a challenging proposition because destroyers today have about 350 sailors, but in the future will rely on 115 people. As a result, the Navy needs sailors who are expert engineers, Baun said. "This is not your mother's Navy type of thing," he said.
Mauricio Borrero, director of program management at Lakehurst, is a civilian engineer who works at many sites. He said everyone benefits when university professors and students participate in research. Lakehurst and Rowan established their partnership in 1999, and since then, teams of Rowan students have worked on several engineering and design projects.
"The students can get exposure to all sorts of things," Borrero said. "And it also gives us a market. Some of them choose to work for us at Lakehurst. Also, (Rowan's engineering) clinics - from an economic perspective - are a good investment. We can give a professor and students $5,000 and it's a great investment. They get paid, get money to buy materials, and we often get new designs at a rather cheap price."
Lakehurst provides advanced technologies for aircraft launch and recovery equipment and aviation support equipment. Sailors participate in the design efforts to ensure they will work in the field, Borrero said. "We don?t want to sit in an ivory tower," he explained.
Other presenters discussed military and nonmilitary work.
Doug Swope, an engineer at Lakehurst and the base liaison to Rowan, referred to a video to demonstrate how the Navy launches planes from aircraft carriers. The Navy does such a good job, that there is only one accident every 10 million launches or one accident every 100 years, he said.
Bill Leach, Naval Air Systems Command, Aircraft Fire Protection team leader, said the NAVAIR fire team develops cutting-edge solutions for varied applications. Researchers are working to find alternatives to halon, a substance once used in fire extinguishers but banned in 1993 because it destroys ozone.
One of Rowan's students participating in the effort to find such alternatives, Shane Oliver of Trenton, showed spectators his project on display in the lobby. Besides halon, he is testing the effects of carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide on fire. "We're looking to come up with something comparable to halon, but without the negative effects," he explained.
Dr. Tirupathi R. Chandrupatla, a mechanical engineering professor, has seen firsthand how Rowan's partnership with the Navy benefits students and the university. He has spent the last several summers working at Lakehurst and training base employees on various topics. "The benefits are many," he said. "Because of the work I do, it sometimes opens up and supports projects here. A number of students have gotten a job there."
?The accomplishments as a result of our Navy partnership are nothing short of spectacular,? said Dr. Steven Chin, associate dean of the College of Engineering. ?The road is being mapped for future collaborations that will push the frontiers of both Navy technology and the educational experience of our students.?
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Speakers from the Naval Air Engineering Station at Lakehurst, which hosts NAVAIR and more than 20 other tenants, and the Naval Sea Systems Command of Philadelphia explained some of the challenges confronting engineers at the event, dubbed Navy Day at Rowan. Faculty, students and other spectators turned out for the presentation at the Betty Long Rowan Lecture Hall. Afterward, attendees had a chance to view displays set up by presenters and engineering students.
NAVAIR and NAVSEA have partnered with Rowan University several years, funding research efforts and hiring students as interns and employees. "Through Navy Day, Rowan University recognizes the extraordinary collaboration of NAVAIR at Lakehurst and NAVSEA at Philadelphia with the College of Engineering," said Rowan's provost, Dr. Helen Giles-Gee. "This partnership provides our students with opportunities for cutting-edge applications of theories and clinical work as well as postgraduate employment. The Navy also gains from having the best faculty and student minds at work on projects."
Capt. Lawrence Baun, commanding officer, Carderock Division, Ship Systems Engineering Station, Philadelphia, detailed the responsibilities of NAVSEA as well as its goals for the future. He encouraged students to think about joining the Navy as engineers and touted the importance of the Navy's partnership with Rowan.
"Young people bring new ideas, and the Navy needs to introduce new technology," Baun said. "That young college student working with computers since Day 1 has the fresh types of ideas that we need." His operation's partnership with Rowan creates an essential "information exchange" that benefits both sides, he said.
Baun said NAVSEA focuses on three general areas: the "current Navy," which includes ships in the fleet; the "future Navy," which will include new ships and systems; and the "Navy after next," which hinges on the research and development efforts of engineers and other specialists.
"The readiness of our fleet today is the highest ever, but it's the smallest fleet since 1916 and the smallest number of sailors since Pearl Harbor," Baun said. "It's important as engineers that we are able to man and design the ships."
That is a challenging proposition because destroyers today have about 350 sailors, but in the future will rely on 115 people. As a result, the Navy needs sailors who are expert engineers, Baun said. "This is not your mother's Navy type of thing," he said.
Mauricio Borrero, director of program management at Lakehurst, is a civilian engineer who works at many sites. He said everyone benefits when university professors and students participate in research. Lakehurst and Rowan established their partnership in 1999, and since then, teams of Rowan students have worked on several engineering and design projects.
"The students can get exposure to all sorts of things," Borrero said. "And it also gives us a market. Some of them choose to work for us at Lakehurst. Also, (Rowan's engineering) clinics - from an economic perspective - are a good investment. We can give a professor and students $5,000 and it's a great investment. They get paid, get money to buy materials, and we often get new designs at a rather cheap price."
Lakehurst provides advanced technologies for aircraft launch and recovery equipment and aviation support equipment. Sailors participate in the design efforts to ensure they will work in the field, Borrero said. "We don?t want to sit in an ivory tower," he explained.
Other presenters discussed military and nonmilitary work.
Doug Swope, an engineer at Lakehurst and the base liaison to Rowan, referred to a video to demonstrate how the Navy launches planes from aircraft carriers. The Navy does such a good job, that there is only one accident every 10 million launches or one accident every 100 years, he said.
Bill Leach, Naval Air Systems Command, Aircraft Fire Protection team leader, said the NAVAIR fire team develops cutting-edge solutions for varied applications. Researchers are working to find alternatives to halon, a substance once used in fire extinguishers but banned in 1993 because it destroys ozone.
One of Rowan's students participating in the effort to find such alternatives, Shane Oliver of Trenton, showed spectators his project on display in the lobby. Besides halon, he is testing the effects of carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide on fire. "We're looking to come up with something comparable to halon, but without the negative effects," he explained.
Dr. Tirupathi R. Chandrupatla, a mechanical engineering professor, has seen firsthand how Rowan's partnership with the Navy benefits students and the university. He has spent the last several summers working at Lakehurst and training base employees on various topics. "The benefits are many," he said. "Because of the work I do, it sometimes opens up and supports projects here. A number of students have gotten a job there."
?The accomplishments as a result of our Navy partnership are nothing short of spectacular,? said Dr. Steven Chin, associate dean of the College of Engineering. ?The road is being mapped for future collaborations that will push the frontiers of both Navy technology and the educational experience of our students.?
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