TUESDAY, MAY 29, 2018
MegaRust 2018, the annual naval corrosion conference hosted by the American Society of Naval Engineers, came to a close Thursday (May 24) after three days of corrosion control-related proceedings at the Marriott Mission Valley in San Diego, California.
MegaRust featured technical presentations, an exhibit hall, meetings, panel sessions and networking events following the 2018 conference theme, “Corrosion Control: Enabling Affordability, Mission Readiness and Force Extension.” Military and governmental officials, coatings and equipment manufacturers, shipyard representatives, engineers and researchers were among this year’s MegaRust attendees.
In addition to a score of coatings-related technical sessions, some highlights from the 2018 MegaRust agenda follow.
Fleet Perspectives Panel
Wednesday afternoon’s Fleet Perspectives Panel offered a look behind the curtain at the issues facing today’s armed service members as they fight to protect their assets against corrosion attack—all while fulfilling their own duties and missions.
|
|
| Images: Technology Publishing Co. |
|
MegaRust 2018, the annual naval corrosion conference hosted by the American Society of Naval Engineers, came to a close Thursday (May 24) after three days of corrosion control-related proceedings at the Marriott Mission Valley in San Diego, California. |
Led by LCDR Dennis Richardson, a panel of U.S. Navy service members discussed the challenges they face on their ships, from specific problem areas and components to overall trends and techniques. The panel also spoke on ongoing efforts to bring new technologies and training to the fleet, with Richardson noting the importance of events like MegaRust not simply for the information exchange, but also for hammering home the criticality of the battle against corrosion to service members.
Industry Keynote
Thursday morning opened with a keynote speech from Kevin Graney, president of General Dynamics-NASSCO, the west coast’s only full-service shipyard with one of the largest blast and paint facilities in North America. Graney presented an overview of NASSCO’s services, including new construction and maintenance, and talked about some of the latest designs for both the Navy and the commercial shipping industry.
Graney also spoke about some of NASSCO’s recent coating maintenance strategies that have resulted in greatly reduced VOC levels and over $1 million in savings in labor and material costs over the past two years. Graney outlined the tools and techniques NASSCO has employed to avoid rework, mentioning SSPC’s Train-the-Painter course and other training efforts the shipyard has undertaken.
 |
|
MegaRust featured technical presentations, an exhibit hall, meetings, panel sessions and networking events following the 2018 conference theme, “Corrosion Control: Enabling Affordability, Mission Readiness and Force Extension.” |
Graney’s address was followed by Capt. Ray Acevedo, commanding officer at the Naval Service Warfare Center in Port Hueneme, California, who presented “Combat Systems Corrosion Control and Materials Initiatives and Updates.” Acevedo summarized NAVSEA’s goals in maintaining its current fleet and continuing to provide on-time delivery, stressing the importance of collaboration between the DoD, commercial industry, academia and other entities in coming up with new solutions to the age-old issue of corrosion.
Award Presentations
The Thursday morning portion of the conference convened with the presenting of the ASNE Claud A. Jones Award for excellence in fleet engineering.
This year’s award was bestowed upon Joseph D. Peterson, a combat systems project engineer who provided on-site technical assistance and initial damage assessments after a number of high-profile ship incidents, including the USS Fitzgerald, which collided at sea with a container ship in 2017; and the USS John S. McCain, which similarly collided with an oil tanker just months later.
Acevedo, who presented the award to Peterson, noted that Peterson’s technical coordination and judgment had a profound impact on successful completion of repairs and returning these damaged ships to the fleet.
Future ASNE Events
Later this year, ASNE will bring the ship maintenance and repair community together again for its Fleet Maintenance and Modernization Symposium, from Sept. 17-20 in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
MegaRust 2019 will also return to the east coast next year, scheduled for May 14-16, 2019, in Portsmouth, Virginia.
For more information on MegaRust, FMMS and other ASNE events, visit www.navalengineers.org.
Tagged categories: Conferences; Corrosion protection; MegaRust; Program/Project Management; U.S. Navy
