Integrating personnel movement simulation into preliminary ship design

Traditionally, when designing a ship the driving issues are seen to be powering, stability, strength and seakeeping. Issues related to ship operations and evolutions are investigated later in the design process, within the constraint of a fixed layout. This can result in operational inefficiencies and limitations, excessive crew numbers and potentially hazardous situations. University College London and the University of Greenwich are in the final year of a three year EPSRC funded research project to integrate the simulation of personnel movement into early stage ship design. This allows the assessment of onboard operations while the design is still amenable to change. The project brings together the University of Greenwich developed maritimeEXODUS personnel movement simulation software and the SURFCON implementation of the Design Building Block approach to early stage ship design, which originated with the UCL Ship Design Research team. Central to the success of this project is the definition of a suitable series of Naval Combatant Human Performance Metrics which can be used to assess the performance of the design in different operational scenarios. The paper outlines the progress made on deriving the human performance metric from human factors criteria measured in simulations and their incorporation into a Behavioural Matrix for analysis. It describes the production of a series of SURFCON ship designs based on the RN Type 22 Batch 3 frigate, and their analysis using the PARAMARINE and maritimeEXODUS software. Conclusions to date will be presented on the integration of personnel movement simulation into the preliminary ship design process.

Integrating personnel movement simulation into prelimary ship design

Traditionally, when designing a ship the driving issues are seen to be powering, stability, strength and seakeeping. Issues related to ship operations and evolutions are investigated later in the design process, within the constraint of a fixed layout. This can result in operational inefficiencies and limitations, excessive crew numbers and potentially hazardous situations. This paper summarises work by University College London and the University of Greenwich prior to the completion of a three year EPSRC funded research project to integrate the simulation of personnel movement into early stage ship design. This integration is intended to facilitate the assessment of onboard operations while the design is still highly amenable to change. The project brings together the University of Greenwich developed maritimeEXODUS personnel movement simulation software and the SURFCON implementation of the Design Building Block approach to early stage ship design, which originated with the UCL Ship Design Research team and has been implemented within the PARAMARINE ship design system produced by Graphics Research Corporation. Central to the success of this project is the definition of a suitable series of Performance Measures (PM) which can be used to assess the human performance of the design in different operational scenarios. The paper outlines the progress made on deriving the PM from human dynamics criteria measured in simulations and their incorporation into a Human Performance Metric (HPM) for analysis. It describes the production of a series of SURFCON ship designs, based on the Royal Navy’s Type 22 Batch 3 frigate, and their analysis using the PARAMARINE and maritimeEXODUS software. Conclusions on the work to date and for the remainder of the project are presented addressing the integration of personnel movement simulation into the preliminary ship design process.

Research supervision and psychotherapeutic theory: bridging the research-practice-gap

Research supervision in the field of counselling and psychotherapy is a fruitful area for investigation in view of the fact that the research supervisory relationship is powerful and highly charged, whether consciously acknowledged or not. Researchers trained as counsellors and psychotherapists possess the skills to facilitate the emergence of, and work creatively with, impasses and crises, both in the research itself and the supervisory relationship, as a result of their training and experience in dealing with crisis and catharsis in clinical work. This paper will demonstrate these points using a case vignette from my work as a supervisor of research dissertations undertaken by students on a Masters in Therapeutic Counselling course. Drawing on narrative analysis, clinical supervision theory and discursive analysis it will look at the strengths and weaknesses of a 'psychotherapeutic' approach to research supervision.