My design tools are:
Free!Ship/Hydronship 3.32+
Punch! ViaCAD Pro 7
Punch! Shark LT v8
Experimenting with/Exploring:
PolyCAD
formZ
Others
TSUUNAMI
* Trans State Unofficial, Unconventional Naval Architecture and Maritime Innovators
* TransState Unaccredited, Unofficial Naval Architects and Marine Innovators
* TransState Unconventional, Unofficial Naval Architects and Marine Interlocutors
For What Navy or Client Would YOU Like to Design? How about SEVERAL?
Hello,
I want to form an international maritime and naval architecture teaching organization for those who aspire to naval architecture and marine engineering. The institution I envision will be either 2 or 4 years, designed for inner city impoverished, and staffed by accredited permanent and accredited visiting instructors, funded by either crowd funding or by "public/private partnerships". The core student body will consist of around 400 students from the USA, and around 40 to 50 from several nations, initially Korea, China, Japan, Vietnam, Burma, and several others. The purpose will be to introduce students to marine engineering, naval architecture, but also some degree of civil engineering, aviation design, and automotive design. If possible, I will attract professional engineers who are either presidents, chairmen, or project engineers and staff architects of local or distant firms. The students will not earn engineering accreditation, but they will be so exposed as to be able to receive invitation from numerous campuses around the world where naval architecture, marine engineering, and ocean studies exist.
The entity is called: TSUUNAMI.
TSUUNAMI (the name) originated in November 2008 after I had been employed at a naval architecture firm in the San Francisco Bay Area. Originally (before my employment there), it was going to be TSUUNAME, but the NAME part was a bit too close to SNAME, as in SNAME/ASNE. Since my intended organization would not be populated by accredited professionals, and more by students, dilettantes, and the average person, a slight change in the acronym probably will be appreciated. I registered the web sites tsuunami.org on November 10, 2008, and tsuunami.com in November 1, 2008.
TSUUNAMI is, as stated above, the acronym for "TransState Unaccredited, Unofficial Naval Architects and Marine Innovators" (and the other two mentioned above), and it will not be assigned to any particular nation. Its initial chapter or foundation will be founded in either Berkeley or San Francisco (most likely San Francisco), and will strive to launch chapters in Korea (yes, I know there are two political Koreas, but there is only one Korea), China, Japan, India, Russia, Venezuela, Cuba, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, France, various African nations, and other places.
TSUUNAMI will be for geeks and non-geeks. Also, the poor from various nations are to be recruited as students, to introduced them to naval architecture, marine engineering, programming, gaming engines, databases, spreadsheets, office skills, entrepreneurial thinking, business management, and more. The sections of foreign students will study English. The sections of native English speakers will study a foreign language that is represented among the foreign student body.
TSUUNAMI will:
Introduce students to basic ship theory, the history of ships, and more
Introduce students to naval architecture and marine vessel design, some basic aeronautic design, some civil architecture and civil engineering, and some urban planning
Invite guest speakers, role models, mentors, others from professional services corporations and other firms
Study and publish the results of calculations and planning methods for hulls designed
The basis for the core curriculum will be my six or 7 current and several previous rough-draft ship designs. These will then be examined, analyzed, dissected, and redesigned by students who:
Possess or acquire 2-D CAD or paper drafting skills
Possess or acquire 3-D CAD skills
Have multi-lingual capabilities
Are artistic
Are worldly
Come from all economic, cultural, and political walks of life
The students will use either averaged requirements of rules, or will directly constrain themselves to requirements of rules by various classification societies such as DNV, ClassNK, RINA, HR, CR BV, RS, RU, ABS, Lloyd's, GL, KR, and others according to the ship types in team projects. For example, my CGHID-1298-K (a cruiser I notionally designed to be of interest to the ROKN) will be dissected and redesigned according to Korea Registry rules. However, my CGHID-1298 (the same hull but not endowed with some conceptual modifications I customized for my notional Korean Navy acquisition) might be redesigned according to KR, GL, DNV, ABS, Lloyd's, or another Classification Society.
SETTING:
Currently, I envision the initial and maritime campus to be in the Bayview area of San Francisco, possibly near BAE engineering, but near the shipyards. An alternative location is at the The Presidio. Also, alternative sites might be at Treasure Island or for former Alameda Naval Air Station. (I was born on The Presidio, at Letterman General Hospital, in 1965, and so it is symbolic to me. But, I do realize that real estate on The Presidio is coveted, expensive, and probably not inviting of upwards of 400 students in housing or in classroom capacity.)
At this point, as for funding, it may be that one or two local animation firms on The Presidio may wish to be cosponsors of my adventure. However, I want it to be distinctly independent of and not responsible to any outside funding sources. Their key officers are invited to speak and instruct, but the Institution should be its own entity.
TOOLS and EDUCATION
As for ship drawings, TSUUNAMI will entertain but not fixate itself with catamaran and trimaran hulls (at least not in the early stages) except to produce prototypes against which to compare single-hull designs. As for student skills acquisition, one goal will be to empower the students so inclined or talented to develop from scratch CAD plug-ins or API code, principally to hook databases into the CAD programs; to semi-automate space planning and insert piping and doors and structures into the model; to create a home-made version of ASSET and similar. Some students will be provided tools to create tablet-based programs. As for empowering students with access to various industry-regarded tools, not every student will use or explore every application or tool available. But, most will be exposed to at least 3 different ship design programs in the professional (expensive) category, and up to 5 in the lesser expensive ranges. As for project tools, when there are 4 teams competing, each will have a choice of 2 programs not used by other teams, and each ship or vessel designed by a team will be produced in two different applications. Through balanced exposure, these students can become more attractive to existing and future design firms, and might even be able to work as independent but non-W2 contractors on projects needing CAD operators, software developers, and so forth.
Regarding relatively inexpensive software, TSUUNAMI will use these applications principally (if favorable academic licensing can be obtained):
Punch! ViaCAD Pro (retails about $279; before coupons/discounts)
http://www.punchcad.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9P6oEEu-Kw
Punch! Shark Lt (retails about $669; before coupons/discounts)
http://www.punchcad.com/p-11-shark-lt-v8.aspx
http://www.punchcad.com/c-19-professional-cad.aspx
http://www.punchcad.com/p-2-shark-fx-v7.aspx
Free!Ship Plus 3.32/Hydronship (Open Source; GPL; maintained by a Naval Architect/Professor)
http://www.hydronship.net/
http://www.hydronship.net/index.php?lang=en
http://www.hydronship.net/compare.htm
http://www.hydronship.net/programs.htm
PolyCAD (Free; Licensed; registration required; maintained by a Naval Architect/Grad Student)
http://www.polycad.co.uk/
http://www.polycad.co.uk/downloads.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UwAvWMy8IY
Bricsys Bricscad (~ $700; Commercial, licensed)
http://bricsys.com/en_INTL/
https://bricsys.com/estore/estoreBcad.jsp
BVB Cafe (Commercial, licensed; Pricing at
http://www.bvbcafe.com/pricing.html
http://www.bvbcafe.com/software.html
http://www.bvbcafe.com/gallery.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etJlMgjkg7o
Regarding expensive, but academically-licensed software, TSUUNAMI will use these if licensed (as long as they do not compel the use of or installation of another, equally or more expensive CAD platform in order to run the ship design software):
Autoship
http://www.autoship.com/index.htm
Aveva
http://www.aveva.com/en/Products_and_Services/AVEVA_for_Marine/Integrated_Shipbuilding.aspx
formZ
http://www.formz.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdVm0dSn6mY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBuSkTdxgpg
Friendship
https://www.friendship-systems.com/products/friendship-framework
MaxSurf
http://www.formsys.com/maxsurf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f08F1XNtW_s
Beyond that, TSUUNAMI will to the greatest extent possible use any and all Open Source, non-proprietary, and non-lock-in-based operating systems and software as sensible for the conduct of business. Here are examples of the following that can be readily adapted to day-to-day operations:
Open Office.org (has word processing, spreadsheet, presentation applications and uses ODF and XML, avoiding proprietary document formats; also has a crude, but somewhat improving database application)
Koffice (similar to the above)
AC3D (proprietary but Open Source-friendly 3D animation application)
Blender (Open Source-friendly 3D animation application)
VariCAD for CAD work (~$300 per copy)
Bricsys
Defcar (if we can obtain legitimate copies from the company Defcar, which is in Spain)
Mandriva (from France, $0 to $80)
PCLinuxOS
Ubuntu/Kubuntu (sponsored by Canonical/Mark Shuttleworth)
Other distributions of Linux that can be managed under the KDE Kiosk tools
KDevelop (the KDE-based GUI RAD tool kit)
Glade (The Gnome-based GUI RAD kit)
Qt3 Designer and Qt Linguist (from Trolltech, for OS-agnostic IDE application development and for language localization)
Python (a language for developing applications)
MySQL (or, PostgreSql)
Samba for CIFS file sharing and management
CUPS for printing management
Compiere or Quasar for accounting
Gimp (GNU Image Manipulation Program)
KMail, Sylpheed, Mozilla Thunderbird, and other Open Source MTAs
Konqueror, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera (and others) for web surfing
Other software and applications as feasible or useful
Ship design-related goals of TSUUNAMI:
We will evaluate my ship designs and where necessary, effect modifications to make them seaworthy, useful, affordable, and realistic (in various areas of the drawings there exist items which need attention and would be useful for students to explore).
Further, we will calculate the existing values and make corrections for:
LWL (light, normal, and full loads)
Beam (light, normal, and full loads)
Draft (light, normal, and full loads)
Freeboard
Metacenter (variable)
Metacentric Height (variable)
Center of Gravity (variable)
Center of Buoyancy (variable)
Block coefficient
Prismatic coefficient
Elasticity of the hull/girder system
Prime mover (WR-21, MT-30, and LM-2500+GS)
Hotel Services
Auxiliary power
Various air and liquid piping (some 30 or more different supply and return systems, such as air, sea water cooling, fresh water cooling, potable water, sewage, freshwater fire fighting, sea water fire fighting, air conditioning, pneumatic, hydraulic, high pressure compressed air, low pressure compressed air; cutouts and jumpers, and their control panels)
Electrical supply (power, lighting (white, red, blue), transformers and power panels, electrical controls, monitoring, and cutout and jumper points, emergency lighting/lanterns, and so on
Distribution of staterooms and berthing compartments
Distribution of CBR/Flooding and smoke-containing citadels (my latest design has some 37, the previous has 30, and the first has around 19 or 20) which can act as secondary security alert lockout points
Spacing and positioning of the dry, chill, and frozen food stores
HVAC planning
Distribution of the command and control stations for the ship and the Commodore/Flag Staff
Replacement of the propeller shafts with the (patented, or any patent-evading) azimuthal propulsion pods
Positioning of the 3 retractable, trainable auxiliary propulsion/docking/station-keeping pods
Positioning of the two sets of twin, active, tactically-controlled stabilization/destabilization fins
Note: There will be no work explicitly related to blast/shock hardening from certain classes of weapons since this would enter more closely guarded or classified information not generally in the public domain. However, enterprising and resourceful students might choose to pursue these areas if sufficient information is publicly available and can be modeled.
Those students wishing to work on non-combatant maritime projects will have similar activities associated with their designs.
Some of the systems aboard ship (in the designs) may not yet exist, but can, if someone were inclined to specify, pay for, and manage them.
Some members of TSUUNAMI may find themselves hired out by other, professional design firms and ship yards as interns, or invited to naval architecture firms around the world. This is where it will be handy for students to be exposed to multiple professional and non-professional tools.
The original drawings/designs we work on are and will remain my intellectual property. However, all members who actively participate in the redesign work will of course be credited by named, area, and contribution. All derivative works will be the collective property of the students or of the Academy. If or when the ships are proved to be seaworthy in design and (unlikely?) if someone wants to build one, we will endeavor to license the design, all to the benefit of every contributing member. Submitted modifications will be color and name coded to reflect the areas of responsibility.
We will seek an official recognition of TSUUNAMI. However, as TSUUNAMI will not be specifically a warship design bureau, and instead a general ship design learning center, other ships and ship types will be introduced over time.
=====
Possible conflicts and competitors
US Navy, NAVSEA, STEM
The US Navy, through NAVSEA (Naval Sea Systems Command) and ONR (Office of Naval Research), has for several years been trying to formulate an outreach plan to help the USA regain some of its lost talent and interest in naval architecture and technology. It appears to be aimed at inner city youth from minorities and to reinvigorate fighting poverty. STEM, an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, which is located in Philadelphia. But, it also appears that the school first opened is focused on steam, diesel, and gas turbine engine design. I cannot determine yet whether that is about specific engines, or the engineering plant, taking into consideration electrical loads, switchboards, load shedding,
I have some of the same goals, too. Although I did learn about what NAVSEA was planning, while I worked at a naval architecture firm, and although I did feel a bit of competition or threat from this discovery, I think there is room for "coopetition", or cooperation and healthy competition. Typically, navies and design bureaus/agencies do not have members who individually take on the design of an entire ship. That is something I do. It is a massive undertaking, and it is not something an individual professional would ordinarily do. There is just too massive an amount of detail which requires many specialized disciplines to be coordinated and managed carefully throughout the life of a project. However, the regimented, isolated approach means that some personnel only see the global system design when working on student theses or projects. Once in the professional office as a junior engineer, or junior naval architect, it seems they will be so busy on certain projects that most see small areas of a ship, a platform, or a facility design. I want the students to be rotated through design areas frequently and widely.
However, since my goal is the global systems approach, to help spur gaming and entrepreneurs, not just NAME-bound students, the entire ship has to be shown quickly, and the students who are less into gaming will rather soon obtain a deeper appreciation for not just learning about the basic parts of a ship, but how to integrate them logically. If ships no longer interest them, there may be the aeronautical and the automotive track as well.
But, to secure and retain their excitement and imagination, ship model building will be one of the key activities.
I am looking to differentiate TSUUNAMI. It will make waves, and - to the extent possible- it will not transplant local impoverished or poor students from their families or from San Francisco. In general, to protect intending students and their families against disqualification in their housing situations, only prospective students who are imminently transitioning to adult from minor/dependant will be accepted for enrollment. Otherwise, if students younger than 18 and still legally or technically minors and dependants were enrolled, then some families might find their qualifications status recalculated and could lose their housing if in government housing. Those families not in government housing might find adversely negative recalculations jeopardizing their tax, education, or other planning in the event siblings still at home might be impacted.
Since the China Development Bank is a major contributor to the development or construction of some 20,000 new (low income) homes in San Francisco (Hunters Point and Treasure Island), I intend to solicit funding from there, but also from other countries' banks. The reason I think it will be successful is, again, "coopetition", or cooperative competition. If these banks all contribute to the construction of dorms in Bayview/Hunters Point, and a small academy there, then eventually, these students will be able to foster more global interaction. If USA-origin banks want to participate, then they can too.
However, I am going to ask that China, South Korea, and San Francisco fast-track the construction of the TSUUNAMI Academy. The students can be bussed in before the rest of the homes are opened by end of 2013, and some will probably be housed before then. However, a campus and an academy dorm for the student body would be a great initial start to relieving pressure from the living space in some of the families.
Also, since San Francisco is hemorrhaging families with children, the investment in those who are still here can be a future pay off for San Francisco and for BAE here in San Francisco.
However, I will seek guarantees that the 400 domestic students will have campus housing, and that the 40+ foreign students are housed on campus as well. All students, regardless of nationality, will have to undergo one or more background checks to minimize the risk to the student body that there may be criminally-minded individuals in the Academy.
The international student body angle I am seeking is distinctly different. I want the native English speakers in the student body to also have a peer who is non-English speaking, and that non-English speaker will benefit from having around 8-10 native speakers assigned to him or her over the course of 2-4 years. The nonnative English speakers, from the countries named earlier, will also have to be language tutors to their respective peers over the same 2-4 year academic period.
Domestic Students breakdown may be something such as:
100 from California
80-100 from the West Coast
80 from the Midwest
80 from the East Coast
Potential campus sites:
Bayview/Hunters Point area (near shipyards)
Treasure Island
The Presidio
Former Alameda Naval Air Station
Other potential competitors:
Other potential competitors can arise from naval academies, art institutes, vocational schools, shipyard-funded training centers, CAD courses, and so on. But, none of them individually will have all the courses, content, or software I intend to procure for the students.
FUNDING
Funding I am seeking will come not from the US Navy or US Government or solely from them, but from international sources such as development banks, interested corporations, and private individuals. In no case is funding to be offered or accepted if there is any desire or attempt to change the way this organization is founded or operated. There is no equity or ownership sharing (otherwise, why would it be seeking partial funding via crowd funding site?)
Initial banks approached will be:
Korea Development Bank (KDB)
Development Bank of Japan (DBJ)
China Development Bank (CDB)
Although no equity is exchanged, other offers will be made, suitably equitable for a non-equity arrangement.
Why these banks? The majority of my influences I intend to make or have received come from these countries. Other banks may approach, but there will be no equity exchange. Also, if any bank invests in my ambition the way China Development Bank invested in a certain under funded area of San Francisco, then it definitely will get my attention.
TransState Unaccredited, Unofficial Naval Architects and Marine Innovators; TransState Unconventional, Unofficial Naval Architects and Marine Interlocutors
