Academic Curriculum Vitae of Dr. Chris B. Mckesson September 2019
Academic Curriculum Vitae Of Dr. Chris B. McKesson September 2019
INTRODUCTION:
“Innovation in Ship Design" is not merely the title of my doctoral dissertation, but may be considered as a fitting title for my entire career. I began his career as a ship designer, quickly established myself as an innovator, and decades later made the innovative decision to end my career by serving to pass along my learning to a new generation.
I obtained a bachelor's degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from the University of Michigan is 1979. I began my career as an entry level naval architect in January of 1980. Early in my career I won some small recognition for designing the hull of the Israeli Navy Sa'ar V corvette. This was a very challenging task, as Israel required a combination high top speed, excellent low-speed endurance, and good seakeeping. Even today the Sa'ar V hull form is held in very high regard by Israel.
I was recruited away from my then-employer to join the advanced vehicles design section of the US Navy. I completed many projects within that section, including being a representative of the US Government to NATO working groups dealing with advanced naval vehicles. During this period I was also selected to spend a year attached to the US Embassy in Paris France, where I worked with the French government's advanced vehicles projects. Eventually I was promoted to head the US Navy section.
At about the same time the world saw the fall of the Berlin wall, and a major re-prioritization of US defense spending. Seeing a new opportunity offered by this new era, I left my government position to pursue work in the fast ferry sector. During this period I also saw the expansion of what it meant to be an "advanced vehicle." Whereas in the early days this phrase meant a high speed, during my work in the ferry industry it came to include an emphasis on reduced environmental footprint, or other unconventional features. During this period one important project was to assist the San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority with the selection of best environmentally-responsible technology for ship propulsion. This also lead the assisting them in design of an experimental hydrogen fuel-cell powered ferry.
After the events of 11 September 2001, the US Navy once again was interested in unconventional ships, and my work returned to the Pentagon's interests. I completed several projects for the Office of Naval Research until I announced my desire to retire, in 2008.
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I "retired" by going to New Orleans to enjoy mardi gras, during which time I taught one course (in advanced marine vehicles) at the University of New Orleans. I was conversing with the recently-retired Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Development, and he applauded my teaching and asked me to do more of it. I laughed, replying that since I had only a bachelor's degree I would not be in great demand. He responded by assisting me in obtaining a grant from ONR to fully fund my completion of a Master's and Ph.D. program. In 2011 I complete my Master's degree, and in 2013 was awarded my Doctorate, both from the University of New Orleans.
My professional mission is to advance the profession of ship design toward the production of more efficient, cleaner, and more beautiful ships, by both training future ship designers and contributing to specific projects. My technology is a combination of broad-based systems engineering and fourty years of experience. I am not motivated solely by money, but by considerations of moral good and fun to an equal extent. I have accomplished most of my career goals and will be only marginally disappointed should I end up not needed. I enjoy travel, but prefer to work from my home. I am perceived as creative, insightful, a good communicator, and a good planner. I am happy to partner with peers or with a client’s staff, whom I will treat with respect. I treat my students as junior peers, but peers nonetheless.
The sections that follow present my resume in a more conventional style.
EDUCATION
University or Institution Degree Subject Area Dates University of Michigan BSE Naval Architecture and 1975-1979 Marine Engineering University of New Orleans MS Engineering 2008-2010 (Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering) University of New Orleans Ph.D. Engineering and Applied 2010-2013 Science (Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering)
BOOKS
2013: “Innovation in Ship Design” University of New Orleans PhD Dissertation, May 2013, Paperback: 158 pages, ISBN-13: 978- 1482319033
2014: “The Practical Design of Advanced Marine Vehicles” Paperback: 392 pages, ISBN-13: 978-1497396890
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PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Organization Title Dates Instructor and Co- University of British Columbia, Director, Naval 2014 - 2019 Vancouver Canada Architecture and Marine Engineering University of New Orleans, Department Adjunct Professor of of Naval Architecture and Marine 2008 – 2014 Naval Architecture Engineering Senior Engineering Alion Science & Technology 2005 – 2007 Science Advisor John J. McMullen Associates, Inc. Program Manager 1997 – 2005 Principal – Art Anderson Associates, Inc. Commercial Marine 1992 – 1997 Division Self-employed as “Chris B. McKesson – 1991 – 1992 Consulting in Naval Architecture” Head, Advanced US Naval Sea Systems Command Vehicles Preliminary 1984 – 1991 Design Section John J. McMullen Associates, Inc. Senior Naval Architect 1980-1984
ADDITIONAL PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
Professional Engineer in the State of Washington (USA) 1994 Lic # 31936 P.Eng in the Province of British Columbia (Canada) 2015 Lic # 44801 Engineers and Geoscientists of BC Board of Examiners, Member since 2017 Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers – Member since 1977, elected Fellow 2015
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
(a) Areas of special interest and accomplishments
My passion is to see students enjoy a career in naval architecture that is as rewarding as mine was. I am particularly interested in the creative aspects of engineering design, including finding improved methods for innovation, and improved techniques for incorporating human, social, and aesthetic dimensions into engineering.
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I am also interested in presenting complex engineering relationships in simple easy-to-understand metaphors, as these may then be more thoroughly retained and thus readily applied during the design engineering process.
(b) Courses Taught (Oldest first)
At University of New Orleans
NAME 1170 – Introduction to naval architecture NAME 2160 – Introduction to ship hydrodynamics NAME 3171 – Introduction to Ship Design NAME 4177 – Advanced Marine Vehicles
At University of British Columbia
MECH 328 Mechanical Engineering Design Project MECH 488 Introduction to Ship Hydrodynamics MECH 45x Mechanical Engineering Design Project MECH 550N Introduction to (Space) Systems Engineering NAME 566 Ship Dynamics and Control NAME 578 Introduction to Marine Engineering NAME 581 Computer-Aided Ship Design NAME 591 Computer-Aided Ship Design Project
SCHOLARLY AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
(a) Editor In Chief, Journal of Ship Design and Production, ISSN 2158-2866, 2016- 2019
(b) Invited Presentations • International: Invited to lead a 20-hour short course “Design of Advanced Marine Vehicles” at the Universidad Veracruzana (MX) 2017 • International: Keynote Speaker, FAST 2015 – 13th International Conference on Fast Sea Transportation. Washington DC, Sept 2015 • International: Invited to lead an 8-hour short course “Design of Advanced Marine Vehicles” at the SNAME Maritime Technology Convention, Houston TX October 2014 • Local: 2014: “Innovation in Ship Design” dinner presentation at the local meeting of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, Vancouver BC September 2014
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• Domestic: “Counter Intuitive Systems Engineering” Invited speaker at the Systems Engineering Colloquium of the Naval PostGraduate School, Monterey CA. 2010 • Domestic: 2009: “Counter Intuitive Systems Engineering” Invited speaker at the Systems Engineering Colloquium of the Naval PostGraduate School, Monterey CA. • International: 1996: “High Speed Cargo Ship Trends” Invited presentation to the International Association of Ports and Harbours meeting in Algeciras, Spain.
(c) Other Presentations
“Introduction to Ship Design” for One Day @ UBC, March 2016
(d) Other Chair, Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers Maritime Convention 2019, Tacoma WA Chair, Papers Committee, Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers Maritime Convention 2018, Providence RI Frequent speaker at local meetings of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers Frequent invited reviewer for the Journal of Ship Production and Design Frequent formal mentoring of student capstone design projects and informal mentoring of all students
Media Coverage: 2017: “Meet Chris McKesson” Public Services and Procurement Canada, Published on Jun 21, 2017 online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA6RPWhcMpg 2012: Interviewed by USA Today, CNN, and local New Orleans television in response to Costa Concordia grounding 2010: Interviewed by local New Orleans television regarding closure of Avondale Shipyard 2000: Interviewed by Channel 5 Vancouver and Vancouver Globe and Mail regarding BC Ferries “PacifiCat” fast catamaran ferry project.
(e) Conference Participation (Organizer, Keynote Speaker, etc.)
Conference Chair and Nation Committee Chair – International Marine Design Conference (2021) Conference Chair – SNAME 126th Annual Maritime Convention (2019) Papers Committee Chair – SNAME 125th Annual Maritime Convention (2018) Papers Committee Chair, “FAST 2015” – International conference on fast surface transportation Conference Chair, “FAST 1999” – International conference on fast surface transportation
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REFEREED PUBLICATIONS
(a) Journals
2013: “Scaling of Resistance From Surface-Effect Ship Model Tests” Journal of Ship Production and Design, Volume 29, Number 2, May 2013, pp. 66-75(10), with Dr. Lawrence J. Doctors
2012: “The Application of Knowledge Management in Early-Stage Warship Design” Naval Engineers Journal Volume 124, Number 4, December 2012 , pp. 101-109(9)
2012: “Sustainable Energy for the Marine Sector” with Dr. Julio Vergara and Magdalena Walczak. Journal of Energy Policy 49 (2012) pp 333-345.
2012: “A Very Simple Model for the Wake Hollow Behind a High-Speed Displacement Hull” with Dr. Brandon Taravella and Dr. William Vorus. Naval Engineers Journal September 2012, pp 85-91.
2011: “The Utility of Very Simple Models for Very Complex Systems” SCS M&S Magazine – The magazine of the Society for Modeling & Simulation International, Vol 11 Issue 1 January 2011
2002: “Nuclear Propulsion in High-Performance Cargo Vessels” Co- Authored with Dr. Julio Vergara. SNAME Marine Technology January 2002 Vol 39 No 1.
(b) Conference Proceedings
2015: “Optimal Ship Design and Valuable Knowledge Discovery Under Uncertain Conditions” Kalyanmoy Deb, Zhichao Lu, Chris McKesson, Cherie C. Trumbach and Larry DeCan, IEEE CEC2015 - The annual IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation (IEEE CEC), May 25-28, 2015, Sendai, Japan.
2011: “A Very Simple Model of the distortion of light-weight ship structures” with Dr. Pingsha Dong. Presented at the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers Annual Meeting, November 2011 Houston TX.
2011: “Scaling Of Resistance From Surface-Effect Ship Model Tests” with Dr. Lawrence J. Doctors FAST 2011, Honolulu, HI
2011: “The Use of Transport Factor as a Very Simple Model for Ship Design” FAST 2011, Honolulu, HI
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2006: “The Resistance Components of a Surface-Effect Ship” Dr. Lawrence Doctors principal author. Presented to The Twenty-Sixth Symposium on Naval Hydrodynamics, Rome, Italy, September 2006
2005: “Greening the Fleet – Environmental Analysis of Washington State Ferries New 130 Auto Ferries” Co-Authored with Tina Stotz, W Greg Johnson, and David H Humphreys. Presented (by Ms. Stotz) to Green Marine 2005, Victoria BC, June 2005, Canadian Institution of Marine Engineers
2005: “Optimization of a Split-Cushion Surface-Effect Ship” Co-Authored with Dr. Lawrence J Doctors, Vidar Tregde, Changben Jiang. Presented (by Dr. Doctors) at FAST 2005 – Eight International Conference on Fast Sea Transportation, St. Petersburg RU, 27-30 June 2005.
1997: “An Introduction to the United States’ Regulatory Environment” Co-authored with LCDR Ron Lokites, USCG. Paper presented at FAST 97 in Sydney Australia
1992: “Patrol Craft Requirements and Technology for the Next Century” Co-authored with MM Oakes, Guilfoyle, Scott, Cohen & Hoggard. Presented at SNAME / ASE Naval Ship Design Symposium, Arlington VA February 25 1992
1992: “A Collection of Simplified Field Equations for Surface Effect Ship Design” Intersociety Advanced Marine Vehicles Symposium, June 1992, Washington DC.
NON-REFEREED PUBLICATIONS
(a) Conference Proceedings
2006: “A Parametric Method for Characterizing the Design Space of High Speed Cargo Ships” Presented to The Royal Institution of Naval Architects conference on High Speed Craft, ACVs, WIGs and Hydrofoils, October/November 2006, London UK.
2006: “Alternative Fuels for Green Purposes – Marine Industry Perspective” Presented to Marine Log “GREEN SHIP 2006″ Washington DC, September 2006
2005: “The Greening of Passenger Vessels” Co-Authored with Mr. Tom Risley. Presented at “Ferries for the New Millennium”, SNAME Northern
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California Section, Vallejo CA, Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers May 2005.
2002: “Alternative Fuels and Alternative Propulsion Systems” presented to Western Region meeting of the Passenger Vessel Association, Anchorage AK September 2002
2002: “A Simplified Economic Investigation of Nuclear Power for Merchant Ships” SNAME Northern California Section Maritime Innovations conference, Monterey CA, 1 June 2002
2002: “High Speed Hull Forms” presented to national annual meeting of the Passenger Vessel Association, Biloxi MS February 2002
2001: “Expect the Unexpected – The Economic Consequences of Unforeseen Operational Realities” presentation at SNAME Annual Meeting as part of panel presentation by T&R Panel O-36 on operational economics. Orlando FL, October 2001
2000: “Ferry Environmental Impact” Co-Authored with Bill Remley PE and Zvi Karni. Presented at Canadian Institute of Marine Engineers High Performance Vehicles conference, June 2000, Victoria, BC Canada.
1999: “When the whole is less than the sum of its parts” Co-Authored with R. Hatton, R. Scher, & S. Toby.
1998: “Sensitivity Study Of Wake Wash To Hull Form Variations” Co- Authored with Robert Hatton. Paper presented at Canadian Institute of Marine Engineers High Performance Vehicles conference, May 1998, Victoria, BC Canada.
1998: “Analysis of the Impact of Reliability, Availability and Maintainability on Ship Survivability” Co-authored with Alexander Malakhoff and David Klinkhamer. Presented in September 1998 to the Norwegian Society of Chartered Engineers Conference on High Speed Ferries, Denmark – Oslo
1996: “Research on a Large SES for the TransAtlantic Record” Prepared for the SOLE Advanced Marine Vehicles Symposium, Silverdale Washington
1996: “Gas Turbine Repower of the 40m Ferry Victoria Clipper IV” Paper presented to International Marine Transit Association
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1989: “Large SWATHS – A Study of the diminishing returns of increasing SWATH ship size” Co-authored with Tom Cannon. AIAA Advanced Marine Vehicles Symposium, San Diego, CA
PROFESSIONAL PROJECTS OUTSIDE ACADEMIA
Note that these projects end in the early 2000s, when I shifted to academia. Projects are organized by ship hull type.
SURFACE EFFECT SHIPS 2004 Littoral Combat Ship: As a follow-on to the Focused Mission Ship described below, JJMA (this time acting as a subcontractor under Raytheon) was awarded one of three contracts for Preliminary Design of a Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). During this intensive $10M / six-month project McKesson was in charge of hull form development and performance estimation. As part of these tasks he was present in Norway during model testing at Marintek. He also managed the use of CFD to correct deficiencies and generally improve hull performance. McKesson also participated in extensive briefings to the Government, and writing and editing of large deliverable reports.
2003 Focused Mission Ship: In 2003 JJMA teamed with Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems and Umoe Mandal a.s. to offer the Navy a 50 knot combatant derived from the Norwegian Navy?s KNM SKJOLD patrol vessel. This was in response to an open competition. Twelve bidders competed for five contracts. JJMA was one of the successful ones. McKesson?s role was to maintain a whole-ship synthesis model of the developing design, using the tools herein described. In addition, McKesson developed the hull form, performance estimates and performance space carpet plots for the ship. On the basis of this FMS design, JJMA was awarded a follow-on contract for Preliminary Design of the Littoral Combat Ship.
2000 Craft Design Synthesis System: Developed Catamaran, SES, and Tunnel Boat design synthesis tools for Noesis Inc. Tools were developed as open-architecture applications in Microsoft Excel.
1998 DD 21 Land Attack Destroyer: See description under Catamarans.
1993 Gentry Blue-Riband SES: McKesson developed a feasibility level design for an SES to go after the trans Atlantic crossing record. This project, ongoing at the time of this writing, has progressed from concept design into model testing. The predictions clearly show that the SES will allow Mr. Gentry to retake the Blue Riband from the Italian Destriero, and will substantially raise the performance threshold in the trans Atlantic race. This craft has been successfully model tested over a period of three years. Design developments include producing, in collaboration with the client, a freighter variant and a luxury yacht variant.
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1986 NATO SWG/6 Corvette: While assigned to the SWATH group at NAVSEA McKesson was asked to review an SES design. On the basis of my review McKesson was asked to take over the design project and lead it to completion. The craft was a 2000 ton 50-knot ASW Corvette for the protection of Atlantic convoys. The architecture was complete at the time of my coming into the project. My job was to prepare a final report, brief the design to NATO, and participate in a two-year program of design justification and assessment. From this participation McKesson secured a position as a continuing member of the US delegation to NATO SWG/6. My participation in SWG/6 has given me an excellent reputation in 8 nations, and eventually lead to my assignment to France.
1987 SES Design Tools: McKesson was the designer of an SES computer synthesis model. This project involved developing computer programs for the various aspects of SES design and incorporating them into an existing Navy umbrella program. The design of the program and the plan for its’ development were enthusiastically approved. After laying this important foundation McKesson was transferred off the project to lead a high priority ship design.
198? Navy Patrol Craft: McKesson was the project naval architect for a US Navy patrol craft project. McKesson assembled and led a team of engineers who developed and analyzed a variety of competing designs, using different hull form concepts. All further detail is classified. The program was terminated in its infancy.
1989 NATO SWG/6 Patrol Craft: After the ASW Corvette study pursued in 1986 NATO SWG/6 decided to embark on a study of smaller craft as Patrol vessels. McKesson was assigned to develop a US set of designs for this mission. McKesson engaged the services of the US Navy’s monohull patrol craft design group in Norfolk VA, and coordinated their efforts with those of the Washington based SES design group. The results were monohull and SES versions of the ship that are in every way comparable. This was a step forward in developing an apples-to-apples comparison base for SES and monohull. Both craft designs, and the project organization, were briefed to NATO SWG/6.
1989 Project CATANES: (While on assignment to the Service Technique des Constructions et Armes Navales of the Government of France.) McKesson was project naval architect for an 800 ton surface effect ship for the French navy. The project was started by a Canadian exchange engineer, but was left with a major problem in the design loop: Initially the displacement was estimated as 700 tons. The craft was engineered around this displacement. A weight estimate was prepared and the result was a weight of over 1000 tons. The design was obviously in an open loop.
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My task was to close the design loop by re-engineering the craft. McKesson did this over a period of six months, resulting at last in a mean operational displacement of 823t. McKesson produced a comprehensive technical report summarizing the work and the craft, and explicitly presenting the design assumptions and engineering procedures used. McKesson presented two briefings on the project to NATO SWG/6. The work, and the final report, were in French. Briefings to NATO were in English.
CATAMARANS 2002 San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority - Fuel Cell Ferry: The San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority (WTA) is breaking new ground in the development of highly environment-friendly vessels. McKesson was asked to develop a design specification for a ferry to run on hydrogen fuel cell power, to serve the community of Treasure Island. The completed design incorporated a modular configuration which was well suited to the emergency- technology nature of the state of the art, and was very well received by the client.
2001 PacifiCat Sales Effort: Participating under contract to PricewaterhouseCoopers in efforts to sell the British Columbia government?s three PacifiCat class vessels. Participation consists of providing technical services in support of sales needs. Services have included several analyses of sea conditions on proposed vessel routes, as well as technical participation in a major program to investigate increasing the vessels? structural design limits.
2000 Craft Design Synthesis System: Developed Catamaran, SES, and Tunnel Boat design synthesis tools for Noesis Inc. Tools were developed as open-architecture applications in Microsoft Excel.
1998 DD 21 Land Attack Destroyer: McKesson developed catamaran, trimaran, and Surface Effect Ship variant concepts for the US Navy DD 21 land Attack Destroyer. My teammates at JJMA developed a monohull baseline. McKesson took their baseline and developed one catamaran, two trimarans, and a surface effect ship. The variant designs provided the same arrangeable area and volume as the monohull baseline, and used (as appropriate) the same power plant. (In the case of the trimaran, for example, the four turbine plant was divided in a 1-2-1 arrangement.)
The project was completed in 40 MH per ship variant, including a comprehensive technical report presenting performance estimates, three-digit weight estimate (ROM level), area volume summary, and other similar feasibility-level parameters.
1996 Turbine Repower of Victoria Clipper IV: McKesson was the salesman and project lead for Art Anderson Associates’ completion of this project. From a lead obtained in South Florida McKesson was able to bring this project in. The
11 McKesson 9 Sep 2019 project included engineering of a very complex replacement of the ship?s MTU diesels with Lycoming TF-40 turbines. In a period of four months from contract signing to vessel redelivery we completed drawings of Foundation, Fuel Oil, Propulsion shafting, Lube Oil, AC & DC power, Ventilation, Hydraulic, and Seawater systems. We also produced an updated stability booklet based on a deadweight survey. All drawings were DNV and USCG approved. McKesson led a team of approximately 10 people on this taut-paced $80,000 task.
Also included was several weeks on on-site support at Marco Shipyard.
1995 CATSYN: Catamaran Synthesis Model: McKesson developed a Microsoft Excel application which permits the rapid definition of catamaran vessels. The tool calculates weight, power requirements, fuel load, etc. The tool permits a Naval Architect to rapidly converge a design eliminating many early stage turns around the design spiral. This tool was developed as a by-product of other catamaran design tasks.
1993 Low Wash Catamaran Ferry: McKesson lead a design team to produce a marketable Low-Wash Catamaran Ferry. An Art Anderson in-house product, this ferry offers 350 passengers accommodation, with a service speed of 35 knots, with a wash height of less than 0.2 meters.
1990 Catamaran Resistance Prediction: McKesson created a PC-based computer program for predicting the resistance of displacement catamarans. While it’s accuracy appears to be only ±25% it is a very handy tool for rapidly analyzing the impact of design changes. It has allowed me to converge a catamaran design in a matter of hours, rather than days.
1990 Aviso-90 Wave Piercer: As part of the French Aviso 90 project McKesson decided to study a wave-piercing catamaran. This is a new hull form developed for ferry applications by International Catamarans in Australia. McKesson developed a mathematical model of the wave piercer and used it to arrive at dimensions, power estimates, and weights. The results showed us the peculiarities of the concept, and underlined the limitations of using it for military applications. The wave piercer is designed for low density applications, and is not suited to military applications.
SWATH 1984 SWATH T-AGX: My first assignment at NAVSEA was as architect of a SWATH multi-mission auxiliary. The idea was to develop a common hull form that could equally perform a variety of naval auxiliary missions.
The study was a feasibility study and involved using NAVSEA SWATH design tools, developing a hull form, optimizing primary and secondary dimensions, and of course writing a final report. The results were briefed up to the
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Commander of NAVSEA. The study was very well received and the concept is still being pursued.
1985 NATO SWG/6 SWATH ASW Corvette: In parallel with the SES corvette studies elsewhere described SWG/6 was interested in a SWATH for the ASW escort mission. McKesson was assigned as architect of a US design study. McKesson developed the first pre-feasibility phase (a six-month study) and briefed NATO on the resulting ship. The ship was a 9000t warship with four helicopters and a powerful suite of anti-submarine armament.
Canada expressed interest in the design and the US and Canada decided to pursue the next phase jointly. McKesson worked with the Canadian architect to kick the project off and had just gotten things underway when McKesson was asked to take over the SWG/6 SES design. The SWATH design was ably brought to completion by one of my NAVSEA colleagues.
PLEASURE CRAFT 1999-2007 Electric drive for sailing yachts: Combining my interest in yachting and in marine engineering, I designed and built an electric drive for my 36-foot sail boat SUNDANCE. This drive has powered our yacht since 1999, and has successfully participated in our travels from Canada to Mexico. I have developed this drive ‘on a shoestring’ using off-the-shelf components. I have designed similar installations for other yachts.
1981-1989 SNAME T&R Panel on Sailing Yacht: Design Although not actively designing sail boats McKesson has always had an interest in the pleasure craft field. He has been an active member of the SNAME panel on sailing yachts. McKesson served as secretary to that panel for three years. McKesson organized panel-sponsored mini-symposia on a variety of subjects (advanced composites, computers in yacht design, etc.) McKesson was twice a member of the papers committee for the Chesapeake Sailing Yacht Symposium.
MONOHULLS 2005 Littoral Combat Ship: As a contractor to NAVSEA, participated in many design studies and analyses of monohull LCS candidates. This included analysis of the Lockheed-Martin LCS design then under construction, as well as the development of new design concepts to explore design alternatives and requirements impact. Client was NAVSEA 05D1.
2002 Intrepid: Conducted pro bono investigations into the scope of work required to convert a 78-foot ex-USN vessel into a passenger vessel certificated under Subchapter T. Investigation concluded with presentation of a detailed ?punch list? to the vessel owner including strategy and tactics for expediting approval of the project.
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2000 Very Slender Vessel Repower: Working with Noesis Inc. of Rosslyn VA developed concept level investigations of the feasibility of repowering the innovative Very Slender Vessel hull form using small turbine or combined diesel-and-turbine power plants.
1999 Technical Feasibility Evaluation of FastShip Atlantic: A private venture capital source was considering making a very large investment in the FastShip Atlantic project. This party engaged JJMA to conduct a thorough technical due diligence effort. JJMA’s review addressed all aspects of the FastShip project, including all ship systems, ship-to-shore infrastructure, and shipbuilding contract. The project was completed in a period of about 60 days, involving the efforts of approximately 15 people.
1997 Alaska Marine Highway System Fleetwide Communications and Shipboard Local Area Network Project: AMHS engaged JJMA by competitive selection to develop a plan for installing shipboard local area networks, and providing wireless communications between these networks and shoreside AMHS networks. The challenge was to find satellite communication modes that provide seamless communications for both voice and data. As Project manager McKesson lead the team that completed these tasks, designing the overall program of the project, and coordinating routine communication with the client.
1997 Alaska Marine Highway System Fleetwide SOLAS Upgrade: New international regulations were imposed on the SOLAS-certificated ships of the AMHS fleet. In this task JJMA was contracted to Develop a Plan of action for SOLAS Compliance, and then to engineer compliance packages for several of the elements of the plan. As Project manager McKesson lead the team that completed these tasks, designing the overall program of the project, participating in shipchecks, and coordinating routine communication with the client. The work also involved extracting new interpretations of the SOLAS rules from ABS.
1997 M/V E.L. BARTLETT Bow Door SOLAS Upgrade: New international regulations were imposed on the Alaska Marine Highway System?s ferry BARTLETT. These new regulations required the installation of a new weathertight inner bulkhead and door, which continues the ship?s collision bulkhead up through the vehicle deck. The project was completed under my leadership, using a team comprised of colleagues from our Tacoma, Pittsburgh, and Washington DC offices. Close interaction with the client and maximum exploitation of electronic communication allowed this geographically-diverse team to work and function as a unit. The products of the project were prepared for review and approval by ABS and USCG. Selected products were sealed by me as Professional Engineer.
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1997 40 HSAC Turbine Power: This project, recently begun at the time of this writing, involves repowering a government owned 40-foot boat with gas turbines. The boat is currently powered with gasoline burning engines, and the goal is to install machines that burn diesel fuel without reducing the boat?s performance. McKesson was retained by turbine system integrator Allen Industries to assist in program management and concept design. My duties include maintenance of project CP/M schedules, preparation of monthly status reports, etc. McKesson also participated in the engineering conceptual design and assist in developing tasking for the engineering detail designers.
1995 Bremerton Fire Boat - Phase I: The Bremerton City fire boat suffered catastrophic engine failure. Everybody, builder included, agreed that an engine replacement was necessary. McKesson was hired to advise the Fire Department on how best to proceed.
McKesson developed a menu of repowering options. McKesson also developed a comprehensive statement of the Fire Department’s requirements. Using an analytical hierarchy method McKesson determined which options were “best”. By comparing option scores against option cost estimate, we determined which option was best value.
McKesson presented the approach and results to the Fire Department and to the City Council. My recommendation was accepted.
Phase II – Based on the City Council’s satisfaction with my study results, McKesson was engaged to oversee the completion of the repower. McKesson maintained a running estimate of craft weight and performance and advised the builder regularly of how to best satisfy the requirements.
This involved frequent visits to the build site, and rapid solution of minor technical issues. Time and again my judgment was the sole deciding factor for the fabrication decisions.
Sea trials showed the craft performance to be as predicted. The craft is now a proud element of our City’s services.
1994 R/V Wecoma: Oregon State University programmed a two-phased major refit of the Research Vessel WECOMA. Art Anderson Associates supported this refit in many ways:
Review of shipyard drawings for Phase I Review of Admeasurement implications of refit Development of Plans, Specs, and Estimates for Phase II Support to OSU budgeting and decision making processes
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McKesson was the AAA Project manager for the WECOMA. My authority encompassed the entire spectrum from planning and budgeting, through and including technical design and/or decision making.
1992-94 USCG 49-foot Buoy Boat: During Detail Design of this boat McKesson provided weight estimation and control. McKesson maintained a running estimate of the boat’s weight, including maintaining a weight database of approximately 1000 line items. McKesson prepared and published bimonthly weight reports, which included explanations of changes from previous reports, and updated predictions of craft speed/power performance.
1993 DISCOVERER Stack Gas Study: McKesson completed an analytical study of the stack gas flow of the NOAA R/V DISCOVERER. The intent of the study was to develop a stack modification that would ameliorate the ingestion of smut into the scientific spaces. The original NOAA concept involved large stack modifications. McKesson’s research determined that a very minor and easily performed modification to the exhaust pipes would work, much simpler than the original concept. While this was not what the customer originally asked for, he was very pleased at the cost savings that resulted.
1992-93 Gas Turbine Engineering and Marketing: McKesson supported Textron Lycoming’s marine gas turbine marketing program by performing engineering studies of potential applications of their engines. Specifically, McKesson produced “quick look” reports showing the impact of TF-40 or TF-15 power for a variety of patrol craft. The reports were produced for Lycoming, but delivered to the patrol craft builders. The list of builders included Textron Marine Systems / Israeli Aircraft Industries, Infinity Yachts, McDonnel- Douglas / Magnum Yachts, and Leopard Marine Systems. The Leopard marine study lead also to participation in a contract directly with that client.
1990 BAP: Bateau Auxiliaire Polyvalent: During my tenure in France McKesson was involved in concept design of a modular naval auxiliary ship. The idea was to develop a standard forebody and afterbody, with parallel midsections which were mission specific. To further complicate matters, the intent was to be able to cut the midsection clear while the ship was afloat.
My first task was to develop concept level requirements for the midsections. Considered missions included Hospital ship, Replenishment Oiler, and Troop carrier. McKesson also coordinated the work of a contractor who developed the cutting and welding technology.
1983-84 Israeli Navy SA’AR 5: While with JJMA McKesson was the hull form engineer for the Israeli Navy SA’AR 5 corvette. This was a 76m/1000 ton corvette with a top speed of over 35 knots. McKesson developed a hullform which balanced Israel’s demand for high speed, excellent seakeeping, and good
16 McKesson 9 Sep 2019 fuel economy. Model tests conducted after McKesson left JJMA bore out the success of my design.
1982 T-AGOS Conversion Study: While at JJMA McKesson was assigned to perform a NAVSEA-funded study of the possibility of converting existing commercial hulls into T-AGOS class ships. The Navy provided a list of available ships. McKesson lead a group to survey the ships, and perform naval architectural studies of their suitability for the T-AGOS mission. We concluded by finding two hulls that were suitable, and producing a report that presented the modifications that would be necessary for their adaptation. On receipt and review of the findings the Navy decide not to make the conversions but to proceed with new construction.
1982 Mid Size Combatant Hull Form: The Mid Size Combatant (MSC) was a generic destroyer designed around a system of modularised weapons. This ship was the middle member of a family of three ships (Small, Mid, and Large size). McKesson was assigned to develop the hull form of this ship. The resulting hullform was used throughout the three-year project.
1982 DDG 51 Seakeeping Analysis: McKesson performed all of the seakeeping analyses of the Arleigh Burke class destroyer throughout the Concept Design phase. These analyses consisted of predictions of ship motion, and predictions of percent operability of the ship and her crew in various environments. The predictions were made using Navy-owned computer programs, and were documented in comprehensive final reports. Seakeeping was a major raison d’etre for DDG 51, and my products were an important part of her development.
NON-DESIGN STUDIES 2009 ONR Innovative Naval Design Project: McKesson has been awarded a multi-year grant by the Office of Naval Research to develop new tools and methodologies for making radical innovations in Naval Engineering. The work includes academic coursework as well as publications, and is expected to lead to a Ph.D. in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering in 2012.
2006 Hood Canal Floating Bridge: The Hood Canal Floating Bridge is a 9000 foot concrete roadway across Washington State?s Hood Canal. Half of the bridge sank in the 1980s and was replaced. The half that didn’t sink is being replaced in 2007. McKesson, working with Spearman Engineering PS, is analyzing hydrodynamic concerns of the float-out (from the graving dock) of the bridge sections, their towing to the site, and their ballasting and stability during installation.
2008 “The Practical Design of Advanced Marine Vehicles” McKesson taught this self-developed course (derived from the University of New Orleans course of the same name, also developed by McKesson) in the offices of a private
17 McKesson 9 Sep 2019 consulting firm as in-house training. Remarks from the students, all of whom are practicing professional naval architects, were extremely favorable to the style, content, and library of supporting material provided.
2005 High Speed Sealift into Austere Ports: In this ONR “HSSL” program, McKesson developed an unique parametric methodology for analyzing the transport effectiveness of any competing hull form. The use of this methodology allowed the HSSL design team to rapidly determine which ship type concepts would have merit, without the effort of developing actual point designs.
2004 Hood Canal Floating Bridge: The Hood Canal Floating Bridge is a 9000 foot concrete roadway across Washington State?s Hood Canal. The bridge roadway is being widened in 2004-2007. McKesson, working with Spearman Engineering PS, is providing marine engineering services to maintain the stability of this vital structure. This work involves building hydrostatic computer models of the bridge, taking field measurements, supervising bridge ballast transfers, developing damage control and damage prevention plans, and coordinating the work of associates in Washington and Pennsylvania.
2004 Washington State Ferries SEPA Assessment: Washington State Ferries (WSF) is in the process of designing and building four new large 130-Auto car ferries. As part of the Project WSF is required to complete a State Environmental Protection assessment checklist. JJMA, under McKesson?s leadership, is tasked to complete this effort. The effort includes quantifying the environmental effects of the ferry in a wide range of areas, including air pollution, water pollution, wake wash, and even aesthetic effects.
2002 Channel Islands National Park: Under contract to David Evans Associates, Inc., Denver CO, assit the National Park Service in the development of a General Management Plan for Channel Islands National Park. McKesson?s role is to develop transportation alternatives to support the GMP. Since Channel Islands National Park is a chain of five islands, this transportation is obviously maritime in nature.
2002 California State University, Long Beach, Center for Commercial Deployment of Transportation Technologies: In recognition of McKesson’s broad expertise relevant to high speed shipping, Cal State Long Beach has appointed McKesson as their Program Manager for High Speed Sealift for this federally funded university center.
2002 San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority - Alternative Fuels And New Technologies: The San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority (WTA) is developing a new ferry transit system for SF Bay. Their goals include developing a systems that is of minimum environmental impact. WTA contracted with JJMA, via competitive award, to study a broad range of
18 McKesson 9 Sep 2019 propulsion technologies and develop recommendations for technologies which would best balance the operational and environmental goals of the Authority.
2001 CCDOTT: Economic Feasibility of Alternative Powering for Merchant Ships Investigated the top-level economic factors and feasibility of powering next-generation container ships (10,000 TEU) using diesel engines, gas turbines, fuel cells, electric drive, and GT-MHR Nuclear power. Investigation showed why the modern low-speed two-stroke diesel is so dominant in the market, and also showed the conditions under which the second-ranking alternative (nuclear power) would be preferable.
2001 Pacific Marine Oahu and Maui – Feasibility And Concept Design Of Inter-Island Ferry System: Pacific Marine (Honolulu HI) desired to investigate the feasibility of ferry service on two routes: A coastal Oahu service and a Maui-Lana?I interisland service. Pacific Marine contracted with JJMA to conduct a feasibility investigation of these systems. JJMA determined that such a system would indeed be feasible, and proceeded to develop the concept design of the recommended system.
2000 Molokai Ranch – Feasibility And Concept Design Of Inter-Island Ferry System: Molokai Ranch, Inc., owns and operates a destination resort on the Island of Molokai, Hawaii. Molokai Ranch contracted with JJMA to conduct a feasibility investigation of a possible inter-island ferry system. JJMA determined that such a system would indeed be feasible, and proceeded to develop the concept design of the recommended system.
2000 Ferry System Implementation Plan, Kitsap Transit: Kitsap County Washington is 14 miles by water from the thriving business center of Seattle. Kitsap Transit, the region’s transit provider, is considering expanding their scope of services to include providing over-water service to Seattle. In order to establish cost baselines and determine service feasibility Kitsap Transit retained the services of JJMA.
JJMA produced a series of technical memoranda, each targeted at a specific element of the proposed operations.
1999 PacifiCat Technical Evaluation: In the 1990s BC Ferries Corporation built a fleet of three fast aluminum ferries in the face of vocal opposition. The ferries were eventually completed late and substantially over budget. This lead to accusations that the vessels might also be technically inadequate. To address this accusation the BC Crown Corporation Secretariat hired JJMA to conduct an in depth technical evaluation of these 122-meter 34-knot fast ferries. McKesson provided project leadership, including directing the survey team, editing the 100-page survey report, and even holding a televised press conference to brief the results of the assessment.
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1997 FAST 99: McKesson was asked to chair the North American organizing committee for the FAST 99 conference. The FAST conferences are, arguably the world?s premier conferences on Fast Sea Transportation. FAST ?91 was held in Trondheim Norway, FAST 93 in Yokohama Japan, FAST 95 in Travemunde Germany, and FAST 97 in Sydney Australia. FAST 99 is scheduled for 31 August to 2 September 1999, in Seattle Washington. An estimated 400 attendees are expected, and over 100 technical papers are planned.
1997 Fast Sealift: McKesson was invited by US TRANSCOM (United States? Transportation Command) to chair a workshop on high speed sealift technology. The David Taylor Model Basin, (DTMB) Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division jointly with the US Department of Defense Transportation Command hosted a Fast Ship Work Shop October 21-23, 1997, to examine the feasibility and research /development needed for transport ships capable of 50-75 kts and 5,000-10,000 nm range. McKesson and Mike Davis of DTMB co-chaired the High Speed Hull Forms/Propulsor Technology Workshop.
1994-96 NAVATEK Ships Ltd: Art Anderson Associates supported Honolulu- based Navatek Ships Ltd in their acquisition of two new-technology aluminum excursion boats. The first of these is the 40-meter aluminum-hulled SLICE. The second is a 65 ft. day boat with diesel power but a very unusual proprietary hull form.
In both of these projects Art Anderson Associates worked with Analytical Methods Inc. to apply the techniques of Computational Fluid Dynamics to the design problem. Using CFD we have minimized vessel free surface effect and developed what appears to be an optimum geometry for the craft. We have also used the CFD analysis to replicate model test conditions and confirm the results obtained during physical model tests.
McKesson was program manager for these tasks.
1994 Puget Sound Ferry Selection Study: As marine consultant for the Passenger-Only Ferry Implementation Plan for the Washington State Department of Transportation, Art Anderson Associates provided transportation planning, naval architectural, and facilities engineering support to the development of the plan. McKesson provided vessel analyses which included developing a list of standardized characteristics to be used in the evaluation and decision making process. McKesson recommended the most appropriate design speed, hull form, capacity, propulsion, wake/wash limits.
1992-93 Ferry Wake Wash: The Washington State Ferries operates several ferries through a narrow passage banked with sensitive shoreline. In response to numerous complaints of beach damage due to the ferry’s passage, the State initiated a program of study of the ferries’ wash characteristics.
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In collaboration with other Art Anderson personnel McKesson produced a study of the wash profiles of a variety of vessels in this sensitive waterway. The results of the study established a criterion for wash acceptability, and a better understanding of the dynamics of wash and wash generation.
More tangibly, the study established a new route that certain boats could take that would permit operation at speeds up to 27 knots. Prior to that study speed through the passage had been limited to 10 knots.
1993 Leopard Marine / USN Mark V Patrol Craft: Leopard Marine Systems retained my services to prepare their proposal to the US Special Operations Command (US SOCOM) for a new generation patrol craft. Working with their British naval architect, their in-house program manager, and the production staff at Bertram Yacht (the proposed builder) McKesson was responsible for the entirety of the technical portion of the proposal. In an intensive six-week effort we built a commanding case for the adequacy of the craft, the maturity of the craft, and the performance of the craft in the inteded service.
1983-84 Israeli Navy SA’AR 5: In order to arrive at the best combination of dimensions for the Government of Israel’s 1000t corvette, McKesson developed a mathematical model of the ship design. With this model McKesson was able to estimate the effect of different principal dimensions on the key performance values of speed, range, seakeeping, radar detectability, and cost. McKesson developed a numerical weighting scheme to trade off these performances. (The weighting factors were developed by surveying the Israeli Naval command officers and mathematically analyzing their responses.) The result of this study was the selection of an optimum ship size. As a validation of the correctness of the study it should be noted that the final ship design, some 5 years after my study and after many man-hours of re-engineering, has the dimensions that McKesson initially recommended.
1986 Oceanography of the Future: The Navy was about to embark on design of an oceanographic research ship for the future. The problem is that the sciences evolve much faster than the ships. Thus one runs the risk of having a ship which is obsolete and unuseable long before she is “worn-out”. The technical terms for this are that she is “mission obsolete” long before she becomes “platform obsolete”.
In order to ameliorate this condition, we attempted to predict the future of oceanography, so that we could design a ship that would go “platform obsolete” first, before she went “mission obsolete.” This task was accomplished by applying industrial design theory to the characterisation of the oceanographic mission. Without duplicating the report here, in brief what was concluded is that in the year 2000 the key processes will be the same. Oceanographers will still be “putting things in the water” “getting them away from the ship” “getting
21 McKesson 9 Sep 2019 the ship back to them” and “picking things up from the water.” What will change will be how long we leave things in the water, how delicate those things are, how far away from the ship we have to get them, etc
From this we were able to suggest designing the ship around these key process lanes, and not around the sciences. Thus we might have a “put things in water” capability, and not separate bathythermograph deployment, submersible deployment, bottom trawl deployment, diver deployment (and recovery!) etc. By respecting the common features of these different acts we will have a vessel with maximum flexibility, which will be a key to avoiding “mission obsolescence.”
The data on the future of oceanography was collected by interviews with practicing oceanographers on the three US coasts. The project was documented in a comprehensive final report, that included three draft ship mission descriptions incorporating our results.
1989-90 Liaison France/USA: As a US Navy employee assigned to France McKesson was a significant point of contact between these two powers. This was particularly important since the senior French project officer has a poor English language capability.
While this role consisted mostly in acting as a messenger, it still presented certain points of interest when McKesson had to find a way not to alienate either side.
Public Service Commendation: “The United States Coast Guard Public Service Commendation is hereby presented to Chris McKesson for his participation and contribution as a volunteer member while serving on the Passenger Vessel Association / Coast Guard Partnership Action Team Natural Working Group on Fire Safety Equivalencies. The Natural Working Group conceived and developed a comprehensive performance-based equivalency guideline for the use of new materials and designs on passenger vessels that will ensure fire safety goals and objectives of 46 CFR Subchapter K are achieved. Through patience, perseverance, and the cooperation of Group members dedicating over 100 hours of volunteered service, the Group studied difficult fire safety concepts to develop workable guidelines. The Group devised a framework to methodically design, engineer, select, and demonstrate equivalency to Coast Guard regulations for new materials and concepts. These guidelines will be of great benefit to the Coast Guard and marine industry by providing a standardized method for evaluating and demonstrating the fire safety equivalencies of novel designs and materials. The Natural Working Group’s dedication to ensure that a high level of safety is preserved on board passenger vessels reflects great credit upon themselves and the Passenger Vessel Association.”
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