Report on the Participation of the Greek Members in the 2014 SNAME Maritime Convention in Houston,Texas
The Greek delegation which attended the 2014 SNAME Maritime Convention (SMC) in Houston, Texas between October 21 and 24, consisted of eleven persons, namely P. Lalangas, Manager of the SNAME European Regional Office (SERO); Prof. A. Papanikolaou of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA); seven NTUA SNAME student members; Dr. George Gougoulidis, Lieut. Commander of the Hellenic Navy and SNAME member, who presented a technical paper, and Miss Sofia Iliogrammenou, the Executive Secretary of SERO and the Greek Section, who was invited to assist SNAME at the SMC.
Lieut. Com. George Gougoulidis with moderator Michael Foteinos (NTUA student)
P. Lalangas was a guest of SNAME and was honored at the Awards Luncheon and in front of some 1,000 members and guests, with a framed certificate / proclamation for his contribution to the expansion of SNAME in Europe, because he started in 2002 the Greek Section together with Prof. G. Grigoropoulos and Dr. M. Pantazopoulos, he prevailed upon the SNAME Executive Committee to form SERO in order to manage SNAME’s membership and business in Europe and for drawing the attention and respect of the neighbors of Greece, such as Italy and Turkey, towards SNAME and helping to start regular and / or student sections in these countries.
P. Lalangas receiving the proclamation certificate from President Peter Noble
Prof. Apostolos Papanikolaou received at the same event the ABS-Captain Joseph Linnard Prize / Award as the head of a team of eight researchers for the EU project “Goalds – Goal Based Damage Stability of Passenger Ships” and main author for the best paper presented to SNAME in the Year 2013.
Also, at the same event a framed Certificate of Appreciation was given to Mr. Athanasios Kyratsous, President of the ELKCO Marine Group of Companies in Athens, for the continuous and outstanding support of SNAME, the Greek Section and SERO since 2002 by himself and his late brother Ilias. In the absence of Mr. Kyratsous, the Certificate was received on his behalf by P. Lalangas.
The Greek delegation with President Peter Noble & President Elect Joe Comer
Another significant achievement / recognition at the Awards Luncheon was that the Greek Section was elected for a third year in a row as the Best Section (Top Super Section) among SNAME’s 18 Sections, with most of the other Sections being in North America. This was recognized because the Greek Section satisfied the most SNAME’s high standards and criteria for its monthly technical meetings and for its sound financial management and reporting. This achievement was recognized with the delivery of a big banner.
The participation of seven SNAME NTUA student members was made possible thanks to the financial support from the “Stavros Niarchos Foundation”, the shipping companies “Safe Bulkers”, “Alassia Newships Management” and ”Avin International” and the Greek Section. The students took part in all student activities, meetings and competitions and were awarded for the second consecutive year the prize of $600.00 for developing the best Microsite. Moreover, another Greek student, George Rossopoulos, Chairman of the NTUA Student Section, was appointed “Electronic Media Chair” at the Student Steering Committee (SSC).
The Linnard Award is given to Prof. Apostolos Papanikolaou of NTUA by President Peter Noble
Finally, our member Dr. George Gougoulidis, Lieut. Commander of the Hellenic Navy, presented at one of the technical meetings the valuable paper: “Energy Savings Basics for the Marine Industry – Renewable Energy”, which was well attended.
Source: SNAME
