American Society of Naval Engineers

Founding

Established September 30, 1888; founding members met at the Bureau of Steam Engineering in Washington DC. Shortly thereafter Nathan P. Towne was elected the Society's first president.[2] In the years to follow, ASNE membership expanded beyond its initial roots within the United States Navy engineering duty officer community to include United States Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Army, and civilian engineers.

Logo

The ASNE logo was first approved by the Council in January 1897 and it was based on the uniform insignia worn at the time by officers of the U.S. Navy Engineering Corps – the community that had founded the Society in 1888. At that time the Engineering Corps was a staff corps and the stripes worn on the sleeves of their blue service dress uniforms were gold stripes with red cloth between the stripes, and the staff insignia that they wore was four oak leaves arranged in a cross. Subsequently, in 1899 the Engineering Corps was discontinued and those officers were made Line Officers, restricted to Engineering Duty Only, in order to better integrate their rank structure with officers of the Unrestricted Line. Thus their uniform insignia became the same as the Unrestricted Line – gold stripes on the blue uniform background with gold star insignia. However, ASNE retained the original design for the logo in recognition of its heritage.

The following is a listing of technical meetings hosted by ASNE for the greater Naval Engineering community.

Journal

The Naval Engineers Journal (NEJ) is published quarterly by ASNE. It is distributed to all ASNE members, and subscription is available to non-members. The NEJ is a medium for technical papers in the field of naval engineering. It also contains schedules of meetings, symposia, and other events, news, notes, and membership information. The Society invites both members and non-members to submit manuscripts of previously unpublished papers to the Journal Editor. Papers on the full range of subjects of interest to naval engineers are welcome.

Papers

ASNE hosts many symposia throughout the year focused on combat systems, autonomy, cyber security, fleet maintenance and modernization, corrosion mitigation, small craft, and future programs. Papers, presentations and other outputs of the meeting are archived and made available for purchase.

Books

History of American Naval Dry Docks, CAPT Rick Hepburn, PE, USN (Ret.), 2003

Marine Casualty Response: Salvage Engineering, various, 1999

Naval Engineering and American Seapower, RADM Millard Firebaugh, USN (Ret.) ed., 2000

Each year the American Society of Naval Engineers celebrates excellence in our profession by recognizing individuals who have demonstrated exceptional achievement in one or more facets of naval engineering. Any U.S. citizen engaged in any of the many aspects of naval engineering may be considered for these awards including government employees, members of the uniformed services, and those employed in the defense industry, in academia, or elsewhere in the private sector. Nominations may be submitted by any individual or organization having knowledge of the qualifications of the individual nominated.

Prior award winners are listed along with their citations on the ASNE website at http://www.navalengineers.org

Gold Medal Award (Engineering)

The Gold Medal Award, presented annually since 1958, is given to an individual who has made a significant naval engineering contribution in a particular area during the past five years.

In the field of naval engineering, the nominee must have made a most significant contribution through personal effort, or through the direction of others, during or culminating in the five-year period ending in the current year. Evidence of personal involvement shall be explicitly stated. If, for security reasons, the evidence cannot be publicly disclosed, the statement should be sufficiently specific for recognition of the accomplishment by those qualified to assess it.

Solberg Award (Research)

The Solberg Award, presented annually since 1967, is given to an individual who has made a significant contribution to naval engineering through personal research during the past three years. Admiral Thorwald A. Solberg's greatest forte was the pursuit of basic and applied research leading to solutions of shipboard problems. His long career as a naval engineer, culminating in his appointment as chief of naval research, inspired the research and development engineering profession and this award.

The nominee must have made a most significant contribution to naval engineering through personal research carried out during or culminating in the three-year period ending in the current year. Evidence of personal involvement in the research and specific assessment of the significance of the nominee's contribution should be submitted. If, for security reasons, the details of the research cannot be publicly disclosed, the statement should be sufficiently specific for recognition of the accomplishment by those qualified to assess it.

Harold E. Saunders Award

The Harold E. Saunders Award, presented annually since 1977, honors an individual whose reputation in naval engineering spans a long career of notable achievement and influence. Captain Saunders' contributions to the arts and sciences of naval engineering spanned nearly fifty years, culminating in the publication of his monumental work, Hydrodynamics in Ship Design. Naval architect, engineer, constructor, scientist, writer, scholar, administrator, diplomat—Captain Saunders was all of these. He set a standard of professionalism and dedication for all naval engineers.

The nominee must have demonstrated productivity, growth, and outstanding accomplishment in engineering over the years, with ultimate wide recognition by peers as a leader in the field, and of such prestige as to merit the acclaim of the naval engineering community.

Claud A. Jones Award (Fleet Engineer)

The recipient of the Claud A. Jones Award, presented annually since 1987, is a fleet or field engineer who has made significant contributions to improving operational engineering or material readiness of our maritime forces during the past three years. Admiral Jones' career spanned over 40 years including his midshipman days, the first 24 years largely spent on ships and with the fleet serving with distinction in engineering assignments. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for "extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession" as a result of his courageous actions in 1916, while serving as engineer on the USS Memphis, when his ship was wrecked by the storm surge from Hurricane Eight of the 1916 Atlantic hurricane season.

"The nominee must have made sustained significant contributions to improving operational engineering or material readiness of maritime defense forces culminating in the three-year period ending in the current year. Evidence of the personal involvement and an assessment of the significance of the nominee's contribution should be submitted. If, for security reasons, the details of the actions cannot be publicly disclosed, the statement should be sufficiently specific for recognition of the accomplishment by those qualified to assess it and should be endorsed by a select number of experienced senior executives with authorized access to the information."

Frank G. Law Award

The Frank G. Law Award, presented annually since 1980, is given to an individual whose longtime dedication and service to the Society is deemed worthy of special recognition. Captain Law was secretary-treasurer of ASNE from 1969 to 1980. In his honor, this award recognizes long-term significant contributions of service to the Society.

The nominee must have made outstanding and long-term significant contributions through individual effort, or by the direction of others, to the Society, which resulted in one or more of the following: (1) improvement in the Society's operations, (2) enhancement of the Society's objectives, or (3) advancement of the Society's professional stature. Evidence of personal involvement in the management, administration, and financial affairs of the Society measured by achievement while serving as a member, officer, or committee chairperson shall be presented. The nominee must have demonstrated leadership, selfless dedication, effective contribution and personal commitment in support of Society interests, goals, and ideals over a number of years. The nominee must be a member of the American Society of Naval Engineers.

Rosenblatt "Young Naval Engineer" Award The Rosenblatt Young Naval Engineer Award will be presented to a person not more than 35 years of age as of December 31 of the year of nomination, who has demonstrated remarkable, early professional achievement in one or more areas of the field of naval engineering as defined by the Society. The nominee shall have made a most noteworthy contribution to advancing the field by clearly demonstrating one or more of the following:

Superior innovation and insight, as evidenced by senior acclaim, published paper(s), invention, design creativity, patent(s), simulation, process improvement, or similar accomplishments. Outstanding technical leadership and obvious potential for continued distinction in naval engineering based on assigned responsibilities and recognized preeminent performance that is typically uncharacteristic of someone of his or her age. Moreover, the nominee shall exhibit character and integrity that reflects the Rosenblatt tradition of both ethics and excellence that has brought great credit to our community and the Society, and that will serve as a role model for other young engineers.

"Jimmie" Hamilton Award

The ASNE Journal Committee annually recommends that the author(s) of the best original technical paper, published in Naval Engineers Journal during that award year, receive the "Jimmie" Hamilton Award, presented annually since 1967. The bases for selection are the professionalism of subject matter, depth of treatment, importance and lasting value, clarity of composition and style, and individual effort.

Frank C. Jones Award

This award was established to honor RADM Frank C. Jones, USN who, over a lifetime of service to our nation and the American Society of Naval Engineers, was a highly respected and admired leader. His leadership in the field of major maintenance and alterations at three naval shipyards and a number of related naval commands is particularly noteworthy and is honored by this award. He was an active member of ASNE throughout his career and most notably served as President from 1968-1969. A very generous bequest from RADM Jones enables ASNE to recognize naval engineering professionals in this important field of ship repair and alterations.

Therefore, the RADM Frank C. Jones Award for Major Maintenance and Alteration Achievements hereby recognizes those Naval Engineering professionals, who over a period of at least ten years, culminating in the most recent previous year, have substantially and significantly contributed to their agency’s intermediate and/or depot-level ship maintenance and/or alteration programs that involve the complex work of managing, planning, preparation and/or execution of extensive repairs, overhauls, upgrades and/or modernizations.

Student Awards

Student awards are given by ASNE at the following academies and universities for outstanding performance in a particular area:

Additionally, ASNE awards ~15 scholarships annually to senior undergraduate and graduate students.

• Claud A. Jones
• Wayne E. Meyer
• William B. Morgan
• George "Pete" Nanos
• Ronald Rábago
• Hyman G. Rickover
• Harold E. Saunders

• Naval architecture
• Shipbuilding
• Classification society
• International Maritime Organization
• Royal Institution of Naval Architects
• Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers
• Marine architecture

• Official American Society of Naval Engineers website