Assistant professor of ocean engineering Travis Hunsucker ’11 M.S., ’16 Ph.D., has been designated a Naval Sea System Command (NAVSEA) Professor in Experimental Hydrodynamics by the U.S. Navy. He’s one of nine professors selected from institutions across the country, including MIT, University of Michigan and Stevens Institute of Technology, who are tasked with building a curriculum and leading research and development of Navy-relevant capabilities in ship design.
The program, launched in February, falls under the Naval Engineering Excellence for the U.S. Navy (NEXUS) initiative, which is designed to strengthen the future naval engineering workforce.
“There has never been a more critical time for our naval engineering community,” Rear Adm. Pete Small, NAVSEA chief engineer and commander of Naval Surface and Undersea Warfare Centers (NSWC/NUWC), said in a recent article from NSWC public affairs.
Hunsucker will focus on experimental hydrodynamics in relation to the ability of a vessel to withstand rough conditions at sea, known as seakeeping, as well as ship resistance and powering design aspects. (Hydrodynamics is the branch of physics that deals with “the motion of fluids and the forces acting on solid bodies immersed in fluids,” as per Merriam-Webster.) He is specifically focusing on how hull design can affect ship resistance, powering and seakeeping and how he can use field testing to inform full-scale design.
Participating students will be experiencing hands-on learning of critical skills.
“The overarching goal is to give our students the opportunity to design, build and evaluate multiple hull forms throughout their education. It’s great because most of the students doing research in my lab are doing experimental work, but they haven’t had formal education in it,” Hunsucker said. “Now they’re in my lab and we talk about it in class, then we go out and do the research. It’s great.”
Hunsucker divides his duties as NAVSEA Professor into three categories. The first, education, means developing a framework for students to learn ship design both inside the classroom and beyond it through long-term projects for them in his lab, such as designing self-propelled hull forms.
The second category encompasses his own research. He plans to collaborate with colleagues at Florida Tech to better understand what causes performance gains and resistence in ship hulls. He’s particularly interested in how biofilm is involved with hull movement. His research will include testing scale models (6- to 8-feet long) on the water at the university’s Mertens Marine Center and using this data to make predictions about full-scale ships.
Hunsucker will also develop a curriculum of classes and course notes to share with the NAVSEA program and other institutions. He’s teaching a graduate-level experimental hydrodynamics class at Florida Tech where he will share both his own material and the information he receives from the other NAVEA professors.
“Faculty shapes the next generation of naval architects long before a student ever applies for a job. The NAVSEA Professors program strengthens that talent pipeline by supporting university programs and connecting students to real pathways into the maritime industrial base,” Matthew Sermon, direct reporting program manager for the Maritime Industrial Base Program, said during the NAVSEA professors kick-off. “If we want to meet the Navy’s demand signal, we have to invest in the people and institutions that produce this specialized expertise.”
The NAVSEA program is in its pilot year, but it could potentially carry on for many more. Hunsucker is thrilled to be a part of the national effort and to give his students a deeper knowledge base.
“I’m excited to see freshmen and underclassmen have these hands-on opportunities where they can apply what they learn in the classroom and the field,” Hunsucker said. “I’m excited to represent my institution and my country.”
