Marine engineering academic wins prestigious research prize

The Director of the Liverpool Logistics Offshore and Marine Research Institute at Liverpool John Moores University - Prof. Jin Wang - has been awarded the prestigious 2018 IMechE Award for Risk Reduction in Mechanical Engineering. The Institution of Mechanical Engineers makes the award annually to the eminent engineer who has contributed most to the understanding and/or reduction of risk in any area of Mechanical Engineering. This award was established by Holman Brothers Ltd in 1955.

Since the early 1990s, Prof. Wang and his research teams have helped to reduce the risks associated with large-scale maritime and mechanical engineering systems significantly, by extending the boundaries of risk-based decision-making and developing generic models and methodologies for knowledge-driven risk assessment and decision analysis. His research has had a significant influence on industrial practice and has helped shape a risk-based, goal-setting regime that has been widely adopted.

Many of these models have been developed and published in collaboration with industrial partners, and have delivered research impact in a number of key areas, including:

• The design and operation of ships, port terminals, offshore oil and gas installations and offshore wind farms, with a particular focus on maintenance planning, evacuation planning, operational strategy planning and risk control measures selection
• Safety and security planning for port terminals, piracy/terrorism-related risk evaluation, ship selection decision-making and safety management; and
• The updating of maritime safety regulations relating to maritime system design and operation, ship accident investigations and other human and organisational factors

Prof. Wang said “I am honoured to have been nominated for the Award for Risk Reduction in Mechanical Engineering, and I am really thrilled to receive this prize. I would like to express my thanks to my researchers and collaborators for their creativity and many years of hard work. The award will help me to further develop my fundamental and applied research. Risk reduction in mechanical engineering systems is a continual challenge because there are always emergent new risks associated with ever-changing technologies. I would urge young researchers to investigate and engage with this important area of engineering research, which requires a multi-disciplinary holistic approach.”