SMU Opens Engine Room Integrated Laboratory

07/03/2011

MAN B&W engine to propel learning at prestigious Chinese institution

At a recent ceremony at its Lingang campus – attended by Shanghai Maritime University (SMU) academics, local dignitaries and representatives of, among others, COSCO, China Shipping, Costamare and MAN Diesel & Turbo – SMU officially opened its new teaching facility.

The facility took two years to build and comprises 2,100 square metres of floor space. The centrepiece of the new facility is a fully functional, two-stroke MAN B&W ME-B engine with its own control room that will be utilised for practical tuition.

A number of attendees spoke at the event, including Goetz Kassing, Managing Director of MAN Diesel Shanghai Co. Ltd. In his speech, Kassing referenced the exploits of some of the main characters from China’s proud, maritime history and drew a line connecting Shanghai’s position by the Yangtze and its status as China’s leading port through to SMU’s long tradition of producing maritime graduates and how it will use the new MAN B&W 6SME-B9 engine in training the next generation of Chinese mariners.

Kassing said: “The opening of the laboratory today in Lingang marks another step forward in Chinese maritime life. This new facility has a fully operational MAN B&W 6-cylinder S35ME-B9 engine, and MAN Diesel & Turbo was delighted to be given the opportunity to come aboard - as both a technical and commercial partner.”

In conjunction with SMU and the new facility, MAN Diesel & Turbo is opening an MAN PrimeServ Academy on the same premises as the new laboratory. The Academy will:

• provide practical training courses to SMU students and crews on the operation of modern diesel engines
• host a “green project” facility, test-running a MAN four-stroke engine on cooking oil and bio-fuel
• carry out retrofitting and upgrading projects on the main two-stroke engine with MAN PrimeServ supporting the maintenance of the laboratory engine along with that of SMU’s own training ship that is also powered by MAN Diesel & Turbo
• carry out research and development on the main laboratory engine.

About SMU
Chinese maritime education has its origins in Shanghai where the shipping section of Shanghai Industrial College was founded early in the 20th century. Currently, SMU has a full-time student population of almost 20,000.

Over the course of its existence, SMU has devoted itself to fostering qualified personnel for the shipping industry and has provided shipping enterprises, public institutions and government departments with over 40,000 marine graduates. In recognition of this success, the Chinese State has honoured SMU by designating it a “cradle of qualified shipping personnel”. SMU also prides itself on the quality of its staff that comprises a teaching and research body of more than 800 academics, of whom over 100 are full professors.

MAN Diesel & Turbo, Press Release