Engineer This!: Reducing capsize risk to keep ships on course

Throughout history, ships have had to battle waves, facing the risk of going past their tipping point and capsizing. Whether on a family cruise, participating in a sailing competition or serving on a military vessel, when people are out in open waters, it’s imperative to make sure somebody is working to make being out in the water it as safe as possible.

Naval architect and professor in the Department of Ocean Engineering, Dr. Jeffrey Falzarano has more than 30 years of experience researching and developing new ways to keep ships and their crews safe. His team’s current research focuses on two areas — designing wave-energy devices and researching how ships maneuver differently on waves in shallow and deep water.