OXFORD UNIVERSITY WINNER OF FIRST IMarEST FUGRO GEOS UNDERGRADUATE AWARD

 

The inaugural Fugro GEOS undergraduate dissertation award for the 2007/8 academic year has been awarded to Oxford graduate, Jamie Curry (21), for his research on Tsunamis approaching the coast, by the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST).

The research, investigating the effect of a Tsunami passing onto a shelf, is described as contributing to filling one of the many gaps in our knowledge related to Tsunamis, and thus to a likely reduction in the likelihood of a disaster such as the Boxing Day 2004 event reoccurring.

“This new award provides a prize of £500 which is certainly appreciated by a new graduate” explains Ben Saunders, IMarEST’s Education and Training Co-ordinator. The judging panel, which comprised Dr Mark Calverley (Fugro GEOS), Dr Chris Graham (metocean consultant) and Robin Stephens (BMT Seatech), Dr Bev MacKenzie (IMarEST’s Manager, Technical Affairs) and Ben Saunders was extremely impressed by details of Jamie’s project which aims to examine some of those characteristics of Tsunamis that are still unknown.

Jamie explains in a summary of his work that “innovations in computing have led to great advances in the ability to study propagation of long waves. Offshore and coastal engineers are only just beginning to catch up with applied physicists and mathematicians and are now developing models capable of providing good approximations of solitary wave behaviour, like that of a Tsunami”.

“We are delighted to be involved with this new award,” says Jeff Coutts, Managing Director of Fugro GEOS. “Not only are we wholeheartedly committed to doing everything possible to encourage talented young people to undertake research in areas relating to metocean studies, but Jamie’s study has a very direct impact on areas of our ongoing work on tsunami detection and warning systems.”    

Further information on scholarships, awards and prizes offered by the Institute is available at www.imarest.org/theimarest/awards/default.asp

 

Further press information from:
Judith Patten @ JPPR
34 Ellerker Gardens, Richmond, Surrey, TW10 6AA, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8241 1912; Fax: +44 (0) 20 8940 6211
Email: judithpatten@wwmail.co.uk