Overview
Under the European Commission’s maritime vision, the IMO, regulatory bodies and industries propose preventative measures to build a sustainable and cleaner environment emphasising on ‘energy efficiency’ to lower CO2 emissions. Malta's strategic location, infrastructure and experience results in a globally respected Maltese flag registry (sixth globally, first ranking flag on the European level). To address the shortage of educational infrastructure, generate sufficient human skills and research and innovation activities, the VENTuRE twinning action between the Universities of Malta, Strathclyde, Genoa and NAS, will work towards the creation of a virtual and experimental towing centre. The action is to maximise use of these facilities, secure transfer of essential knowledge, to increase HR capacity and expertise in Malta in the area of 'energy efficient’ ship design.
The Maltese maritime industry is seeing rapid development with a view to adhere to all international standards and regulations whilst at the same time adopt the latest novel and state-of-the-art engineering techniques to adequately support this vision. However, the maritime industry in Malta still lacks the appropriate capability to support this development and is seeking knowledge exchange to build up its capability in the long term.
As part of building such capability, the University of Malta is forging ahead with plans to set up virtual and experimental towing facilities that are fundamental for the design of energy efficient sea-faring vessels. Although the infrastructure is planned, the appropriate long term use of such facilities can only be secured via the appropriate expertise and networking activities with institutions that have already established a strong track record in the field. This Twinning Action will enable the transfer of essential knowledge from two internationally-leading research institutions, namely the University of Strathclyde (UK) and the University of Genoa (Italy) to Malta.
Knowledge transfer will be through different planned activities: short specialist courses to enhance scientific and technological capacity, an e-platform for training, short term visits to the partners, short term expert visits, technician/lab staff visits; actions to build tomorrow’s maritime professionals and academic innovators, research conferences, student exchanges, student mentoring and joint supervision, secondment in industry, winter and summer schools; actions to raise the research profile of the UM by forming research networking activities, involvement in hydro-testing forums and conferences, and cooperation for on-going research activities and events. The local industry that is seeking to fit in the expanding local maritime industry is seen as a key partner in providing the necessary support and characterisation of real-life maritime requirements.