Tim Nichols has extensive experience in warship design and construction both in international and domestic shipyards. After completing 9.5 years on active duty in the US Navy, he joined GE Marine & Industrial Engine Division where he spent the next 15 years developing the global marine propulsion markets for GE marine gas turbines. Subsequently, he held international leadership positions at GE supporting the growth of their aerospace products. Then he transited to the aerospace information technology industry eventually retiring from Siemens in 2017. He is now president of Ubiquitech LLC, an independent consulting company.
Robert G Keane, Jr. has over 55 years of ship design and acquisition experience. During 21 years as a member of the Federal Senior Executive Service (SES), he served as the U.S. Navy’s Chief Naval Architect, Chief of Ship Design, Director of Survivability and Director of Naval Architecture. He was responsible for ship design from pre-acquisition concept studies, through design, construction, and in-service. His Navy-led Design Teams successfully completed 35 major Contract Designs leading to the acquisition of 200 ships. He now heads his own consulting firm, Ship Design USA, Inc. He is well published and has received numerous professional society and Navy honorary awards.
CAPT Barry Tibbits, USN (ret.) has many decades experience in R&D, design, construction, maintenance and operations in both submarines and surface ships. He served five years at sea and eight years in shipyards, was commander of the David Taylor Research Center, Director of the NAVSEA Ship Design Group for six years, and professor of Naval Construction and Engineering at MIT. He has published over 30 technical papers and authored chapters in four books. He was an adjunct professor at both Virginia Tech and Stevens Institute of Technology, and for 25 years lectured on ship design integration each summer at MIT.
Peter Jaquith has shipyard executive experience in ship design, production engineering, planning, and production. He is a recognized leader in improving North American shipbuilding processes including the application of advanced outfitting, modular engine room techniques, the Toyota Production System, and world-class Lean Design and Production Engineering practices to naval and commercial ship design and construction. Peter has benchmarked world-class shipbuilding, automotive, aerospace, and civil engineering best practice and led their application to U.S. naval and commercial shipbuilding. He received a B.S. in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from Webb Institute of Naval Architecture with advanced studies at the University of Maine and Harvard Business School. Peter has authored numerous papers on ship design, production engineering, modular construction, and ship manufacturing practice including the Lean Design Guide for Pre-Contract Design, SNAME T&R Bulletin 7-11. Peter is an ASNE Member Emeritus, a SNAME Life Fellow, and is recipient of ASNE’s “Jimmie” Hamilton and SNAME’s William M. Kennedy and Elmer L. Hann awards for his contributions to shipbuilding.