“One key to success has been that the industry partners take a long-term perspective. We’re not about quick fixes. Our collaboration with the industry is part of our DNA,” said Rolfsen, highlighting green transition and digitalisation as examples at the anniversary seminar held this week.
On 9 May 2005, the UTC “Performance in a Seaway” was established, with NTNU and Marintek as research partners.
UTC is a collaboration model developed by jet engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce to structure its partnerships with British universities.
After acquiring maritime businesses in Scandinavia, Rolls-Royce Marine wanted to implement the same model with leading Norwegian and Swedish universities.
In 2014, the UTC centre in Trondheim was taken over by Kongsberg Maritime following their acquisition of Rolls-Royce Marine, and thus also inherited the university partnership.
The devil is in the transitions
One of the initial challenges 20 years ago was operational issues with azimuth thrusters, which led to costly warranty claims.
“We had many failures involving gear wheels and shaft bearings and needed to understand the causes of the problems. We had many dissatisfied customers and legal disputes,” says Leif Vartdal, who until recently served as the bridge between Kongsberg Maritime and NTNU.
Through extensive simulations and model testing carried out at NTNU and SINTEF Ocean, the causes of these issues were gradually better understood.
In 2015, the research vessel Gunnerus at NTNU was even equipped with a prototype of Kongsberg Maritime’s permanent magnet rim-drive azimuth thruster.
“It still operates without problems, and the vessel also saw improved efficiency at higher speeds,” says Sverre Steen, professor and head of the Department of Marine Technology, who was tasked with leading the UTC collaboration with Rolls-Royce.
Relevant challenges
“Leading this UTC from 2005 was my second major role in academia,” says Steen. “The first was teaching experimental hydrodynamics!”
Since then, the collaboration has been a major part of the professor’s research portfolio, in close cooperation with key figures like Dariusz Fathi, Research Director for the Department of Ships and Ocean Structures at SINTEF Ocean.
Master’s students and PhD candidates have also been involved in continuing work on various challenges.
“We need to work on relevant problems at the university. The collaboration with Rolls-Royce, and later Kongsberg, has ensured just that,” says Steen.
He adds that the partnership actually goes back even further.
“The cooperation that eventually became formalised as the UTC actually began when former Ulstein CEO Idar Ulstein asked his university friend Knut Minsaas to design a tunnel thruster – as Ulstein’s customers in the fishing fleet were asking for such a product. The design was delivered as agreed and was an important contribution to developing the company that became Ulstein Propeller, later acquired by Rolls-Royce and now continued by Kongsberg Maritime.”
SINTEF Ocean, for its part, has developed various types of software for ship hydrodynamics and simulations, which have been used both in development and sales processes at Kongsberg Maritime.
From propellers to autonomy
The challenges requiring research insights have been many. Since 2018, this has included control systems – for instance, developing vessels that can navigate autonomously.
This has brought NTNU’s Department of Cybernetics into the partnership, led by Professor Tor Arne Johansen.
“People say the devil is in the details, but the devil is also in the transitions – between hydrodynamics and control systems, between hull, propeller, and navigation across various sea conditions and wave types,” says Vartdal.
It’s in the intersection of different disciplines that the “screw-ups” happen. By working across fields, systems can be improved and challenges overcome.
Commercial success
One of the success stories highlighted during the 20th anniversary is the ROV Revolution. It began as a research project at UTC and is now on the verge of becoming an industrial adventure.
Reach Remote is the world’s first remotely operated unmanned vessel that carries ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles) to carry out offshore operations. The vessel has been developed by Reach Subsea in close cooperation with Kongsberg Maritime.
The vessel reduces emissions by 90 percent compared to those previously used for similar operations. It now has a queue of assignments from various companies.
“I think I cried when Reach Remote 1 arrived in Haugesund after its first voyage from Horten,” said Bjørg Mathisen Døving, Vice President of Reach Subsea.
Reach Remote 2 and 3 are now in production.
Well-wishers queued up to mark the 20th anniversary:
“We are standing on top of what research and academia have achieved – that thin layer that turns ideas into business,” said Sverre Torben, Director of Research and Innovation at Kongsberg Maritime.
Reinvent or die
“It’s a true honour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of UTC. We’re extremely proud of what the research has led to and the value it has generated for society in various meaningful ways,” said Vegar Johansen, CEO of SINTEF Ocean.
His speech focused on the green transition and competitiveness. Without success in a green transition, the ocean economy will diminish – and the ocean economy is crucial for Norway.
“A humble thank you! I hope we can continue this journey,” said Bjørn Jalving, CTO at Kongsberg Maritime.
He noted that Kongsberg is 200 years old and has survived by being a technological pioneer.
“We must reinvent ourselves to avoid dying.”
The past 50 years have also included ship design. 1,000 ships have been delivered.
“What we do is deliver vessel systems that can operate in very rough conditions – and for that, we need to understand the ocean. Autonomy and zero emissions aren’t easy, but we will keep building. With controlled use of AI, neural networks, and a unique combination of AI, cybernetics and hydrodynamic understanding,” said Jalving.
He admitted that it took a while for people at Kongsberg Maritime to understand what a UTC is, but now that they’ve seen the value, they hope for at least another 20 years.
“This is industrial research where the company owns the results,” said Sverre Steen, department and UTC leader.
The rectorate has looked into it but cannot find any other equally long-lasting collaboration. And there are many agreements: Over 30 at the rectorate level, and probably hundreds more at faculty and department level.