1423 Powhatan St., Suite 1
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
Phone (703) 836-6727
Fax (703) 836-7491
Email: asnehq@navalengineers.org

 

ASNE is the leading professional engineering society for engineers, scientists and allied professionals who conceive, design, develop, test, construct, outfit, operate and maintain complex naval and maritime ships, submarines and aircraft and their associated systems and subsystems.  ASNE also serves the educators who train the professionals, researchers who develop related technology, and students who are preparing for the profession.  Society activities provide support for the U.S. Navy; U.S. Coast Guard; U.S. Marine Corps; U.S. Merchant Marine and U.S. Army.

ASNE is the seventh oldest technical society in the United States.  It was founded in 1888 by a group of naval engineering pioneers, most of them officers of the U.S. Navy's Engineering Corps, who sought a unified approach to their profession in order to make the most of new advances in technology. The purposes of ASNE are:           

  • to advance the knowledge and practice of naval engineering in public and private applications and operations,
  • to enhance the professionalism and well-being of members, and
  • to promote naval engineering as a career field.

For 125 years, the Society’s objectives have been strengthened and preserved to meet the changing needs of a time-honored profession. Today ASNE conducts a variety of technical meetings and symposia, publishes the highly regarded Naval Engineers Journal and a number of other technical proceedings and publications, and fosters professional development and technical information exchange through technical committees, local section activities and cooperative efforts with government organizations and other professional societies.

The Society's annual meeting, ASNE Day, is typically held in February of each year in the Washington, DC, area. The meeting features major addresses by high level industry and government leaders and panel discussions by leading members of the profession.  It also includes presentation and discussion of technical papers on a variety of timely naval engineering topics, presentation of the Society's prestigious annual awards and a large exposition with government and industry exhibits covering the full spectrum of naval engineering technology. ASNE Day is highlighted by the Society’s annual Honors Gala, attended by hundreds of executives and senior managers from both government and industry.

Our website is designed to not only serve our members, but also to support scholars, students and others interested in the varied field of naval engineering.  We welcome your suggestions on ways we can improve your experience. 

George A. Wacker

Award: Harold E. Saunders Award
Year: 1997
Recipient:
Mr. George A. Wacker
Reason:
For his significant contribution to naval engineering as set forth in the following:

Through his leadership, personal dedication and superb expertise in materials engineering, Mr. George Wacker has built an exceptional laboratory capability in ship materials engineering for the U. S. Navy. Innovative materials applications developed under his leadership have substantially enhanced the effectiveness and affordability of Navy ships in a great many areas, and he has fostered many improvements in materials processes which are markedly reducing both acquisition and maintenance costs for new ships.

The strong base of materials expertise developed over many years by Mr. Wacker has produced major advances in areas such as metallic materials, advanced composite materials, welding and fabrication technology, paints and coatings, ceramics, nondestructive evaluation and testing, target strength reduction materials, radar absorbing materials, and shipboard environmental quality technology. A prime example is the development and certification of high strength, low alloy (HSLA) steels for surface ships. These steels provide dramatic improvements in weldability versus comparable strength steels, resulting in significantly reduced fabrication costs. The 80,000 psi yield strength HSLA has been used extensively in construction of the DDG-51 Class, with savings already exceeding $100 million. Developed in conjunction with Naval Sea Systems Command and Newport News Shipbuilding, the weldment system using HSLA-100, the 100,000 psi yield strength version, will be used in aircraft carrier construction. Another area of major development is composite materials and structures where advances in the design and fabrication of organic matrix composites promise significant improvement in structural performance and signature reduction of topside structures. A notable example is the Advanced Enclosed Mast Sensor System currently being tested aboard a DD-963 Class ship.

Mr. Wacker has earned a solid reputation as an enlightened manager and an innovative technical leader in the field of materials science. His superb talent for developing people has produced many world class engineers and scientists; and his cooperative approach to engineering development has fostered many international agreements, such as the latest United States initiatives in steel making technology with Japan and India.

Mr. Wacker has produced a lasting legacy in materials engineering for the U. S. Navy. He is most worthy of the Harold E. Saunders Award for 1997.