Rosenblatt Young Naval Engineer Award
2010
Mr. Jonathan Applequist
For remarkable, early professional achievement with demonstrated potential for continued distinction in the field of naval engineering.
Biography:
Mr. Applequist is a 1999 graduate of Texas A&M University, where he received his BSE in Ocean Engineering. He joined Gibbs & Cox, Inc. in March of 2000 as a project engineer in the Naval Architecture Department.
During his first few years at the company, Mr. Applequist supported the U.S. Navy’s DD21 Blue Team in the emerging area of dynamic stability assessment. He authored an in-depth study on the subject, comparing the various proposed approaches to assessing stability in large amplitude waves and how to successfully apply this to the Blue Team design.
Mr. Applequist was a senior Naval Architect on the SAIC USCG Deepwater Team, conducting general arrangements integration, weight estimating and stability assessments for three ship designs proposed by the Team. In 2002, Mr. Applequist was selected as the Lead Naval Architect for the Focused Mission Ship Concept Design study, the precursor to what would eventually evolve to become the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). Following this, and since the inception of the LCS Program in 2003, Mr. Applequist has served as the Lead Naval Architect for the LCS 1 Freedom Class Littoral Combat Ships and has overseen the naval architectural technical development and design integration for the ship from early Concept Design through delivery and sustainment. He continues in this role for the recently awarded LCS follow ship program.
In 2006, Mr. Applequist was assigned as the Gibbs & Cox, Inc. Deputy Program Manager and technical lead for the Preliminary Design of an international LCS variant (LCS-I) featuring a significantly upgraded combat system for the Israeli Navy. He successfully completed the LCS-I Preliminary Design, meeting all the Israeli Navy’s capability requirements, on-time and within budget.
During this period he was the technical lead and primary author of the U.S. Navy’s DDG 51 “Gap Filler” studies prepared for PMS 400D (DDG 51 Program Office). The final report, authored by Mr. Applequist, identified the initial technical challenges associated with integrating a significant combat capability upgrade to DDG 51 Class platforms, but in doing so also confirmed the viability of using the DDG 51 Class as a way to introduce this capability to the fleet in a cost effective manner.
He also directly supported NAVSEA 05D as a Task Lead for numerous ship Concept Designs and Force Architecture studies including Concept Designs for Sea Base Connectors, future Mid-Sized Surface Combatants, and future integration of Modular Mission Packages. Most recently, he was the Lead Investigator and author for a USCG/USN Commonality Study, which identified areas where increased commonality of equipment, resources and methodologies between the two services shows promise of improving mission performance and reducing cost.
In 2003 Mr. Applequist was promoted to be Manager of the Naval Architecture Department, making him one of the youngest employees ever promoted to the position of Department Manager in Gibbs & Cox, Inc.’s 81 year history, and continues in this role today. Early in his tenure, he became acutely aware of the shortage of Naval Architects with experience in surface combatant design. He recruited, trained and retained a group of young Naval Architects who have become the core Naval Architecture competency for Gibbs & Cox, Inc. This team of highly competent Naval Architects offer services of the highest quality to the company’s clientele and have themselves become integral and trusted members of the programs they serve.