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. 

Dr. Marshall L. Nuckols

Award: Solberg Award
Year: 2000
Recipient:
Dr. Marshall L. Nuckols
Reason:
For his significant engineering research and development in underwater life support for long duration, cold water diving missions; advanced SEAL delivery systems; and emergency submarine rescue operations as set forth in the following

Diver thermal protection is still one of the most limiting factors preventing successful completion of cold-water missions even though the U.S. Navy and commercial equipment developers have expended considerable research effort in the past. Dr. Nuckols' recently patented hydrogen catalytic heater, with the catalyst bed placed in the breathing circuit just upstream of a diver's mask or helmet, has proven to be an effective apparatus to warm and humidify diver's inspired gases in open-circuit, demand SCUBA systems and in semi-closed circuit systems. His hydrogen catalytic combustion water heater design has integrated this new technology into a heater design for whole body thermal protection. This heating technique will minimize the power and space requirements that must be dedicated to diver thermal protection within swimmer delivery vehicles, surface supported or free-swimming missions.

Dr. Nuckols' recent research in underwater breathing apparatus also yielded a versatile, passively-controlled, semi-closed, underwater breathing apparatus for deep diving applications that can be switched to closed-circuit mode during shallow water missions. This design would support the full range of Naval Special Warfare missions without the complexity and cost of electronically controlled closed circuit rebreathers. Taken together, these two recent accomplishments promise to greatly enhance operational safety and mission capabilities for the Navy Special Warfare community and they are quickly gaining attention from the commercial diving industry.

These notable achievements add to a long and distinguished record of research, invention and publication in the field of underwater life support. Dr. Marshall Nuckols is truly most deserving of the ASNE Solberg Award for 2000.