ABS Appoints New Chief Scientist (USA)

ABS, a leading provider of maritime and offshore classification services, announces the appointment of Dr. Richard Korpus as Chief Scientist, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). In the Chief Scientist role, Korpus will support the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and the organization through his focus on developing and applying CFD technology.

“We see technology as the road forward,” says ABS Chairman and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki. “It is a fundamental part of our business strategy, and Richard will be integral to keeping ABS in a technology leadership position.”

The creation of this Chief Scientist position is the most recent step in the continuing process of technology investment at ABS.

“The focus on technology is critical in today’s rapidly changing operating environment,” says ABS CTO Todd Grove. “While ABS has had CFD capabilities for many years, advancements in solvers and computing power coupled with analysis demands ranging from eco-hull forms to deepwater risers and offshore wind have brought this technology to the fore. Having a Chief Scientist for CFD allows ABS to bring these advances to bear to develop solutions to meet industry demands.”

 In his new role, Korpus is the corporate technical authority on CFD applications for marine and offshore. He will oversee CFD policy, procedures, long-range planning, tools, capabilities and services and will play a vital role in making sure ABS continues to provide technology capabilities to support industry needs.”

Earlier this year ABS’ Operational and Environmental Performance team (OEP) began offering industry services in support of asset optimization. Assessing the energy efficiency of new designs and optimizing retrofits to existing vessels are focal points of OEP’s services. CFD represents an essential tool in providing these services. Korpus is teaming with OEP’s CFD specialists to further develop highly efficient CFD modeling and optimization procedures utilizing both industry standard and proprietary codes.

Korpus holds multiple engineering degrees from the University of Michigan, including a BS and MS in Aerospace Engineering and a BS, MS and PhD in Naval Architecture. He has taught both subjects at the university level. Korpus’ theoretical training includes a broad background in applied and numerical mathematics, development of finite volume, difference, and element methods, optimization and variational methods, and boundary integral techniques.

Korpus comes to ABS from Advanced Fluid Technologies, where he was the Principal Scientist since its founding in 2000. Prior to AFT, his positions included 12 years as a Senior Scientist with Science Applications International Corporation. For more than 25 years Korpus has applied and developed these methods to enable practical marine design and optimization problems and now brings this experience to ABS, where he will focus on such issues as hull form assessments, load predictions and propeller performance as well as applications in the offshore industry, particularly deepwater applications.

Korpus is recognized for his strong technical capabilities, outstanding breadth and depth of experience and for his contributions in the field of CFD. He will play an important role in helping ABS maintain its position as an innovative technology leader.

“CFD has the potential to change how the most challenging problems will be solved in the future,” Korpus says. “This organization has a reputation as an industry leader, and I am looking forward to helping ABS position itself to bring advanced CFD technology into the very heart of its marine assessment and classification business areas.”

Korpus is based in ABS world headquarters in Houston.

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ABS, November 7, 2013