Alex Luscombe, currently studying Marine Technology at the University of Plymouth and Ollie Couzens, who is completing his master’s with the University of Exeter in Renewable Energy Engineering joined our experienced engineering team in Falmouth on two high-impact projects: a CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) validation study and an assessment of the ecological impacts of offshore floating wind platforms.
Both projects delivered valuable insights that will feed directly into our ongoing research and development work. We remain deeply committed to furthering and validating our knowledge base as we push the boundaries of marine engineering.
Here, Alex and Ollie share with us their thoughts and experiences following their summer internship with us.
Alex Luscombe:
I came to Solis Marine this summer as a mature student, looking to deepen my existing knowledge of the engineering principles that are so foundational to marine vessels of all types. Having begun my career as a boat builder and marine fitter, I sought to broaden my horizons two years ago by studying Marine Technology at the University of Plymouth. My internship with Solis Marine has proved invaluable, providing highly relevant experience in my chosen field and reinforcing my decision to return to study as the correct one for the career I have in mind. I sincerely hope to continue working with the Solis Marine team in the future.
Over the past six weeks, I have undertaken a study assessing the accuracy of CFD packages in comparison to tank test data, with a specific focus on planing hull forms. These hull types are notoriously challenging to model accurately due to their complex hydrodynamic behaviours and geometry. Using Solis Marine’s comprehensive software suite, I have modelled academic case studies and replicated published results. Preliminary findings indicate that the data produced by the software is within approximately a 10% margin of the published data. Going forward, I hope my findings will meaningfully deepen the existing knowledge base within Solis Marine and aid in future works.
Beyond advancing my technical understanding, this experience has also allowed me to contribute to other ongoing work within the company, further broadening my experience.
Ollie Couzens:
I arrived at Solis Marine after completing the third year of my four-year integrated MEng in Renewable Energy Engineering at the University of Exeter, with the hope of bringing a renewable-energy skill set into the company. I embarked on a project on the blade swept area of floating offshore wind (FLOW) turbines to consider potential ecological interactions. This meant significant hands-on analysis in Rhino, OrcaWave, OrcaFlex and Python. Drawing on published research, I sketched and refined semi-submersible concepts, then tested how different mooring and platform configurations change the overall swept area of the turbine.
I also contributed to other projects, such as analysing spud-leg accelerations for a jack-up barge during transit, focusing on motion at the leg ends. I also supported mapping and plotting of AIS data to help understand potential anchor scour.
These projects were enjoyable and gave me real exposure to delivery processes and day to day problem-solving. The experience strengthened my professional outlook and gave me a clearer view of industry, especially the marine sector. I’m very grateful to everyone at Solis Marine for the support and warm welcome over the eight weeks. Looking ahead, I’ll be continuing with a follow-on project for the team as part of my academic module through December.
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