As the project enters the second year, we continue our series of posts while entering an action-packed year for the project.
The RETROFIT55 Consortium is coordinated by Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR, National Research Council of Italy), specifically by the Institute of Marine Engineering (INM).
Meet the Partners #7 – Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Italy
CNR is the largest research institution in Italy. CNR is a public body operating under the Italian Ministry of University and Research, conducting research in engineering, physics, chemistry, biomedical and human sciences. The CNR mission is to foster innovation in the Italian industry, promote the internationalization of the Italian research system, provide technological solutions for the emerging challenges of the public and private sectors and finally encourage the personal and professional growth of human resources.
Within CNR, the Institute of Marine Engineering mainly operates in the development of marine vehicles, robotics applications, renewable energy devices, innovative instrumentation, enabling technologies for the optimization of environmental/underwater acoustics, logistics in maritime environment, and marine vehicles energy management.
In addition to the coordination of RETROFIT55, CNR is engaged in the development of retrofit solutions for the electrification of power generation in ships (such as photovoltaic panels or fuel cells) with the goal of maximizing efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions both in navigation and at berth. CNR also contributes to the fast hydrodynamic optimization of ships featuring innovative retrofit solutions, such as wind assisted propulsion or air lubrication. CNR towing tanks and personnel are engaged in the experimental assessment of the air lubrication system for two different hull models. Finally, CNR is enabling the fast performance prediction of retrofit solutions via multi-fidelity and adaptive surrogate modelling, providing key capabilities to an integration/evaluation platform that will be made publicly available.
