London Branch Webinar: "The Conquest of the Sea (Part III): The Naval Architects and Marine Engineers behind the success" 

On behalf of the RINA London Branch we would like to invite you to the following event. This event is by WEBINAR only.

 

“The Conquest of the Sea (Part III): The Naval Architects and Marine Engineers behind the success” 

By Dr. Rodrigo Pérez Fernandez. FRINA, FSNAME

 

Date: Wednesday, 11th March 2026

Time: 18:00-19:15 hours (duration approximately 1 ¼ hours)     

Organiser: RINA London Branch

Meeting Type: Webinar Only.

 

Event Information:

This conference (Part III) continues our series examining the transformative role of naval architects and marine engineers in the long “conquest of the sea.” In this instalment, we turn to the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a decisive era in which technological innovation fundamentally reshaped maritime design, propulsion, and construction. The focus rests on seven pivotal figures: Pierre-Jacques-Nicolas Rolland, Robert Livingston Stevens, William Fairbairn, Samuel Moore Pook, John Laird, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and John Scott Russell. Through their work, we trace the transition from traditional wooden sailing fleets to iron-hulled, steam-powered warships and ocean liners.

The discussion opens with Rolland’s systematic and rational approach to naval construction in post-Revolutionary France, reflecting the growing influence of scientific method in ship design. It then follows the rise of experimental steam navigation in the United States through Stevens’ pioneering efforts, alongside Fairbairn’s application of structural iron theory and industrial production techniques that helped lay the foundations of modern shipbuilding. Pook’s ironclads of the American Civil War demonstrate the strategic and tactical impact of technological adaptation, while Laird’s shipbuilding enterprise exemplifies the increasing industrialization and internationalization of naval construction.

The conference culminates with Brunel and Russell, whose collaboration on large-scale iron steamships, most notably the Great Eastern, embodied both the ambition and the technical audacity of nineteenth-century marine engineering. Collectively, these engineers did more than improve ships: they redefined the relationship between science, industry, and maritime power. Their achievements reveal how theoretical insight, material innovation, and entrepreneurial vision enabled humanity not merely to sail the seas, but to command them.

 

Speaker:

Dr Perez holds both PhD and MSc in Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering. He has also completed an MBA and several postgraduate programs in Shipbuilding, Maritime Transport and Executive Management.

He is currently a Senior Director for Software Engineering at Siemens Digital Industries Software. He previously worked at Siemens as Global Portfolio Development Director. Prior to Siemens, he worked for 16 years at SENER, where he held roles of growing responsibility, working in multiple projects around the Globe.

Combining his activity in the industry, he is also a professor in the Marine Engineering School of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), where he lectures in Gas and Steam Turbines, and Shipbuilding History as well as other subjects.

He is member of the Committee on Education in Engineering (CEIE) of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) and President of the Spanish Association of Marine Engineers (Madrid Branch).

 

ALL are welcome to attend

CPD certificates will be available upon request.

 

How to Register:

For the “Virtual” event, register here: Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams.

For any queries please contact: