SNAME Blog

Dr. Adrian S. Onas is a Naval Architect with over 25 years of ship design, operation and research experience in the maritime industry and academia. His background includes a 15-year career with DNV, followed by an on-going academic appointment as Professor of Naval Architecture and Director of the Circulating Water Channel at Webb Institute since 2011.  Prof. Onas' interests include extreme events in nonlinear systems, theoretical and computational hydromechanics, transom stern hydrodynamics and innovative ship design. He is currently the Chair of the SNAME T&R Hydrodynamics Committee, within which he also chairs the Seakeeping Characteristics Panel (H-07) and co-chairs the Nonlinear Ship Dynamics Panel (H-13) and the Biomimetics Panel (H-14). He is also a member of the SNAME T&R Marine Forensics Committee chairing the new investigating panel (MF-4). Dr. Onas holds a PhD in Ocean Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology. His dissertation was titled "Nonlinear roll motions of a frigate-type trimaran and susceptibility to parametric roll resonance". Prof. Onas has an MS in Naval Architecture/Marine Engineering from University of New Orleans (1998) and a BS in Naval Engineering from the Romanian Naval Academy and Constanta Maritime University (1993). He is a Fellow of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME), a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA), a member of the International Hydrofoil Society (IHS) and SNAME Representative to the U.S. National Committee for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (USNC/TAM) on behalf of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM). 

 

Questions:  

1. At what point in your career did you join SNAME? 

I joined SNAME in 2001, about 4 years after I immigrated to the United States, when I was already a practicing naval architect, and several years before I began by PhD studies. 

 

2. How has SNAME membership been of value to you in your career? 

The membership was and continues to be extremely valuable in my career. It gave me the opportunity to meet a lot of amazing people, many of whom are now good friends and research collaborators.  

 

3. When did you know you wanted to pursue a job in the maritime field? 

Growing up in the historical port of Constanta, a major city in Romania and its main port on the Black Sea, it was a natural choice to be attracted and pursue the maritime field. I was accepted in the Navy’s Maritime High School, a preparatory military lyceum for the Romanian Naval Academy, when I was 14 years old. 

 

4. What advice would you give to those entering the maritime field? 

Knowing that the safety of people, ships and the environment depend on your actions, it can seem quite daunting, when starting out in the maritime field. But if you chose this field, you made a great decision, as the type of work you will be doing can be fascinating. You just need to be passionate, curious, open to learning more every day, teach others if you can, and make lots of friends. Keep in touch with your teachers and professors that guided you and contributed to your growth. Most importantly, take every opportunity to thank your family and friends for offering their support. Doing so will ensure a truly rewarding journey for you in a maritime career and will also make you a better person. 

 

5. What do you do in your spare time? 

I try, as much as I can, to spend more time with my amazing wife Laura, and our wonderful 4-year-old son Adrian Luke. Travelling, reading, and playing piano are my other favorite activities. 

 

6. What is your favorite book, movie or tv series? 

It is very hard to pick one, so I will list two books: 

The Old Man and the Sea; Ernest Hemingway. 

The Physics of Life: The Evolution of Everything; Adrian Bejan. 

Contact (Film, 1997); The OA (Series, 2016) 

 

7. What is a fun fact about yourself? 

I make pretty good Oysters Rockefeller!