President’s Watch

An International Leader

How MMA contributes to the global maritime field

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MMA PRESIDENT
Jerald “Jerry” Paul ’89

AS WE CONTINUE toward our goal to become the #1 Maritime College in the World, MMA has made significant progress on the international stage. I’m pleased to announce that MMA has been selected to become the next Region 3 Representative of the International Association of Maritime Universities (IAMU).

Almost three decades ago Maine Maritime Academy led in the international space as one of 9 maritime colleges worldwide—and the only in the U.S.—to form the IAMU, led by MMA President Len Tyler. Now among its more than 75-member maritime colleges and universities worldwide, Region 3 includes all U.S. State Maritime Academies, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point), Newfoundland, Central America and South America.

MMA’s international engagement is vital for our leadership in, and contribution to, the global maritime field. It creates opportunities that benefit all corners of our institution including student exchanges, research and co-ops—both undergraduate and graduate—and the inclusion of MMA students on international flag LNG vessels. For our faculty and staff, these relationships contribute to faculty exchanges and increased professional development. Additionally, we see opportunities in enrollment growth and sea-time training.

Our international engagement also facilitates MMA’s contributions to emerging trends throughout the global maritime industry. It is a pathway for establishing new corporate collaborations including financial support. These relationships are being cultivated for financial contributions to help support our academic program development.

As we continue with our vision to become the #1 Maritime Academy in the world, our trajectory towards it is On the Rise as outlined in the State of the Academy report this past spring.

The honor of this selection to represent our entire IAMU region throughout the Americas demonstrates MMA leadership and the concept of the Maine state motto, Dirigo (“I Lead”). It demonstrates the opportunity for the State of Maine to be recognized as having the top maritime college worldwide. Pursuit of this goal is a commitment we have made to policy makers in the State Capitol as we have sought an update to our state funding.

While many have contributed to this honor and presence for MMA, our selection is a reflection specifically of the efforts and coordination by MMA Chair of Marine Transportation Department Professor Ender Asyali who has been a steady guide for me over the past 2 years. Together with Professor Steve Tarrant and Professor Adam Slazas he presented a well-received paper at the Annual Conference of the IAMU titled “A Comparative Analysis of Workload for Navigation Tasks Performed onboard and at Simulated Remote Control Centers for MASS Using NASA-TLX.”

Under Dr. Asyali’s leadership, student Jillian A. Dow was selected to participate in the IAMU Student Forum in London where she served on the Gender Equality and Diversity Working Group, contributing to the global emphasis on workplace culture. Similarly, IAMU has recently approved an abstract by MMA titled “The Nuclear Merchant Mariner (NMM): Designing a Framework for Education and Training” which will be a paper presented at the Annual Conference of IAMU by its MMA authors Professor Dr. Paul Wlodkowski, Dean of Faculty Laurie Flood ’93, and myself. This effort is also supported by a host of industry partners, including ABS, who are leading this emerging trend toward decarbonization and zero-emission energy within the global maritime industry.

Please join me in congratulating MMA on this milestone.
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