Howard Bunch has been involved in the US shipbuilding industry for more than 20 years. Now a Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan’s Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, he served as the Department’s NAVSEA Professor of Ship Production Science for many years. He introduced a unique sequence of courses in ship production, and organized a summer internship program to give students practical shipbuilding experience. He also created the Marine Systems Division at the University’s Transportation Research Institute, where he was a Research Scientist.
Well known throughout the industry, Howard was the founding editor of the Journal of Ship Production, published by the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. He was named a SNAME Fellow, and was also awarded SNAME’s William H. Webb medal for outstanding contributions to education. Howard also served as the founding Chairman of the Education and Training Panel of the National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP), where he also focused on technology transfer.
Howard’s many other accomplishments include organizing and teaching a short course in advanced ship producibility at MIT’s Professional Summer Program; co-authoring the textbook Ship Production, published by Cornell Maritime Press; and serving as a liaison for the Office of Naval Research International Field Office in London.