to that suggested for the Institute is Det Norskc Veritas, a Norwegian 

 entity that certifies shi])ping (and offshore platforms) and is most highly 

 regarded for its professional competence and the manner in which its 

 setting of standards is backed by research. This organization is funded 

 by those whom it services. 



An Institute similar to one of the National Institutes of Health 

 would be a closer U.S. analogy in its manner of operations to what the 

 panel has in mind than the organization which grew up to serve the 

 Department of Defense in the fifties and sixties, the DOD institutes 

 gathered technical expertise from all over the country to assist one or 

 two government-agency users. The Institute of Engineering Research 

 in the Ocean would ha\e the piupose of stimulating and contributing 

 to activity in ocean engineering of interest to users disj^ersed throughout 

 the nation— industry, federal, state, and local government, research 

 institutions, etc. The customer is he who must work in the ocean, not 

 a government agency. ^ (fT^ yy^^^^^^-^^t' y&''^*Y^ 



The goal of the Institute would be to stimulate useful activities of 

 othei's, which means it must possess tlie competence to judge what seems 

 right for the field and have the dollars to back its judgement. It must 

 have a necessary technical competence of its own, and be in a position 

 to offer support directly or use matching funds to take advantage of 

 local judgement on priority of importance. Some form of recovery of 

 portions of the matching funds, on the basis of performance, or of 

 results, could be offered as incentive (similar to the practice of the 

 Defense Department in stimulating independent R&D along lines of 

 DOD interest). The form and nature of the arrangement would clearly 

 have to be worked out carefully with the utmost regard for keeping the 

 Institute responsive, catalytic, technically aggressive, but reasonably 

 controlled in the amount and the support it can offer. An essential 

 function would be to improve timely technical publications and com- 

 munication which is distressingly poor in ocean engineering today. A 

 Board of Governors, representative of industry, the universities, and 

 government is necessary to oversee the general course taken by the 

 Institute and to provide a poAverful means for keeping the Institute 

 sensitive to changing national requirements and for keeping it tech- 

 nically competitive. 



The panel estimates that for such an Institute to develop recognized 

 technical excellence in ocean engineering, it must grow to about 150 

 professionals. To develop input from the nation at large and impact on 

 the field it should disburse out-of-house at least one and a half times 

 the funds it uses itself. This im]:)lies a start-up schedule for funding the 

 first three years of S5 and $15 million to level off at S25 million per 

 annum although the nature of the facilities which would be required 

 or used would have significant bearing on the rate of growth. 



17 



