The Wind Propulsion Innovation Awards 2021 Shortlist and Voting Announced
London, 22 October 2021
The vote for this award is for WindShip Association members only but for those who can, please tick the box next to Lauren!
The International Windship Association (IWSA) has today announced that the shortlist for the second Wind Propulsion Innovation Awards has been released and the voting booths are open.
The awards recognise pioneering projects, technological innovation and the development of wind propulsion as technically and commercially viable solutions within the shipping industry. These awards aim to highlight positive decarbonisation projects underway in the world of shipping and therefore the organisers have aligned the awards with the build up to COP26. Voting will continue up until Sunday, 07 November and then the virtual awards ceremony will be held on 11 November 0900-1030 (UK time), live from Glasgow.
“We are delighted to launch these awards which have attracted over 80 nominations. Those have then been whittled down to a shortlist for voting by 27 judges from across the shipping industry including wind propulsion experts, shipowners, naval architects and decarbonisation thought leaders.” says Gavin Allwright, IWSA Secretary General, he continues, “wind propulsion stands as a clear ‘good news’ story for the shipping industry as a zero-emissions energy source, with technologies being rolled out today.”
Lauren Eatwell has nominated for her Outstanding Contribution to the Wind Propulsion Sector
Lauren Eatwell, BAR Technologies; engineering success for the sector
The success of the wind propulsion sector is entirely dependent on the strength of its technologies. As Head of Engineering at BAR Technologies (BarTech), Lauren Eatwell’s leadership has been instrumental in bringing our pioneering wind propulsion solution to the market, and proving to the global shipping industry both the importance of wind propulsion in meeting the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) 2050 GHG reduction targets, and the significant energy saving potential that the best-in-class wind propulsion engineering can provide.
BarTech WindWings by Yara Marine Technologies (WindWings) combines wind propulsion with route optimization to offer up to a 30% reduction in fuel consumption for bulk carriers, tankers, and other large shipping vessels. The product features large solid wing sails of up to 40 meters in height fitted to the deck. This original size will be one of three specifications to be brought to market. The technology has been awarded Approval in Principle by leading class society DNV.
Lauren joined BarTech shortly after its establishment in 2016 by Olympic and World Champion sailor Sir Ben Ainslie, former McLaren Racing CEO Martin Whitmarsh and its CTO Simon Schofield, to translate the cutting-edge speed, ambition, and technological prowess of yacht and motor racing into tangible efficiency improvements for commercial shipping. She leads a diverse engineering team combining expertise from F1 racing, Americas Cup, aerospace engineering, and beyond, and channels these strikingly different skillsets to bring our innovations to reality.
WindWings not only speaks within the industry to the deep need for decarbonisation, but communicates the low-carbon movement of the shipping sector to the rest of the business world and general public. WindWings is an adaptable product applicable for both retrofit, and incorporation into newbuilds; Lauren has shaped the design of the product for deployment across varying vessel specifications, with different sizes and numbers of wings recommended for optimum efficiency realisation.
Commercial validation by world-leading bulk carrier Cargill, providing a pathway for the world’s first company WindWings retrofit onto a Kamsarmax bulker, and our subsequent partnership with Yara Marine Technologies (Yara) as a licensed manufacturer of WindWings, are testament to her team’s focus on fulfilling the global opportunity for improved efficiency through wind propulsion. Lauren also guides the deployment of WindWings as part of the EU-funded Horizon 2020 (H2020) research project CHEK – deCarbonizing sHipping by Enabling Key technology symbiosis on real vessel concept designs, where it will be installed on one of two vessels to assess the symbiotic energy saving potential of multiple technologies.
With several features in the worlds most well-respected news publications, such as the New York Times, CNN, and The Times, BarTech has shown millions of people the positive initiative that is being taken within the industry, creating demand and interest for investors and key business professionals worldwide.
You can learn more about the projects and technologies and register your vote at
https://www.wind-ship.org/en/wind-propulsion-innovation-awards-2021/