20. January 2016
On Tuesday November 10th , Arnt walked away with first prize at the prestigious annual awards ceremony of the Association of Consulting Engineers (RIF). He was voted Young Consulting Engineer of the Year 2015 in the category for specialist engineers.
“I was delighted and honoured to be voted Young Consulting Engineer of the Year. It’s great to know that people appreciate my work. Marine hydrodynamics will become increasingly important to Multiconsult in the future, in conjunction with long bridges and tunnels across and under fjords, and as the aquaculture industry continues to develop.”
Raising Norwegian consulting engineers up a level
Arnt has a PhD in marine hydrodynamics. He has played a key role in several important innovation projects, including one that assesses the possibility of using a suspension bridge built on floating foundations to cross Sulafjord. The project team developed a new float concept, which involved applying results from Arnt’s doctoral research to limit the movement of the bridge in response to the swell.
Arnt regularly shares his knowledge through papers in international scientific journals, conference articles and presentations at technical conferences. He has also lectured at NTNU.
The following is an extract from the jury comments: “Fredriksen develops things that did not previously exist. He is innovative, and he has helped to develop new technical tools and standards, including in the field of ocean current and wave loads. Arnt Gunvald Fredriksen’s contributions to projects for major, international companies and research institutions have helped to raise Norwegian consulting engineers up to an international level.”
Developing new important tools
Arnt is particularly focusing on how to overcome challenges related to the responses of floating structures in tough environments, from the ice-covered waters of the Arctic to breaking waves in coastal zones. He is also heavily involved in developing several numerical engineering tools. His projects include helping to develop a new tool for the Lerøy group, which will be used to manage and monitor marine operations at fish farms. Here Arnt has been responsible for developing a key module that makes it possible to calculate the response of the sea cages and the forces at work. This represents an important step forward for the aquaculture industry.
The jury in 2015
This year’s jury was made up of Liv Kari Skudal Hansteen (Man. Dir. of RIF), Harald Vaagaasar Nikolaisen (Man. Dir. of the Norwegian Directorate of Public Construction and Property), Tom Baade-Mathiesen (Vice-Chair of RIF’s Executive Board), Lars Jåvik (Chair of RIF’s Registration Board) and Kevin Jipai Poon (board member of URIF Oslo).