When building a ship, it all comes down to the materials you use. What type of steel do you choose? How do you protect the ship against corrosion? What paint should it be painted with? These are questions that Annemarie Ruitenberg, Senior Engineer at Damen Naval, deals with on a daily basis. She knows everything about welding, gluing and preservation. From the design phase of a new ship, Annemarie is regularly called in to give advice based on her expertise.

Together with her colleagues, she examines whether the steel of ship should be welded together or whether it might be better to glue it. “The strength of a ship, in other words, what it must be able to withstand when sailing, is something that our engineers deal with. But I can help by finding out whether you can use combinations of certain materials without risks,” says Annemarie. “I also look at the hardness of the material: can you bend it, is it easy to cut or not?” Choosing materials is a process that involves a lot of factors, as Annemarie knows only too well.

“First of all, you have to follow the customer’s wishes, of course. But you also have to take situational factors into account. Where on the ship will the material be used? Does it come into contact with seawater or is it located inside an air-conditioned room? Is it in full sunlight or in a dark space? You should also look at the loads the material has to deal with. Is that load caused purely by force or by fatigue? Ideally, you have all the facts and can make the right choice. Of course, you always have standard materials, the question is whether they can be used on the ship you are building.”

“There is never one material that is best in all situations. But if you end up choosing a more expensive solution, you have to be able to convince the customer of that.”

“The strength of a ship, in other words, what it must be able to withstand when sailing, is something that our engineers deal with. But I can help by finding out whether you can use combinations of certain materials without risks.” Annemarie Ruitenberg

Annemarie owes her extensive knowledge of welding, gluing and preservation in part to Bernd-Jan Bekkers, her predecessor who has unfortunately passed away. “I studied mechanical engineering at Delft University of Technology, specialising in materials science, and I learned from Bernd-Jan here at Damen Naval, then DSNS. He was my supervisor. Towards the end of my graduation period he said: ‘Don’t you feel like applying? We have another vacancy’. That’s how I got into it. I’ve been working here for six years now with great enjoyment.”

Her working days are rarely the same. “That’s what makes the work so much fun. There is always plenty to do. Sometimes I spend the whole day working on different projects, some which have yet to start and others that are already in progress. Then I try to use the knowledge from research projects from TNO or TU-Delft. There are also days when I am writing specifications or consulting with suppliers. And then the next day, I am suddenly spending the whole day in Production, watching welding trials.”

Annemarie has an excellent working relationship with her colleagues in Research & Technology Support. “There is a nice working atmosphere, and that is the most important thing. There are lots of great people working here, and you can learn a lot from them. They are always willing to help you if you have a problem, and I help others as much as I can.” Her instincts for technology were there from an early age. “As a child, I was already interested in finding out how things work, in understanding the world around me.”

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