The MIT Maritime Consortium was formed to address critical gaps in the modernization of the commercial fleet through cutting edge interdisciplinary research. It is a unique collaboration between academia, industry, and regulatory agencies committed to the development of bold technological solutions, industry standards, and policies that will create competitive advantage in the maritime space and minimize environmental impact.

Founding Members

Innovation Members

Consortium Leadership

Themis Sapsis

William Koch Professor of Marine Technology, Director of the Center for Ocean Engineering
Fotini Christia

Ford International Professor of the Social Sciences, Director of the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society

Faculty Steering Committee

Elsa Olivetti

Jerry McAfee Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Director of Decarbonization Mission at the MIT Climate Project
Gioele Zardini

Rudge (1948) and Nancy Allen Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Jacopo Buongiorno

Battelle Energy Alliance Professor in Nuclear Science and Engineering; Director, Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems; Director, Science and Technology, Nuclear Reactor Laboratory
John Hart

Class of 1922 Professor and Department Head of Mechanical Engineering, Director of Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity
Michael Triantafyllou

Henry L. and Grace Doherty Professor in Ocean Science and Engineering; Director, MIT Sea Grant

Affiliated Faculty

CAPT Andrew Gillespy

Professor of the Practice, Naval Construction and Engineering Program
CDR Christopher MacLean

Associate Professor of the Practice, Naval Construction and Engineering Program
Chryssostomos Chryssostomidis

Emeritus Professor of Mechanical and Ocean Engineering
Dick Yue

Philip J. Solondz (1948) Professor
Elenna Dugundji

Research Scientist, Center for Transportation and Logistics
Faez Ahmed

Doherty Associate Professor in Ocean Utilization
Julie Chalfant

Research Scientist
Koroush Shirvan

Atlantic Richfield Career Development Professor in Energy Studies
Kripa Varanasi

Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the MIT Deshpande Center
Michael Benjamin

Senior Research Scientist
Navid Azizan

Esther & Harold E. Edgerton Career Development Assistant Professor
Noelle Selin

Professor, Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences and IDSS Director of the MIT Center for Sustainability Science and Strategy.
Saurabh Amin

Edmund K. Turner Professor in Civil Engineering
Sherrie Wang

Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering & IDSS
Wim Van Rees

Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Yuming Liu

Senior Research Scientist

Research

Nuclear for Commercial Shipping

Reactor technologies selection for ship conversion and new ship designs
Development of radiation shielding for maritime propulsion reactors
Safety analysis and regulations
Supporting infrastructure
Cost and business model

Alternative Fuels

Feasibility of alternative fuels from an economics and environmental perspective
Integrated analysis of safety requirements with ship design constraints
Generative ship design that incorporate constraints
Examination per vessel type, route and size

Data-Driven Analysis and Optimization

Data driven optimization of ship operation
Evaluation of drag reduction technologies and autonomous platforms
Simulators of fleets and maritime markets
Predictive maintenance methods

Maritime Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity Risk Assessment
Cyber-physical situational awareness and anomaly detection
Adaptive reinforcement learning-based methods for cyber defense
Human-AI interaction in maritime cyber threat detection

Manufacturing for Maritime Applications

AI and AR for manufacturing
On board manufacturing of share parts
Additive manufacturing
Workforce development

Hydrodynamics

Bioinspired vortex generators for drag reduction
Physics-driven design of foils for vortex suppression
Passive modification of local flow patterns to alter generated waves
Intelligent towing tank for efficient experiments

Latest News

January 6, 2026

MIT Maritime Consortium Workshop 2025

Many thanks to HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co., Ltd. (HD KSOE) for hosting the December review meeting for the MIT Maritime Consortium. Our researchers were excited to present new results and get feedback from our members on current issues including:
January 6, 2026

The Age of Nuclear-Powered Commercial Ships May Be Getting Closer

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal discusses the opportunities and challenges of nuclear energy in the maritime space, its role on reviving American shipbuilding and the interdisciplinary work done by the MIT Maritime Consortium towards safe and financially feasible nuclear-powered commercial ship designs.
December 18, 2025

MIT Maritime Consortium releases report on understanding the proposed nuclear trans-Atlantic maritime corridor

Last September, the United States and the United Kingdom took a major step toward transforming the future of maritime transport, announcing deeper cooperation on advanced nuclear propulsion and setting the stage for what could become the world’s first civil nuclear shipping corridor.