November Forum
| Date: 26 Nov 2008 |
| Presented by ACT |
| Starting at 5.30pm |
| Venue: Canberra Club |
Costs:
Members: Free.
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Students: Free.
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For information contact Roger Birch
Email: act_chapter@aipm.com.au
Telephone: 6285 2191
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Please RSVP for this event by 24 Nov 2008.
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Snapping Shrimps and High Explosives
(A project management experience)
Presented by David Connolly, DMO
In July 2008 HMAS Waller, a Collins Class submarine, successfully fired and sank a retired US warship as part of the Rim of the Pacific 2008 (RIMPAC) exercises. The Heavyweight torpedo fired by HMAS Waller was a MK48 Mod 7 Advanced Capability (ADCAP) weapon which has been cooperatively developed by the US Navy and the Australian Department of Defence.
The presentation titled 'Snapping Shrimps and High Explosives' captures some of the key events and moments of interests from a project management perspective of Defence Project SEA 1429 over the past 12 years. It also characterises some of the technical and operational challenges that confronted the project team in delivering a weapon that could safely operate in various marine environments, including littoral waters. Snapping shrimps (clicking of the large claw) dominates ambient noise in the frequency range of a few kilohertz to at least 100kHz in water depths of less than 60m, where the continuous crackling sound has the propensity to diminish torpedo sonar performance. The background chorus of shrimps and other marine animals in this harsh environment makes the task of a torpedo armed with approximately 300kg of high explosives to acquire and destroy a target a formidable challenge to say the least.
David Connolly commenced his 30-plus year career with the Department of Defence as a design draftsman with the Directorate of Marine Engineering Design. Since then, David has gained considerable experience in quality management, project management, test and evaluation, and more recently as the Director of the Defence Materiel Organisation Project Management Office (PMO).
In 1995 David was appointed Manager Phase 3 - Mine Warfare System Centre (MWSC) project before moving to Joint Project 2045 - Maritime Mining. In Oct 1997 he was appointed manager of SEA 1429 Heavyweight Torpedo project and in 1999 took on the responsibility of Deputy Director Undersea Weapons Group which was responsible for three major and several minor projects including SEA 1429, JP 2045 and JP 2070 Lightweight Torpedo.
Contd...
As Project Director SEA 1429, David was the chief negotiator in establishing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the USN for an Armaments Cooperative Project (ACP) and the subsequent setting-up of a Joint Project Office in Washington, DC. A legacy of David's seven years at the helm of the Heavyweight Torpedo project was the establishment, in concert with DSTO, of a multi-million dollar Torpedo Analysis Facility (TAF) at DSTO, Edinburgh.
David has attained a Masters degree in Project Management through the University of Technology Sydney, and has been a member of the Australian Institute of Project Management at the Master Project Director level since 2004. David was employed for 14 years as a part-time lecturer (Associate Diploma of Mechanical Engineering) at the Canberra Institute of Technology.
In Dec 2007 he was appointed head of the DMO Program Management Office, and is currently the DMO's representative on Australian Standards Project Management Working Group MB-012.
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