Karl-Johan Westoff BSc MSc

Karl-Johan Westoff  BSc MSc Denmark


I gained a BSc (Naval Architecture) and a MSc (Mechanical Engineering) from the Technical University of Denmark.  My career as a working engineer started at university, where an internship led to a job as student assistant in the Royal Danish Navy. I was involved at the early design phase of a number of new vessels where I assisted with various drawings and calculations in the early design phases. I had the opportunity to work with highly experienced people and get a flavour of the complex process of designing ships.  

I highly recommend seeking a position as student assistant while studying, it gives a new perspective on the studies and you have the possibility to try out in practise what you have learned in theory.  

I currently work as a consultant at Lloyds Register ODS. We provide technical investigation and analysis primarily in the marine and energy sectors. We assist in the design of new vessels and with trouble shooting in case of failures, primarily within noise and vibration, fluid dynamics and structural analysis.  

My day to day job involves a blend of theoretical work and field work. For example; a client has a problem with excessive vibration causing damage to machinery, we then carry out measurements to identify possible sources. In order to further understand the problem or evaluate if a proposed solution will work, we will carry out calculations often using computational fluid dynamics  and finite element modelling. In close cooperation with the client we will then find the best possible solution to the problem. 
 
Being able to combine measurements from sea-trials and trouble shooting with advanced theoretical calculations makes my job interesting as well as giving a second to none insight in the technical problems we are dealing with.   

Working as a consultant in the marine sector requires you to be able to act in a global environment as ship operators, designers and builders carry out projects across the globe. You have to work with people of different backgrounds and nationalities I find this a challenging and attractive part of being an engineer in the marine sector.