Dennis J. Fanguy

Dennis J. Fanguy

Dennis is a 1984 graduate from the University of New Orleans with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. He is currently the Vice President of Engineering for Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, LA.
Dennis was born in 1957 in Fort Leonardwood, Missouri while his father was serving time in the Army. He graduated from Central Lafourche High School in 1975 and attended Nicholls State University from 1975 thru 1978. Dennis was awarded the 2003 Distinguished Alumni Award by the University of New Orleans, College of Engineering.

Mr. Fanguy has served as the Chairman of the Bayou Chapter of the American Society of Naval Engineering and is a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. Dennis is also active in many other professional organizations such as the Offshore Marine Services Association, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standard 45 cable committee, American Bureau of Shipping under 90M Rule Development Committee, Nicholls State University Manufacturing technology curriculum advisor committee, while volunteering on various subcommittees for the National Offshore Safety Advisory Committee.

During Dennis’ 20 years at Bollinger Shipyards, he has held the positions of Chief Electrical Engineer, Chief Project Engineer, Director of Program Management, Chief Engineer and finally Vice President of Engineering. He has been responsible for the Design, Integration and Testing of all new construction activities at Bollinger Shipyards, not the least of which include 51 each 87’ Coastal Patrol Boats for the U.S. Coast Guard, 14 each 53M Patrol Vessels for the Navy and 49 each 33M Patrol Boats for the U.S. Coast Guard, in addition to various commercial vessels.

Prior to joining Bollinger Shipyards, Dennis was employed by Halter Marine as Chief Electrical Engineer where he was responsible for the complete electrical and electronic design for several vessels of different types including patrol boats and catamaran tug boats.

National Ship Building Research Program:

A Successful Collaboration of US Ship Builders

“The NSRP provide valuable, quantifiable benefits to our Navy that need to be maintained and nurtured.”
J. D. Butler, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy, Program Executive Officer (Submarines)

The Challenges

The U.S. shipbuilding industry faces significant competitive and technological challenges in building and maintaining U.S. Navy and other National Security vessels. Collaborative relationships with partners from public and private sectors, government agencies, supplier companies, non-profit professional societies, and academia are vital to overcoming these challenges. In 1998, the current iteration of the National Shipbuilding Research Program Advanced Shipbuilding Enterprise, NSRP ASE, was established to confront these issues and to pursue a collaborative environment conducive to cooperation without damaging the unique qualities that individual members of the shipbuilding and ship repair community possess. The result is fostering teamwork within this critical industry to build a competitive joint capability across a spectrum of market segments.

Key challenges include:

Preserving critical defense infrastructure
Reducing the cost to the military and commercial customer
Shrinking the technology gap
Improving productivity
Reducing the cost of materials

The cost of materials in the U.S. commercial shipbuilding industry is high when compared to foreign competitors. While industry analyses frequently focus on productivity, the overseas competition achieves lower costs in both materials and productivity. This reinforces the need for improvements within the shipyards as well as among and between the various elements of the value-chain. The integrated supply-chain enterprise concept prevalent in both European and Asian yards is not yet widely practiced in the U.S. shipbuilding industry. Shipbuilders are researching the lessons learned by other challenged U.S. industries, such as the automotive industry, which successfully recovered by using supply-chain integration as a centerpiece of their strategy.