Dr. Thomas Fu

Dr. Thomas Fu is the Director of the Ship Systems & Engineering Research Division in the Sea Warfare and Weapons Department of the Office of Naval Research (ONR). He is responsible for research programs advancing hull, mechanical and electrical systems, as well as the National Naval Responsibility for Naval Engineering. The division provides options for advanced power systems aboard ship (e.g. alternative fuel, shipboard fuel cells, energy storage, distribution, and control), signatures control for surface and subsurface vessels, structural reliability and lifecycle management, hydrodynamic stability/efficiency, advanced propulsors, and metamaterials and thermal management. Dr. Thomas C. Fu entered the Senior Executive Service in September 2015. His 27 years of Federal Civilian Service began in 1988 at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division (NSWCCD) working part-time as a mechanical engineer while in graduate school. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1993, he became a full-time research engineer. In 2001, Dr Fu was promoted to Senior Research Engineer and then subsequently Group Leader then Division Head. In 2010, he became Deputy Head of the Hydromechanics Department, which became the Naval Architecture & Engineering Department in 2012. The Naval Architecture & Engineering Department is comprised of approximately 650 engineers, scientists, and other personnel and serves as the Navy's technical capability for surface and undersea vehicle hull forms and propulsors. Dr. Fu provided day to day operational and technical management, as well as served as the Department’s Director of Science & Technology and Naval Engineering Education Center Program Manager. During his 26 year tenure at NSWCCD, Dr. Fu lead a research group focused on nonacoustic hydrodynamics and authored over 130 technical publications. In October 2014, Dr. Fu became a Program Officer in the in the Sea Warfare and Weapons Department at ONR. Dr. Fu earned a Bachelor of Science degree in ocean engineering from Purdue University in 1984, a Master of Science degree in Physical Oceanography from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego in 1988, and a Ph.D. in 12/21/15 Mechanical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1993. Dr. Fu was a George Washington University, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Visiting Scholar in 2013, and an adjunct faculty member at George Washington University in 2014. From 2012 to 2014 he was an Oregon State University adjunct faculty member. Dr. Fu has also taught undergraduate and graduate Mechanical Engineering courses at the University of Maryland. In 2013, Dr. Fu was named Asian American Engineer of the Year by the Chinese Institute of Engineers-USA. His other awards include a Meritorious Unit Commendation and the David Packard Excellence in Acquisition Award. Dr. Fu also currently serves as the Chairman of the 28th International Towing Tank Conference Resistance Committee and the 20th International Ship and Offshore Structures Congress Environment Committee. He also serves as an Associate Editor of the Society of Naval Architects & Marine Engineering, Journal of Ship Research and the American Society of Mechanical Engineering, Journal of Offshore, Marine and Arctic Engineering.