Dimitri Ponkratov

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT DIMITRI PONKRATOV

I became passionate about ships when I was 8 years old. At that age, I already knew I would work in the shipbuilding industry. At 12, I was deeply shaken by the tragedy of the MS Estonia, where 852 lives were lost due to poor vessel design. The disaster, Europe’s deadliest peacetime maritime accident since the Titanic, shaped my determination to dedicate my life to making ships more reliable and safer for both people and the environment.At 26, I defended my PhD thesis (I wrote it in China) and got the position of Associate Professor at the highly-ranked Norwegian University of Science and Technology. After that, I joined the oldest maritime classification society, Lloyd\'s Register, in London. Later, I became Technical Director at the Royal Institution of Naval Architects and launched the largest global joint industry project involving over 50 companies from 18 countries, aimed at utilising validated digital technologies to enhance ships\' energy efficiency.I have delivered speeches about this project at the UN’s International Maritime Organisation in London, the World Laureates Forum in Shanghai, and many other international events. Currently, I serve as Marine Director at Siemens Digital Industries Software, focusing on digitalising the global shipbuilding sector.Following my childhood dream, I also recently crossed the Atlantic Ocean on a wooden boat using 18th-century navigation tools and swam across the Bosphorus Strait, from Asia to Europe.