Cases 2023

As always, cases will be an important part of the MMD. On this page you can find more information about this year's cases.

This MMD, the following companies are organizing cases:

  • CoWaves
  • GustoMSC
  • Jumbo Shipping
  • Marin (more senior students)
  • Port of Rotterdam

CoWaves: Race 2 Space

This case is designed to test your ability to work effectively in a team while managing time and resources to achieve a shared goal. As part of this case, you will be working with a group of fellow students to develop a plan to send a spacecraft to Mars. 

To successfully complete this case, you will need to demonstrate strong communication skills, a willingness to collaborate with your teammates, and the ability to prioritize tasks to meet project deadlines. Throughout the case, you will be required to make critical decisions, allocate resources, and manage potential setbacks, all while keeping the ultimate goal of reaching Space in mind. 

We hope this case will challenge you to think creatively, work collaboratively, and develop the skills you need to succeed in a team-based environment. We hope to see you and good luck!

GustoMSC: Floating Offshore Wind Turbines

At GustoMSC we take pride in playing a significant role in the rise of the offshore wind industry: approximately 75 % of all wind turbines in the North Sea are installed by jack-up vessels, designed by GustoMSC. The bottom-fixed offshore wind market has rapidly matured in Europe and is now starting to gain a foothold globally. Bottom-fixed offshore wind is typically limited to shallow water as the foundation and installation become prohibitively expensive or technically infeasible for water depths greater than 60 m

Floating offshore wind turbines, featuring foundations that float, can harness the massive untapped wind resources in the deep oceans worldwide. The floaters that carry the wind turbines are moored to the seabed and can be deployed in water depths of up to 1,000 m. Floating technology is already technically feasible and has proven itself in a few high-profile demonstrator projects that have been operational for a few years.

However, to scale from demonstrator scale to commercial scale, the industry needs to standardize floater designs, make floaters suitable for mass manufacturing and establish a reliable global supply chain.

GustoMSC was an early-mover in floating wind and has a decade of experience in designing, engineering and validating a proprietary floating wind concept - the Tri-Floater. With the verification and validation of the 3 rd generation Tri-Floater design now complete, GustoMSC is ready to become a significant player in this new, exciting market. To satisfy the worldwide demand for more and greener energy wind turbines are rapidly increasing in size and power. Whilst the first offshore wind turbines had a power of less than 1 MW, wind turbine OEMs have already announced plans for turbines with capacities of 14MW and beyond. Larger turbines naturally impact our floater design.

We would like to challenge you to think about the impact of turbine size on the design of a floating foundation. You will get insight into the trade-offs between several design aspects, such as floater shapes, dimensions, hydrodynamic behaviour and ease of manufacturing. Can you come up with an optimal design? See you there!

PLEASE NOTE that this is the same case as last year! If you participated in the GustoMSC case during the 2022 edition of MMD, it might be a better idea to choose one of the other available cases.

Jumbo Shipping: Offshore Vessel

The offshore wind industry is growing exponentially. With an estimated 21 GW of Dutch wind power capacity being installed by 2030, maritime companies will need to innovate and expand their capabilities to meet this demand. For Jumbo Maritime, a newbuild vessel is on the horizon. This vessel will be a key asset in the future installation of wind parks.

You will be challenged with designing this vessel based on a realistic business case for an offshore wind park on the North Sea. Your team will have to navigate obstacles regarding design, logistics and financing to come up with the optimal solution.

What will your design look like? What will be its capacity and how will it be competitive in the maritime markets of the future?

Get ready to design what’s beyond the horizon!

MARIN: Validation of numerical simulations with model experiment data

MARIN is known because of their model tests. The data from these tests is used for validation of numerical models, both internally and by customers. These models are used for further analysis, for example for feasability purposes and strength calculations. In this case you will use model test data to validate several numerical models and try to find out why sometimes this does not work! You need a laptop for this case. Also, there is some knowledge required and therefore we advise only senior students to participate in this case.

Port of Rotterdam: Port Constructor

Port Constructor is a game that exactly shows what the Port of Rotterdam is doing. In the game, there is an imaginary port which resembles the port of Rotterdam. The port has to cope with an increasing demand from companies that want to move to the port of expand their operation. However, there is a shortage of available space. To solve this problem, students have to assume the role of strategic port developer.

In small groups, you will have to find a solution for many dilemmas that arise during the case. Concepts like People, Profit and Planet have to be taken into account. You can score points to score as high as possible on these 3 important factors.

This case is also very suitable for the beginning Maritime Engineer or for students from other study directions!