Specialist geotechnical and marine engineering consultancy, Gavin & Doherty Geosolutions (GDG), have strengthened their offshore and renewable energy teams with the recent addition of Paul Bonar.

Paul is an offshore research engineer with three years’ postdoctoral experience in ocean engineering and marine renewable energy. Before joining GDG, Paul completed research projects on extreme wave statistics and tidal stream power resource assessment at the Universities of Edinburgh and Oxford. Paul also holds a BE in civil engineering from NUI Galway, and both an MSc in sustainable energy systems and PhD in marine renewable energy from the University of Edinburgh.

Paul joined the GDG team in December and will be working on advanced design of floating substructures and optimisation of mooring / anchor systems. Furthermore, Paul will be applying his expertise in metocean analysis to offshore wind, wave and tidal projects.

Paul is part of the GDG team working on SELKIE, a new EU-funded marine energy research project. This €4.2m cross-border project is funded by the EU’s Ireland-Wales co-operation programme and is led by University College Cork in partnership with Swansea University, Marine Energy Wales, Menter Môn, DP Energy Ireland and the Dublin-based GDG. The SELKIE project aims to further advance the wave and tidal energy industries in Ireland and Wales, and GDG will be responsible for developing foundation and mooring design guidance and associated software tools.

For details about Gavin & Doherty Geosolutions and the services the company provide, visit the company’s website at www.gdgeo.com.