Gdynia  •  May 12, 2026

The Pomeranian Science and Technology Park Gdynia

Naval capability starts long before steel is cut - in requirements,
design decisions, review discipline, and cross-sector cooperation

Join leading experts and decision-makers at the NERDS Symposium on Gdynia - where the future of naval surface vessel design takes shape.

The NERDS Symposium is more than a conference - it is a platform for building the naval future.

Hear from specialists at Saab Naval (Sweden) and MMC Ship Design (Poland) as they reveal behind-the-scenes perspectives on the full design journey - from early concept development and system requirements definition to the use of advanced digital design tools and collaborative review processes. Discover how close cooperation with the customer is redefining modern surface ship design.

This high-level event will bring together representatives of government, armed forces, industry, academia, and maritime technology centres to explore the most pressing challenges in designing and building next-generation naval surface platforms.

The discussion centers on a strategic Polish program known as “Delfin” - a project of two state-of-the-art SIGINT vessels for the Polish Navy. For the first time, participants will gain exclusive insights and lessons learned from the programme’s design phase, shared directly by the experts involved.

Engage in forward-looking discussions on Polish–Swedish collaboration and its role in driving innovation across European maritime programmes.

Be part of the conversation that is shaping tomorrow’s naval capabilities.

Speakers

Daniel Oscarsson

Daniel Oscarsson

Saab Naval

Since 2016, Vice President and Head of Business Unit Surface Ships at Saab Naval, part of Saab AB. He has a background from the armed forces, where he served as an officer in the Amphibious Battalion of the 2nd Marine Brigade until 2000. He remains a Navy reserve officer. He joined Kockums in 2002 and has held various management roles within Project Management, In-Service Support, Marketing & Sales, Production and Product Management. He is responsible for P&L, sales, R&D, development, production and support of Saab Navals Surface Ships portfolio.

Michał Olko

Michał Olko

MMC Ship Design & Marine Consulting

A naval architect and manager with over 20 years of experience in the maritime industry. As Vice President, Chief Designer, and co-owner of MMC Ship Design & Marine Consulting, he is responsible for the development and delivery of offshore and specialized vessel projects. He has participated in international programs for clients such as TDW, DOF, and Saab. He specializes in integrating operational, design, and production requirements, as well as managing complex design processes. He combines engineering expertise, operational experience, and a business perspective.

Aleksandra Kosiorek

Aleksandra Kosiorek

Municipality of Gdynia

Mayor of Gdynia since 2024. A graduate in law from the University of Gdańsk, a legal adviser and co-owner of a law firm. Specialised in medical law, human rights and civil matters. A court-appointed mediator, co-author of publications, and involved in providing free legal aid. She is actively engaged in community work, including co-organising protests and leading the Women’s Strike movement. Co-founder of the social initiative Gdyński Dialog and other initiatives promoting transparency and the city’s development. Involved in aid efforts in Ukraine.

Marcus Fredriksson

Marcus Fredriksson

Municipality of Karlskrona

Business Developer at the Municipality of Karlskrona. He works at the intersection of business development, public strategy, and societal growth. His role includes identifying business needs and translating them into concrete initiatives, partnerships, and long-term development efforts. By building relationships across industry, academia, and the public sector, he supports sustainable growth, innovation, and competitiveness. He also focuses on ensuring this growth strengthens the municipality’s attractiveness, resilience, and quality of life for Karlskrona residents

Magnus Olsson

Magnus Olsson

Saab Naval

Magnus Olsson, with a background in Mechanical Engineering, has over 30 years of experience in ship design and production for Swedish, Polish, and international customers. Since the mid-1990s, he contributed to the Swedish Navy’s Visby-class corvette project through to operational readiness. He has held roles in project management, bid management, and line management. He specializes in complex naval ship design and system integration. He was involved in the Swedish Artemis program and played a key role in the bid and execution phases of the Dolphin project. Since April 2022, he has been Head of Design and Engineering, Surface Ships, at Saab Naval.

Cezary Rubelek

Cezary Rubelek

MMC Ship Design & Marine Consulting

Manager with a strong background in financial and operational management. As President and CFO at MMC, he is responsible for shaping the company’s development strategy, overseeing financial performance, and ensuring operational stability and efficiency. He is involved in the implementation of international projects, supporting their financial and contractual aspects while optimizing delivery models. His expertise includes the financial management of complex engineering initiatives, where he combines rigorous cost control with an approach that enables organizational growth and scalability.

Hans Holden

Hans Holden

Saab Naval

With a background in Business Administration, he joined the sourcing department at Saab’s shipyard in 2015. He has been involved in the Swedish Artemis program since 2017, with intensified engagement during the vessel’s finalization in Karlskrona. During this time, he built an extensive network within the Polish shipbuilding industry. He later took part in negotiations for the Polish Dolphin program, leading discussions with the design office and shipyard and supporting the project in its early years. Since late 2024, he has worked in Saab Naval’s Strategy department, focusing on Strategic Partnerships and M&A.

Prof. Adam Weintrit

Prof. Adam Weintrit

Gdynia Maritime University

Rector of Gdynia Maritime University, where he has been affiliated for over 40 years. Previously Head of the Navigation Department (2003–2017, 2019–2020), Dean (2008–2016), and Chairman of the Senate (2020–2024, 2024–2028). He specializes in maritime navigation, shipping, geodesy, cartography, and maritime safety. Author of over 350 publications, including 18 books. Expert of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), former President of the International Association of Maritime Universities (2023–2025). Member of Polish Academy of Sciences committees and organizer of the international TransNav conference.

Robert Bursiewicz

Robert Bursiewicz

MMC Ship Design & Marine Consulting

A project manager with over 15 years of experience in the shipbuilding industry. He participated in the HMS Artemis project and currently oversees technical project execution and integration of stakeholders in the “Delfin” program for the ship platform. He specializes in managing the interface between technical requirements, design processes, and execution in large maritime programs. He focuses on translating design complexity into effective decisions, collaboration, and delivery, combining operational, engineering, and organizational expertise.

Torbjorn Petterson

Torbjorn Petterson

Saab Naval

A shipbuilding industry expert with over 35 years of experience. With a background in electronics, he has focused his career on managing IT solutions for maritime design and production. He has held multiple leadership roles, overseeing organizational and digital transformation aspects. His expertise lies in Information Management and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). He specializes in large-scale shipbuilding projects, developing solutions that enable collaboration across design and production teams, including strategic architecture of PLM/MBD.

David Apelberg

David Apelberg

Marine Technology Center of Sweden

Director of the Marine Technology Center of Sweden. He works closely with the Royal Swedish Navy, Saab Naval, NKT, and key industrial partners, strengthening Sweden’s capabilities in maritime technologies. He focuses on defense innovation as well as research and development, supporting Karlskrona’s role as a national hub for maritime technology and critical infrastructure. He has experience as a business development manager in Norwegian and American companies and served as an officer on offshore vessels in the North Sea.

Michał Olkowski

Michał Olkowski

MMC Ship Design & Marine Consulting

A graduate of Gdańsk University of Technology and co-founder of MMC Ship Design & Marine Consulting with over 20 years of experience in the shipbuilding industry. He specializes in offshore and specialized vessel design. He oversees projects across all stages, from concept to detailed design, ensuring technical consistency and effective multidisciplinary coordination. He leads teams of designers and engineers, integrating expertise from various fields within a single project. He represents the company in relations with shipowners, shipyards, and classification societies.

Krzysztof Bochra

Krzysztof Bochra

MMC Ship Design & Marine Consulting

Industrial Design Designer associated with MMC since 2007, where he continuously pushes the boundaries of what a modern vessel can be, both in terms of form and function. He specialises in naval architecture and the ergonomics of maritime spaces, seeking solutions that go beyond the established standards of the industry.

Co-author of several dozen implemented offshore vessel and naval ship designs. His approach to design combines rigorous requirements analysis with user-centred design thinking, placing the human being and their experience at the heart of the creative process.

Mats Nilsson

Mats Nilsson

Saab Naval

A mechanical engineer with 35 years of experience in surface ship development across multiple lifecycle stages. He has extensive experience in complex naval ship design, production, verification, and delivery for Swedish and Singaporean customers. He has held roles in project and line management within systems engineering, requirements management, proposal management, ship design, interdisciplinary integration, ILS, materials, and production. He contributed to the Visby corvette, Artemis, and A26 programs. Since 2024, he has focused on continuous improvement as Surface Ship Product Development Process Leader at Saab Kockums Karlskrona.

Symposium organizers

Saab serves the global market of governments, authorities and corporations with products, services and solutions ranging from military defence to civil security.

MMC Ship Design & Marine Consulting Ltd. is an independent design company specializing in ships for the offshore industry and specialist ships. It offers a wide range of designs of vessels as well as the designing of alterations and technical consulting to select the best solutions.

Agenda

  • 09:00 - 09:15

    Official opening

    This opening session will explain why the symposium is being held now and why the completion of the "Dolphin" design phase is worth marking as a strategic milestone.

    It will highlight the importance of Swedish-Polish industrial cooperation and frame vessel design as a critical stage in building future naval capability.

  • 09:45 - 10:15

    PANEL SESSION: Early stages of naval projects – requirements and basic design process

    This panel will examine how the strategic environment has changed: from limited budgets and long timelines to urgent naval capability renewal under significant time pressure.

    The discussion will focus on the pre-contract phase, the definition of requirements, and the role of basic design in turning operational expectations into a viable vessel concept.

    It will also address how early alignment between customer and prime contractor can reduce downstream risk, rework, and schedule pressure.

  • 10:45 - 11:15

    PANEL SESSION: The changing nature of naval design

    This session will explore how naval design is evolving from a purely engineering-driven activity into a process increasingly shaped by information flow, decision quality, and stakeholder coordination.

    The panel will discuss the growing role of digital tools, integrated data environments, and collaboration across suppliers, partners, and design teams.

  • 11:45 - 12:00

    SIGNING CEREMONY: Strategic Cooperation Agreement

    This ceremony will mark a shared commitment to long-term cooperation between the partners and underline the strategic importance of trust, continuity, and industrial alignment in future naval programs.



  • 12:00 - 13:00

    Lunch

  • 13:30 - 14:00

    PANEL SESSION: Key stakeholders involvement in the design process

    This panel will broaden the discussion beyond a single programs and look at the wider ecosystem needed to increase naval capabilities at scale.

     

    It will address the role of municipalities, academia, research centers, and industry partnerships in developing skills, innovation capacity, and long-term regional cooperation.

     

    The Swedish-Polish cooperation around the Delphin programs serves as an example of how such relationships create durable strategic value.

  • 14:30 - 14:40

    Closing remarks

    .

  • 09:15 - 09:45

    KEYNOTE SPEECH: Complex warship delivery process

    This talk will present the warship delivery process from the prime contractor’s perspective, drawing on recent program experience and practical lessons learned.

    It will show how decisions taken during the pre-contract and basic design stages shape execution, coordination, and delivery performance throughout the rest of the project.

    Special attention will be given to the processing of requirements into accepted technical solutions shared across all stakeholders.

  • 10:15 - 10:45

    Coffee break

  • 11:15 - 11:45

    PANEL SESSION: System design within the naval design process

    This panel will focus on system design as one of the key decision-making layers within naval programs.

    It will address the review and interpretation of system requirements, the importance of timely and structured technical decisions, and the relationship between design maturity and realistic production planning.

    The discussion will also show how thousands of interdependencies must be coordinated to deliver challenging schedules without compromising quality.

  • 12:00 - 12:15

    Media briefing




  • 13:00 - 13:30

    KEYNOTE SPEECH: Data and design review process as critical decision making stage

    This presentation will show why the design review process should be treated not as an administrative routine, but as a core project decision-making mechanism.

    It will present methods and tools that support transparent comment handling, faster resolution of technical issues, and earlier closure of key decisions.
     

    The session will also outline future directions for improving review transparency and coordination across stakeholders.

  • 14:00 - 14:30

    PANEL SESSION: Strengthening cooperation between regions, cities and universities

    This panel will broaden the discussion beyond a single programs and look at the wider ecosystem needed to increase naval capabilities at scale.

    It will address the role of municipalities, academia, research centers, and industry partnerships in developing skills, innovation capacity, and long-term regional cooperation.

    The Swedish-Polish cooperation around the "Dolphin" programs serves as an example of how such relationships create durable strategic value

  • 09:00 - 09:15

    Official opening

    This opening session will explain why the symposium is being held now and why the completion of the "Dolphin" design phase is worth marking as a strategic milestone.

    It will highlight the importance of Swedish-Polish industrial cooperation and frame vessel design as a critical stage in building future naval capability.

  • 09:15 - 09:45

    KEYNOTE SPEECH: Complex warship delivery process

    This talk will present the warship delivery process from the prime contractor’s perspective, drawing on recent program experience and practical lessons learned.

    It will show how decisions taken during the pre-contract and basic design stages shape execution, coordination, and delivery performance throughout the rest of the project.

    Special attention will be given to the processing of requirements into accepted technical solutions shared across all stakeholders.

  • 09:45 - 10:15

    PANEL SESSION: Early stages of naval projects – requirements and basic design process

    This panel will examine how the strategic environment has changed: from limited budgets and long timelines to urgent naval capability renewal under significant time pressure.

    The discussion will focus on the pre-contract phase, the definition of requirements, and the role of basic design in turning operational expectations into a viable vessel concept.

    It will also address how early alignment between customer and prime contractor can reduce downstream risk, rework, and schedule pressure.

  • 10:15 - 10:45

    Coffee break

  • 10:45 - 11:15

    PANEL SESSION: The changing nature of naval design

    This session will explore how naval design is evolving from a purely engineering-driven activity into a process increasingly shaped by information flow, decision quality, and stakeholder coordination.

    The panel will discuss the growing role of digital tools, integrated data environments, and collaboration across suppliers, partners, and design teams.

  • 11:15 - 11:45

    PANEL SESSION: System design within the naval design process

    This panel will focus on system design as one of the key decision-making layers within naval programs.

    It will address the review and interpretation of system requirements, the importance of timely and structured technical decisions, and the relationship between design maturity and realistic production planning.

    The discussion will also show how thousands of interdependencies must be coordinated to deliver challenging schedules without compromising quality.

  • 11:45 - 12:00

    SIGNING CEREMONY: Strategic Cooperation Agreement

    This ceremony will mark a shared commitment to long-term cooperation between the partners and underline the strategic importance of trust, continuity, and industrial alignment in future naval programs.



  • 12:00 - 12:15

    Media briefing




  • 12:00 - 13:00

    Lunch

  • 13:00 - 13:30

    KEYNOTE SPEECH: Data and design review process as critical decision making stage

    This presentation will show why the design review process should be treated not as an administrative routine, but as a core project decision-making mechanism.

    It will present methods and tools that support transparent comment handling, faster resolution of technical issues, and earlier closure of key decisions.
     

    The session will also outline future directions for improving review transparency and coordination across stakeholders.

  • 13:30 - 14:00

    PANEL SESSION: Key stakeholders involvement in the design process

    This panel will broaden the discussion beyond a single programs and look at the wider ecosystem needed to increase naval capabilities at scale.

     

    It will address the role of municipalities, academia, research centers, and industry partnerships in developing skills, innovation capacity, and long-term regional cooperation.

     

    The Swedish-Polish cooperation around the Delphin programs serves as an example of how such relationships create durable strategic value.

  • 14:00 - 14:30

    PANEL SESSION: Strengthening cooperation between regions, cities and universities

    This panel will broaden the discussion beyond a single programs and look at the wider ecosystem needed to increase naval capabilities at scale.

    It will address the role of municipalities, academia, research centers, and industry partnerships in developing skills, innovation capacity, and long-term regional cooperation.

    The Swedish-Polish cooperation around the "Dolphin" programs serves as an example of how such relationships create durable strategic value

  • 14:30 - 14:40

    Closing remarks

    .

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