Boksa Marine Design Becomes Employee Partnership of Marine Engineers

Boksa Marine Design (BMD) is now an employee-owned naval architecture and marine engineering partnership. On August 1, BMD President Nick Boksa, P.E. restructured the firm from a privately-owned business to a partnership culture, making five key engineers and naval architects minority stockholders.

With BMD’s 20th anniversary on the horizon, its crew of young, highly skilled employee-owners will guide BMD well into the future, with Nick Boksa at the helm.

“I have a great deal of confidence in our team of professionals that have been behind all the great work we have been providing for years,” said Nick Boksa. “The goal of this partnership is to ensure long term adequacy and continuity of resources to meet the growing and evolving needs of our industry. BMD has become much more than an on-demand outsourced provider, but rather a long-term strategic partner to our clients.”

Headquartered in Lithia, FL, just east of Tampa, Boksa Marine Design provides a wide array of expertise and practical experience in design and construction of steel, aluminum and composite vessels. Clients includes US based commercial marine and military shipyards, owners and operators as well as an international clientele of builders and government agencies around the world. BMD is also a leading designer of superyachts and sportfishing boats and provides complete composite design to production boat builders.

BMD’s engineers are niched as academy graduates who have also worked as licensed crew onboard ships and other vessels, or alternatively with military service and backgrounds in major shipyards. Robust and stout, every BMD design is engineered with generous, accommodating, crew-friendly workspaces and practical engine room layouts; the kinds of vessels our engineers would enjoy serving aboard at sea or on the inland waterways.

The Partners

The employee-owners of BMD include Josh Trupia, a marine and mechanical engineer responsible for mechanical and structural engineering, piping systems schematics, 2-D and 3-D pipe routing, production engineering and propulsions system arrangements.

Josh is a graduate of State University of New York Maritime College and holds a Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.), Marine Engineering. Earlier in 2022, Josh relocated from our Florida headquarters to Arkansas to better geographically integrate our naval engineering resources within the inland river market. He is concentrating on tugs, barges and towboats for operators and shipyards on the Arkansas, Mississippi, Ouchita, White Rivers, and the inland market as a whole.

Naval architect and marine engineer Jeff Kuenning is now BMD’s Director of Naval Architecture. Jeff is responsible for stability analysis, speed /power analysis, weight studies, drafting, structural calculations and design, 3-D design, engine room ventilation and systems design. Kuenning assures regulatory compliance with significant regulatory experience with USCG, ABS, ABYC and other class societies.

Jeff graduated from the University of Michigan with a BSE in naval architecture and marine engineering. He was previously a naval architect and marine engineer with NETSco, Inc. and John W. Gilbert & Associates, Inc.

“It has always been a professional aspiration of mine to become a partner in a firm’s ownership,” said Jeff Kuenning. “To have the opportunity to join a group that is going to help continue the growth of BMD and bring it to new levels is very exciting. This new ownership group will further expand our capabilities and offerings to new and existing clients. In collaboration with Nick, our goal is to position BMD to continue to build upon our strong position in the industry for many years to come.”

Mike Valentine is a marine designer focused on production engineering and ShipConstructor© modeling. Previously, Mike worked with Bath Iron Works, a division of General Dynamics, on the label plates team on DDG 51 and the hull outfit team for DDG 1000. Mike served in the U.S. Army; he was deployed to Iraq and stationed on the Tallil Air Force Base. Mike was also an Army Reservist in the 619th Transportation Company in Auburn, Maine.

A 2013 graduate from US Merchant Marine Academy, James Pilliod is a marine systems engineer. James is a USCG 2nd Assistant Engineer also commissioned in US Navy Reserve. Pilliod worked as a marine engineer aboard ships for Noble Drilling and was on Noble’s delivery engineering team for new builds with Hyundai Heavy Industries. James also served as a marine engineer onboard various cargo ships and offshore supply vessels. He enjoys working on small sail and power boats in his spare time. He volunteers with Warrior Sailing Program, racing with disabled veterans and teaching them how to sail in team events.

Jack Becker, naval architect, is responsible for stability analysis, conducting inclining tests, structural calculations, composite engineering, 3D modeling and commercial vessel design. Jack
graduated from Webb Institute with dual degrees, Bachelor of Science in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. He previously was an intern for Metal Shark Boats in naval architecture and shipyard production. At Matson, Inc., Jack was an engine and deck cadet in Pacific Ocean operations.

Earlier in 2022, Beck became the lead of BMD’s composite design and engineering team, tasked with expanding the firm’s capabilities to better support production and custom composite boat builders.

Speaking for his new partners, Jack Becker is enthused about the future. “I am incredibly excited for the bright future ahead for Boksa Marine Design,” he said. “These are steps in the right direction to a gradual transition of power and responsibilities years from now. My business partners and I are dedicated to continuing and growing upon the strong BMD reputation within the maritime industry.”