Succeeding Professor David White, who is taking up a new position at the University of Southampton in the UK, Dr Watson completed his PhD at UWA and was formerly a director of Advanced Geomechanics (later Fugro) in Perth.
Having helped create research-inspired engineering solutions that have been applied across the oil and gas industry in Australia and globally, Watson joins UWA from Fugro where he was the global director of geoconsulting.
Mark Stickells, former director of UWA's Energy and Minerals Institute and now UWA business development and innovation director, told Energy News that Shell's move reflected the relevance and impact of UWA's work in engineering in marine environments.
"Shell continuing its partnership with the university is very positive," Stickells said.
"UWA marine engineering leads the country and partnerships with Shell show its relevance and impact; and given the scale of the research group at UWA this benefits more than just the oil and gas industry, and has wider benefits for industry and economic development in WA."
The work will also benefit other sectors, including renewables which Shell has been dabbling in, particularly with hybrid technology, as it is planning Australian solar plants that can switch to natural gas.
Having been after a competitive process, it is understood Watson's deep industry experience was valued by both the university and Shell.
UWA research has been applied to 10 Shell projects worldwide since the Shell Chair was established five years ago, advancing research into important areas such as vessel motion under wave action and the development of oceanographic and geotechnical data.
The role has since grown significantly through the 2016 launch of the $10 million five-year Australian Research Council Research Hub for Offshore Floating Facilities, known as the OFFshore Hub which brings together 25 researchers and 20 PhD students focused on the critical challenges facing offshore oil and gas.
That research spans offshore engineering, from geotechnics to metocean, building on the platform of UWA's Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems, and ranges across pure and applied research through to technology transfer directly into Shell projects.
