SMI Addresses Maritime Engineering Challenges at the RCNC Annual Conference
Every year, the team at SMI look forwards to the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors’ Annual Maritime Engineering Conference. This year, the theme is the “Challenges Facing Today’s Maritime Engineers”. It’s particularly poignant, in a world where data and digital is all-consuming, with AI tools and software churning out analyses and possible solutions in a matter of minutes, rather than teams of humans taking longer – and crucially being able to do more with less.
However, at SMI we see, along with this challenge, the future for maritime engineers being a bright one. Our people are our greatest asset, and for many organisations this is the same. We also recognise that people are the ones who have that spark of creativity to solve pressing problems, with ideas that quite often software can’t comprehend.
Luckily for us, we have a strong pedigree of doing this, and we continue this with the team that we have today. We’re incredibly lucky that our Engineering Director, Glen Richardson (pictured), has been invited to talk at the RCNC Conference this year, on a challenge that is something all constructors face – managing customer expectations, but also shifting them to what can be possible during the design and engineering decision making process.
In a world where value and doing more with less is expected as a minimum, the discussion Glen will be leading looks specifically at how submarine cabling and the materials used, can shift expectations of product, along with improving platform capability and availability. With discussions focusing around choice of materials, density of service, assurance, test & inspection, along with an examination of SMI’s choice of working exclusively with our dual-sealing PlastEthUrm.
It’s a holy grail for many navies, that balance between capability, availability, and through-life cost. But at SMI we firmly believe in our 10-year warranty, our choice of materials for our connectors, and our ongoing research makes those balances effective for our customers. With 10000 fit-and-forget installations, no leaks, and a 27-year continuation of our MoD capability approval certification – we’re quite confident in it.
Glen will be discussing this and more at the Conference, if you’re there – it’s definitely one to not miss!
