Unassailable Fit & Forget Pressure Moulded Cable Systems for Hostile Environments

SMI Supporting Young People with Huge Potential

SMI youth at the SMI stand

SMI have been supporting some young people with huge potential in recent weeks.

The Andover based company which has been designing and manufacturing pressure moulded cable systems for harsh environments for over two decades attended a BCoT Apprenticeship Recruitment Fair for local employers who have apprenticeship programmes to meet young people looking for opportunities in engineering.

SMI has been running an apprenticeship programme for the last 5 years, with a series of apprentices developing on the job skills whilst advancing academically with accompanying college study.

Some have then advanced to enjoy careers with SMI, whilst others have decided to pursue additional qualifications and have enroled in degree courses at University,

Kali Davis (seen above with her instructor), who we have helped with sponsorship on her way to the World Championships in Tae Kwon Do, also let us know her good news this week – she’s passed her star grading with flying colours.

Congratulations on your achievement and good luck with the competitions.

We were also delighted to host Anneka Gordon from the Plume Academy in Essex for a week’s work experience. Anneka spent two days at the headquarters in Andover assisting the marketing team with preparations for the Farn- borough Airshow exhibition. Touring the factory there was an opportunity to understand the technologies which have been delivering fit and forget cable harnesses to submarine and surface fleets across the globe. Anneka then accompanied our General Manager Sales & Marketing, Jenny Shaw, visiting clients for technical discussions.

We were particularly grateful to JFD, Quoceant and IKM Consulting for also arranging for some of their brilliant engineers to give Anneka an insight into the variety of engineering opportunities available.

JFD is the world leading underwater capability provider, serving the commercial and defence markets with innovative diving, submarine and hy- perbaric rescue, technical solutions and services.

Karen Adams, Engineering Im- provement Authority, and Jill Hughes, a time-served apprentice, at JFD took time out at their Inchinnan facility to describe the exciting opportunities for young women wanting to pursue STEM subject study into a defence based career. Their enthusiasm and generosity in sharing their experiences provided a glimpse of the passion and determination that has seen both women achieve incredible success in their careers to date.

Quoceant provide engineering design and consultancy services to a variety of clients. Three more remarkable female engineers from Quoceant, Beth Dickens, Leah Barker Ewart and Rosalind Hart met with Jenny and Anneka at their offices in Edinburgh to describe how they apply their respective engineering specialisations to the wave, tidal and offshore wind sectors, as well as the wider offshore industries.

At IKM Consulting, Founder and Chairman, Ian Maclachlan introduced Anneka to experts from their multi-disciplinary team which included civil engineers, structural engineers, environmental engineers, geologists and surveyors working in with many high profile clients in a variety of industries including the petrochemical sector.

At IKM Visual Solutions Trisha Palmer explained how they script, storyboard and produce animated visualisations and experiences to help explain, communicate and promote technical understanding of even the most complex engineering concepts.