Royal Navy Pushes The Boat Out For MDC

HMS Illustrious has berthed in Tyneside many times over the years and, indeed, was built on and launched into the Tyne in 1978. So, on her most recent visit, we were delighted to coordinate a North East Industry Open Morning on board to help local companies understand the requirements of the Royal Navy.

Over 40 representatives from member companies took part and we were made to feel most welcome.

The tour took in many aspects of the ship’s day-to-day operation, taking visitors from top to bottom of the ship, including the bridge, flight deck, hangar, ops room, control room and the engine rooms. After a full morning on board touring the ship and speaking to crew about systems and equipment, the group joined officers and ratings for a first class lunch in the Ward Room.

Andy Melia, Project Engineer at MDC member Oxley Developments, said, “It was a fantastic experience, and a great opportunity to see how an aircraft carrier undertakes its day-to-day activities. The ship’s crew were fantastic, I learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed the visit.”

Next event....

Composites: Marine Sector Masterclass

Tuesday 21st April 2009; Marine Design Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne

 

• Introduction to composite materials
• Applications in ships & the marine sector
• Lessons from the aerospace & automotive sectors
• Lessons from US defence composites R&D
• The future of composites in the marine sector

The UK has an impressive global reputation for innovation and research in composite materials. The industry is characterised by high level skills and quality based manufacturing led by implementation of new technologies and advancements in the technical performance of materials.

The National Composites Network (NCN) is a unique Knowledge Transfer Network jointly funded by government and industry that embraces the entire UK Composites industry and its supply chain.

In this masterclass, Ajay Kapadia, Director of NCN, will discuss current and future applications for composites in the marine sector. He will also give an overview of the resources available through NCN to investigate materials through to application.

To see the full agenda please click here.

To reserve a place please contact us on 0191 255 1710 or email info@marinedesigncentre.com. Places cost £20 (+ VAT) for Marine Design Centre members and £45 (+ VAT) for non-members. Space is limited so act quickly to reserve your place!

Contract Win for CD Group

Congratulations to CD Group, which has won work as the result of a sales opportunity processed via the Marine Design Centre.

MDC was contacted by a large offshore engineering company which had a requirement for survey work to be undertaken on a vessel in Rotterdam.

After nominating relevant members, CD Group won the contract.

Peter Douglass, Managing Director of CD Group, said: “Our customer is undertaking a full electrical system modification. The requirement from us was for a structural design draughtsman to undertake a two to three week assignment to survey the vessel and develop seating drawings and cable penetrations for submission to MCA and Class.

“We were delighted to win the project. While we have carried out a lot of work in Rotterdam in the past, this was a new customer for us and gives us a great opportunity to develop a long term relationship.”

Simon Ellis, Business Development Manager at the Marine Design Centre, said: “This particular sales lead came to us directly as a result of the work we are doing to raise the profile of the marine design sector in the region.

“We have an increasing focus on helping members win new contracts. This is taking place in a number of ways, from meetings with potential clients, raising the profile of the sector generally amongst key specifiers, inviting key industry players to speak to members, identifying tender opportunities and networking.”

Radio Holland Calling

Now settled into their new offices on South Tyneside, MDC member Imtech Marine & Offshore continues its expansion with the opening of Radio Holland’s new UK service location.

Radio Holland has now opened a branch office in the UK trading under Imtech Marine and Offshore Ltd from the new offices. This enables Radio Holland to offer direct servicing capability within UK waters, and the opportunity for UK ship owners and operators to access the Radio Holland Worldwide Service Network.

Bob Carling, Managing Director of Imtech Marine & Offshore UK says, “we are pleased that we can now offer the services of Radio Holland to the UK shipping market. With a worldwide co-coordinated approach to fleet servicing, and with real visibility of the costs incurred maintaining on board electronics, ship operators are now able to make sound business decisions on future electronic equipment based on real data backed up from the whole marine industry”.

Imtech Marine and Offshore Ltd have also established a presence on the South Coast of England where many customers’ vessels are located.

In their first 7 weeks of operation Radio Holland report 69 service calls via the Global Service System (GSS), giving a strong start to the new Radio Holland business in the UK.

PDL + Training = Success

Congratulations to MDC member PDL Solutions (Europe) Limited on winning the annual Training for Success 2009 Award at the NDI 2009 Annual Conference.

It is a great achievement by the team at PDL and a true indication of its commitment to the development of its people.

Paul Charlton, Managing Director, PDL, said: “As we continue to grow our business and support our customers’ ever pressing needs, our engineers need to take on board what is seemingly an unrelenting flow of new and challenging engineering capabilities. It never ceases to amaze me how they adapt to, and embellish upon, what is arguably the world’s leading engineering design and analysis software with outright vigour and apparent ease.

“Whilst we as a company continuously recognise and praise the success and efforts of our own team within our own four-walls, winning the Training for Success 2009 award allows that same success and effort to be recognised in front of the industry’s finest.

“Our training regime will continue at a pace over the coming years as we pursue our long term strategic goals. This ongoing training will create further differentiation within our chosen markets and bring tangible personal, professional and financial benefits to the company, our customers and our engineers alike. We are delighted to win the Training for Success 2009 Award and see it as a significant milestone in the company’s development.”

Our picture shows Paul Charlton and Michael Williams of PDL receiving their award from Quentin Davies MP, Minister of State for Defence Equipment & Support and David Bowles OBE, Chairman of NDI.

Students, Trainees and Employers: Show you’re World Class in CAD

We are delighted to announce that the Marine Design Centre will host the Northern regional heat of the Mechanical Engineering CADD competition for World Skills UK in June this year.

 

The competition will take place on 6th June and will test competitors’ performance using CAD to produce 2D technical drawings, 3D models and 3D assemblies. In addition, higher level competitors will be required to produce animations that include GDT (Geometrical Dimensioning and Tolerancing) in technical drawings. Highest scoring competitors will be invited to compete in the UK final, and ultimately represent the UK in international competition.

The deadline for entries for this competition is 9th April 2009.

World Skills UK is a set of dynamic skills competitions, for both young people and adults, designed by industry experts. They run in over 70 skills areas from Aeronautical Engineering to Floristry, regionally and nationally, with the opportunity to compete at an international level. The UK will be hosting the 2011 World Skills competition in the build up to the 2012 Olympics. WorldSkills is the biggest skills competition in the world and takes place every two years in a member country.

This is a good opportunity for young people to develop skills and gain recognition, while for businesses it represents great potential to support staff development while raising the company’s profile.

For further information, or to enter the competition, please contact MDC or click here.

Plans now in place for an influx of new skills

The Industry Steering Group set up to direct the Marine & Energy Skills Development Programme had their inaugural meeting at the Marine Design Centre last month. Training programmes and accreditation are now being developed and participating companies are now recruiting candidates for the programme.

The group is very positive about the benefits to be gained by local businesses through this unique initiative. The programme is designed to deliver the training they require, enabling progression through a marine & energy sector-specific qualification.

For more information about this programme or to get involved, please contact John Lockey on john.lockey@marinedesigncentre.com or 0191 255 1710.

Our picture shows John Lockey with members of the Steering Group.

MDC Offices Save the Day for Astrum

An important meeting took place at the MDC offices earlier this month involving NDI member company Astrum and guests they had arriving from around the country. Astrum required a venue in the centre of Newcastle but due to the expanding list of attendees their original location became unsuitable.

Remembering the excellent facilities that the MDC has to offer they made a quick call to the offices and booked the boardroom that can comfortably sit over 20 people and has state of the art audio visual equipment built in. Astrum also took advantage of the catering facilities available and arranged for lunch to be provided.

Phil Kite, Managing Director of Astrum said, “It is great to be able use such good facilities in a fantastic city centre location, and setting it up couldn’t have been easier. We’ll certainly be using it again.”

Astrum are experts in the design and manufacture of complex engineered assemblies in high strength steels, other metals and polymers for the defence, earth moving and intermodal markets.

These facilities are available to you for hire. If you require any further information on what is available or if you would like to make a booking please contact Simon Ellis at the Marine Design Centre on simon.ellis@marinedesigncentre.com  or telephone 0191 255 1710.

 

Further AVEVA Training....

Our next 2 PDMS courses in conjunction with AVEVA.

Not only is it great news that AVEVA are putting on the courses, but there is also the major advantage that those attending do not have the time and financial costs involved in traveling outside the region.

Equipment & Piping Design

20th - 24th April 2009

This excellent course covers a number of modules useful to equipment engineers & designers as well as instrument and electrical, architectural, piping, layout and structural engineers. The course will consist of basic functions, AVEVA Plant Design set-up, Equipment Design, Piping Design, Clash Detection, Reports and Isometric Production 

Steelwork Design

18th - 22nd May 2009

This course includes basic functions, AVEVA Plant Design set-up, Basic Steelwork Design, Clash Detection, Reports and Advanced Steelwork Design.

For full details of either course please click here.

For further details please contact us on 0191 255 1710 or email info@marinedesigncentre.com

Please contact MDC if you have other training requirements for PDMS or other CAD packages. If we have sufficient demand for particular courses we will endeavour to arrange the appropriate training!

New Member: Phoenix Training & Development

We are pleased to welcome Newcastle based Phoenix Training & Development to the MDC membership.

The company was formed early in 2008, with a staff consisting entirely of qualified teachers and trainers and is focussed on the design, development and delivery of high quality, professional training solutions for businesses of any size.

The company’s specialist areas are Management Development, from Team Leading level 2 to Executive Management at level 7 (Masters Level), HR, Coaching and Leadership & Management. Phoenix is the only company in Tyneside & Northumberland accredited to level 7 by the Institute of Leadership & Management.

The company aims to be the Premier Provider of Management Development and Training in the Northern Region. All programmes are regularly reviewed and tutors undergo a programme of Continuous Professional Development.

For more information on Phoenix please click here.

Stop Press....

Marine Conferences Heading for Tyneside

Two major conferences will be held on Tyneside next year.

The International Conference on Advances in Marine Structures will be held at Newcastle Civic Centre in May 2010, followed by the 15th International Conference on Marine Corrosion & Fouling at the Sage Gateshead in July.

More on these in due course.