• Access contract opportunities 
• Bid for opportunities 
• Follow tenders across UK, Europe and US 
• Locate new customers 
• Produce mailing lists 
• Find out who buys their competitors' products/services 
• Identify and monitor competitors

If you are overwhelmed, puzzled or even frustrated about bidding for public sector contracts, then this stimulating event can be your solution for success.

To see the full agenda for the workshop, please click here.

The event is free to attend but registration is essential and demand is expected to be high. To reserve a place please email info@marinedesigncentre.com or call 0191 255 1710.

The Nautical Institute Comes to Town

Annual General Meeting, Seminar, Reception & Dinner

Trinity House, Broad Chare, Newcastle upon Tyne
11th - 12th June 2009

The Marine Design Centre is delighted to support this event, hosted by the North East England Branch of The Nautical Institute.

Seminar:

"The importance of incident reporting - how, why and when - blame?"

and:

Launch of the new MARS service: "Mariners' Alerting and Reporting Scheme"

Plus.... Annual General Meeting, Reception and Dinner, Charity Raffle in aid of The Tyne Mariners Benevolent Institution.

For more information please click here.

Insight into Global Leader

Many thanks to Jimmy Williams and Douglas Ramsey of Alcoa Defense, who gave delegates a fascinating insight into the technological advancements that have made Alcoa a global leader in the oil & gas, defence and aerospace sectors as well as all major segments of industry.

Presentations covered the company’s developments in naval, land and aerospace defence, commercial marine & offshore technologies and future plans for the renewable energy sector.

We will further develop the relationship between Alcoa and member companies with a view to sharing this expertise. Delegates with follow up questions are invited to contact Jimmy and Doug or send details for forwarding to the MDC. 

Funding Opportunity Opens as North East Sees Major Contract Wins

With the potential for North East companies in the developing offshore wind markets being superbly demonstrated in the last month by two major contract wins in the region, the Northern Wind Innovation Programme is a timely opportunity for companies to tap into funding for the development of new technology.

Last month saw South Tyneside firm McNulty Offshore win a contract from Siemens to construct a 1,600 tonne offshore substation which will be installed at the Greater Gabbard wind farm 16 miles off Suffolk. Meanwhile, Darlington based CTC Marine Projects were awarded their first contract in the offshore wind farm industry by E.ON Climate and Renewables UK, for the lay, installation and burial of seventeen subsea power cable arrays linking wind turbine foundations at the Robin Rigg Offshore Wind Farm in the Solway Firth.

The Northern Wind Innovation Programme, established by the Northern Way Partnership, will provide a £2.6 million research fund to enable northern companies with capabilities or potential in the offshore wind sector to identify and realise new opportunities. Funding is available for projects in:

• AC/DC Electrical Conversion 
• Foundation System Optimisation 
• Bearing Quality Improvement 
• Installation Technologies

The programme is also keen to fund projects developed by collaborative consortia. The deadline for Expressions of Interest in the programme is 31st July. For further information click here.

Diesel Power ... Down Under

MDC member Royston, specialists in the supply, installation, repair and maintenance of diesel generators and engines for UK and international clients in the marine, offshore, utility and defence sectors, have acquired a permanent foothold in the Southern Hemisphere.

As its international business continues to grow, Royston has concluded the purchase of PSMS, a successful diesel engine repair and maintenance company based near the Australian Marine Complex at Henderson , Perth , Western Australia.

Lawrence Brown, Royston MD, said, “The Royston board strategy is to develop both our UK and international business. As we had already established a customer base in Australia the setting up of a permanent base was the logical next step. We are delighted with the acquisition of PSMS and the opportunity it provides to develop our operations and to offer a world class level of sales, service and support to the diesel power industry, across the Southern Hemisphere”.

Welcome Aboard

MDC extends a warm welcome to newest member, HITEK-nology Solutions Ltd.

The company services the global maritime, defence and aerospace markets with specialist corrosion control and anti-fouling products to enhance service life and reduce cost of ownership of high value assets.

Services specifically tailored to the needs of global defence and maritime customers include: 

• Treatment of corrosion within ballast tanks and void spaces
• Treatment of corrosion on ships hull, superstructure, vehicle bodies, airframes and sub-assemblies 
• Prevention of corrosion/long term lay-up of military platforms (Land, Sea & Air) 
• Application of specialist anti-fouling coatings 
• Technical support & Consultancy

We look forward to working with the team at HITEK-nology Solutions. For more information on the company click here.

Further AVEVA training:

PDMS Equipment & Piping Design

20th- 24th July 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.

For full details of the course content please click here.

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

As Training Programmes Shape Up....

The MDC’s Marine & Energy Skills Development Programme continues to take shape with training needs assessments being carried out in conjunction with companies participating in the programme.

Training is now being planned for the rest of 2009 covering areas including PDMS, Finite Element Analysis, Mathcad, Leadership & Management, Hands-on skills courses, AutoCad and Microsoft Project.

If you’d like to get involved in the programme please contact John Lockey on 0191 255 1710 or john.lockey@marinedesigncentre.com

Roadshow Highlights Opportunities

Port of Tyne, 11th June 2009

One of a series of roadshows organised by UKTI will take place at Port of Tyne on 11th June.

The Maritime Industries Roadshow will provide a unique opportunity for companies to learn about the latest and future maritime opportunities in high growth markets around the world, and to get one-on-one advice on market entry and expansion from our experienced UK Trade & Investment advisors. The Roadshow will cover the major economies in the world along with high growth emerging markets.

Any UK-based company providing products or services to the following sectors should attend: 

• Leisure Boats and Super Yachts 
• Marinas 
• Ports 
• Shipping 
• Maritime Security 
• Shipbuilding

For more information click here.

Seminar: Targeting Defence Through Open Innovation

Companies with products suitable for the defence sector will have the opportunity to find out more about selling into the Ministry of Defence at a one-off event this month (June).

‘AIM: Targeting Defence Through Open Innovation’ will be held at RTC North in Sunderland on Friday June 19th and will be led by the MOD’s innovation arm – the Centre for Defence Enterprises (CDE).

The event will run from 3.30pm to 6pm and is being promoted jointly in the North East by NDI and technology consultancy, RTC North.

Aimed at small and medium sized companies (SMEs) with the capability to provide technology based solutions for the UK Defence sector, the FREE event will highlight how CDE offers...

• Easy access to the MOD
• Seed funding for the best new ideas
• Interactive proposal development
• Direct contact with end-users
• Signposting to business opportunities
• Utilisation of the CDE web portal
• Rapid response to enquiries

Open innovation is a new business strategy developed to bring exciting new products to market quickly and efficiently and works by encouraging dialogue between large and small companies, their customers, suppliers and potential R&D partners.

For more information click here.