SCRA Hosts Shipbuilder Conference in Charleston

The National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP), a nationwide research and development collaborative effort managed by SCRA Applied R&D, hosted their biennial All-Panel Meeting in Charleston, SC on April 23-25, bringing nearly 300 attendees to the Lowcountry.

NSRP is a collaboration of U.S. shipyards working together to reduce the cost of building, repairing and operating Navy ships by introducing new technologies and improved processes into the U.S. shipbuilding enterprise. Program funding is shared equally between the Navy and industry participants.

The program structure includes eleven panels-shipyard-centered communities of practice, each focused on a particular element of shipbuilding-that meet regularly with the industry at large, as well as with government representatives and members of academia engaged in their respective functional areas. To augment the value received through their periodic independent meetings, the panels meet together every other year to share issues, accomplishments and best practices.

The All-Panel Meeting serves a critical role for the program by providing a public forum for industry-wide networking, technology transfer and discussion of current areas of broad interest across industry and government stakeholders. This year’s attendees included executives and mid-level managers from the 12 member shipyards, Navy representatives and interested parties from shipbuilding-related industries and academia. The agenda included keynote addresses by shipyard and Navy senior executives, project results and technology presentations and selected project exhibits. A reception at Patriots Point aboard the USS Yorktown provided attendees with an excellent networking opportunity, as well as a familiar atmosphere and greater exposure to all that Charleston has to offer.

[mappress]

Press Release, May 10, 2013