BMT's Submarine Academy to address SQEP skills gap
Above: BMT Submarine Academy Annual Dinner 2014.
Covering the core engineering disciplines including naval architecture, marine engineering and combat systems, the Submarine Academy aims to increase knowledge and experience across submarine design and in-service support, both in the UK and overseas. The scheme has been running since September 2013, with 32 engineers enrolled in the academy to date. BMT is already seeing the benefits of this through being able to deploy individuals on live work at a much earlier stage in their development.
The programme has aligned its assessments with the UK Ministry of Defence’s submarine SQEP competency levels of ‘Awareness’, ‘Practitioner’ and ‘Expert’. The framework comprises a mix of internal training courses, discrete internal development modules, external submarine training, experiential learning opportunities, as well as waterfront placements. Emphasis is initially placed on achieving an awareness level of understanding, and as individuals increase their knowledge and experience through greater responsibilities on live project work, they have the opportunity to enhance either their submarine domain or technical discipline experience, or both.
Simon Rusling, DE&S Submarine Chief Engineer and Chair of the Submarine Naval Design Partnering (NDP) Project Board says: “It is encouraging to see industry take a pro-active approach and I welcome the commitment to supporting the UK submarine SQEP.”
Cat Savage, Technical Director at BMT Defence Services comments: “Finding SQEP within the submarine community is a real challenge we face therefore it’s vital we do what we can to secure the skills needed for the future. We are committed to attracting and developing young talent, as well as further enhancing the skills of the people already embedded within the organisation. We strongly believe that the Submarine Academy can have a positive impact on young engineers and play an integral role in addressing the skills gap the industry faces. The Academy also reinforces our position as a leading centre of submarine knowledge.”
