Email News September 2008
Foreword
With Autumn upon us, Marine South East has a programme of activity to help companies make the most of business and funding opportunities around the region and beyond. Start with a visit to Southampton Boat Show and the programme of business support events on offer or take advantage of training opportunities at the beginning of this academic year. Read on to find out more...
Posted 2008-08-31 21:09:45
Marine South East develops a European consortium exploring marine science opportunities
Marine South East has been working over the past few months to build a framework for collaboration in marine science applications with organisations around the EU. This will be a resource to develop bids for project calls that are soon to be published by the European Commission to action new policies included in the Green Paper on maritime policy.
Submitted for European funding earlier this year the EMSAC proposal (European Marine Science Applications Consortium), was aimed at establishing a framework for long-term collaboration and investment involving key marine industries and the marine science base. Unfortunately despite scoring highly the bid did not secure funding. Building on the earlier proposal and utilising the Europe wide project consortium Marine SE is now in discussion with a wide range of European marine science-base and industry organisations to further develop and broaden the original EMSAC concept.
Once established EMSAC will offer significant benefits:
- Building relationships which can support future trans-national collaborations.
- Accessing a wider range of state-of-the-art expertise than that available in the UK, as a robust basis for future technology road-mapping and research prioritisation.
- Establishing the South East region as a pre-eminent cluster of expertise, capable of adopting a European leadership role in the domain of marine environmental risk.
The consortium will be structured around selected application markets where strong knowledge-driven growth is projected, including:
- Coastal zone management (eg policing of Marine Protected Areas, ecosystem monitoring)
- Shipping and marine operations (eg spill response, navigation risk and route optimisation)
- Offshore energy (eg pipeline and cable operations and maintenance, renewable energy impacts)
If you would like to be kept up to date with these projects email simon@marinesoutheast.co.uk
Posted 2008-08-31 19:56:08
New research on the size of the South East marine industry
Marine South East has recently commissioned research to quantify the global marine market across a range of marine activities, including ports and shipping, leisure marine, defence, environment and energy and marine services. . Importantly, this research will not be based on Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes, which are known to be very poor at capturing marine sector data.
As well as analysing the size of the market globally and its subsectors, researchers will break down the South East's market share and track whether this is growing or decreasing significantly. The research will show the balance of trade, looking at export levels for the South East industry.
It will help Marine South East to focus its activities to support projects where they are most needed and where impact will be the most significant. It will also provide detailed analysis on Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes and will provide data that is compatible with current Chamber of Shipping research carried out some years ago..
The data will be published towards the end of the year so look out for information in future issues of email news. In the meantime if you have any questions email jonathan@marineosutheast.co.uk
Posted 2008-08-31 19:59:24
Final chance to have your say on the South East Plan
The Secretary of State published the Proposed Changes to the draft regional plan for 2006-2026, the South East Plan, on 17 July. A consultation on the changes is underway until 24 October 2008. Marine South East and many other local and regional organisations will be responding to the consultation.
Marine South East is delighted to see recognition of the special status of marine industrial sites, following its well-evidenced representation to the Examination in Public last year.
The documents for consultation and all supporting documents including the Sustainability Appraisal and Habitats Regulation Assessment are available through the consultation portal at http://gose.limehouse.co.uk/portal . The consultation documents are available for inspection during normal office hours at the offices of County, District and Unitary Planning Authorities in the region as well as being available for inspection at all libraries.
In addition, the South East plan refers to the Solent waterfront strategy, which recommends how planning processes can help retain strategic waterfront sites for marine industrial use. This strategy was published at the end of July and further details can be found at http://www.solentwaterfront.co.uk
Posted 2008-08-31 20:03:29
Kent marine company looking for supply opportunity
Sarena Mfg Limited, a GRP water tank manufacturer, based in Gillingham, Kent is looking for a boat building company that could use off-cuts of sheet foam.. As part of its manufacturing process they insulate tanks with sheet foam, 25mm thick. Because the sizes vary from tank to tank, the company is left with a range of off-cuts.
It has been working with local companies for a couple of years to find a suitable outlet for this waste stream and has found that the material is most suited to local boatbuilders. It has recently been supplying the material to a jetski manufacturer and a company that makes small boats with outboard motors. The foam was being used between the two skins of the hull as a void filler.
However the amount the company produces far out-stretches the requirement of these two small boat building companies, and so is interested to know if any other companies have a similar need.
If you are interested in speaking to Sarena contact Suzanne Wood, General Manager on 01634 370887 or email suzanne@sarena.co.uk
Posted 2008-08-31 20:15:25
Free CAD training to South East companies
The Product Development Centre has launched a series of free CAD training workshops at its Hastings base, which will be open to innovators, entrepreneurs, startups and SMEs in the South of England.
For individual designers, engineers, groups and companies requiring an initial introduction to computer aided design for their businesses (or simply because they wish to design their own products), three-hour 'taster' sessions introduce CAD and its role in product design and the drafting of technical and engineering drawings.
These are followed by hands-on training sessions covering new product development, best design practice, 3D design for manufacture and assembly, rapid prototyping, CAD/CAM software, and a range of electrical/electronics training. And the PDC staff, who also provide consultancy services, can even demonstrate how rapid prototyping could be of benefit to you or your business by making something from your own .stl file. The Centre was opened last year and is funded by the European Union, Sea Space, SEEDA and the University of Brighton.
If you would like to find out more call 01424 858 237, email info@pdchastings.co.uk or log onto http://www.pdchastings.co.uk
Posted 2008-08-31 20:19:48
Queen’s Awards for Enterprise 2009 – Awareness Event, Tuesday 16th September 2008
The Queen's Awards are highly sought-after and provide tangible benefits for companies who receive one. The Queen's Award for Enterprise is recognised in the UK and overseas and is respected as a mark of quality and success by the business community.
To help companies better understand the Awards Scheme and provide advice about applying for the UK's most prestigious corporate accolade, UK Trade & Investment South East will be holding a breakfast awareness event on Tuesday 16th September at the De Vere Grand Harbour Hotel, Southampton.
After the event, the British Marine Federation has kindly donated free entrance tickets into the Southampton International Boat show for all delegates attending the event.
Several awareness events have been held in recent years and companies have found these especially useful in providing guidance and insight into the completion of their application forms. The event is a great opportunity to hear from, and network with, past winners to find out about the application process and the commercial benefits of holding the Award. Members of The Queen's Awards Office will also be present should you wish to ask them any further questions.
The Queen's Award for Enterprise has three separate business categories:
International Trade recognises companies that have demonstrated outstanding growth in overseas earnings over three years or continuous growth in overseas earnings over six years.
Innovation is granted to business units that have demonstrated commercial success through outstanding or continuous development of innovative products or services over two or five years respectively.
Sustainable Development is awarded to companies that have achieved commercial success through the outstanding or continuous integration of environmental, social, economic and management aspects of sustainable development into their business, over two or five years respectively.
The seminar is being held free of charge. For further information or to book a place go to http://www.uktisoutheast.com/queensawards or email events@uktisoutheast.com or call +44 (0)8452 717 400
Posted 2008-08-31 20:25:53
New hydrodynamic testing facilities in the planning stage
Plans are underway to improve hydroscience facilities in the South East. Following the loss of the GKN towing tank earlier this year, the remaining key facility in the South East is at QinetiQ in Haslar, Gosport. The conditions of the previous contractual arrangements with the Ministry of Defence made it difficult for QinetiQ to offer their facilities to customers at commercially competitive rates.
This is all about to change when a new contract is agreed that will ensure the facilities are made available at a competitive market rate. The new arrangements also secure a programme of continual investment in the facilities to ensure they remain world-class. The new contract is expected to be finalised in September.
Despite the developments at QinetiQ there remains a need for complementary facilities to address the needs of the designers of smaller vessels, researchers and the educational needs of Universities. The University of Southampton and Lloyds Register are working with Marine South East, service providers and potential customers explore feasibility of another hydroscience facility at the Maritime Centre of Excellence redevelopment of the University's Boldrewood campus in Southampton. The group has been looking at best practice across Europe to research the most appropriate funding and ownership models as well as quantifying the need for the facility.
The large Haslar facility is mainly suitable for larger vessels, such as ships, submarines and naval vessels, the facility at Boldrewood would be more appropriate and affordable for smaller commercial and leisure craft - enabling designers of these craft to support computer vessel design with the validation of their performance in the water.
If you would like to find out more contact simon@marinesoutheast.co.uk. Alternatively if you would like to learn more about the Boldrewood development log onto http://www.maritimecentre.info
Posted 2008-08-31 20:31:31
Marine South East supports international 'Meet the Buyer' event January 2009
The British Marine Federation (BMF) has revealed details of a revamped programme for giving buyers the opportunity to learn more about new and innovative marine products at a Meet the Buyer event being held at the London Boat Show in January 2009.
This year Marine South East will be supporting the event with funding to further invest in the software which streamlines the process for registering both suppliers and buyers and matching them together for meetings. This will ensure that meetings as far as possible reflect the business needs of both buyers and suppliers.
The Meet the Buyer event, in association with IBI Magazine, will allow international suppliers of marine products from around the world to come to the Boat Show and meet potential customers. The event is also supported by UK Trade and Investment www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk/ - the Government's overseas trade promotion body. The UK has one of the most dynamic and successful marine industry's in the world, a large proportion of which relies on export markets for business.
Commenting, Tom Chant, International Commercial Manager at the BMF, said: "This year's event will provide a more focussed environment for buyers to conduct face to face business meetings. We expect the success of previous years to be repeated, and look forward to providing the right forum for the marine industry to continue to thrive."
This year's programme is a focussed series of meetings over two days - 13th and 14th January - and organisers expect over 500 meetings to take place. By fitting the programme into two days, the process will be made more efficient and will reduce the time representatives spend away from their businesses.
World renowned yacht builders that have already confirmed their participation for 2009 include:
- Oyster (UK)
- RMK (Turkey)
- Shipman (Slovenia)
- Nautor Swan (Finland)
- Riva (Italy)
- Rodman (Spain)
- Nimbus (Sweden)
- Numarine (Turkey)
- Mulder (Holland)
Prospective attendees - Suppliers and Buyers - for the Meet the Buyer programme can register their interest at http://www.bmfmeetthebuyer.co.uk
To get involved with this event please call Chris Grosscurth on 01784 223641
Marine South East will also be holding a MareNet event on the 7th October to explain more fully the various international trade programmes and initiatives available to marine companies and an update on the Meet the Buyer event. Keep an eye on the events listing on our website for more information http://www.marinesoutheast.co.uk
Posted 2008-08-31 20:38:16
Isle of Wight cluster helps local companies branch out
A South East sewage and water treatment equipment company recently contacted the Cowes Marine Cluster through Marine South East to help them redesign and manufacture some of their large GRP products.
They were looking to draw upon the expertise in the marine sector to redesign their GRP products in order to make them stronger, cheaper and easier to construct than their current methods allow. With the high level of skills and product development on the Isle of Wight and the marine industry's expertise in working with GRP, the cluster has worked to bring the sewage company together with local marine companies who will be working to redesign the sewage products for them. It is also hoped that cluster members will be used for the manufacturing of the new products.
This is just one example of why the Cowes Marine Cluster was set up. The original concept was to enable skills sharing, helping local companies to take advantage of the manufacturing capabilities of companies around the Island. If you would like to find out more about this project or others in the local area email barry.groves@iwchamber.co.uk
Posted 2008-08-31 20:44:31
Marine Environmental Risk Management, 24 September 2008
Venue: Royal Southampton Yacht Club, Southampton
A half-day workshop to showcase the state-of the-art and emerging capabilities in Marine Environmental Risk Management and to highlight opportunities for the development of future applications.
There is growing interest around the world in deploying a variety of networked sensors and data acquisition systems. These can capture data describing environmental status and indicating potential hazard. This interest is fuelled by legislation targeting the management of marine environmental risk, by growing liabilities/costs for companies and authorities, and by increasing concerns of the public.
As a result, there is a growing investment in research in the field of sensor networks, and recent progress in applying such technologies in the field. But this work is highly diverse, covering a wide range of sensing technologies and potential applications. This workshop will provide an opportunity to exchange knowledge about relevant projects and to discuss the way ahead for knowledge advancement and application.
The workshop will comprise presentations and discussions in three sessions.
Sensing & Data Acquisition Technologies
- Developments in Environmental Sensor Technology
- Bio-sensors & Micro-sensors
- Sensor platforms
- Advances in remote sensing
Risk Forecasting Applications
- State- of- the-art in data fusion
- Web service architectures & standards
- SANY integrated project - bathing water management
Future Risk Forecasting Requirements
- Emerging needs & capabilities of interest
- EU maritime policy - ecosystem approach
- Impact of marine renewable energy infrastructure
- Priority research activities
This workshop has been planned to coincide with the Unmanned Underwater Vehicle Showcase being held at the National Oceangraphic Centre. You may wish to combine a visit to UUVS 08 with the EDSnet event. http://www.uuvs.net/page.cfm/Link=1/t=m/goSection=1
To register or for further information email admin@marinesoutheast.co.uk
This event is hosted by Marine South East Ltd, and is partly supported by the European Commission through the S@NY IP http://www.sany-ip.org/ and by SEEDA through the EDSnet Knowledge Network Programme http://www.southeastknp.co.uk/
Posted 2008-08-11 07:36:41
Smart Materials event at Southampton Boat Show, 16 September 2008
Venue: Southampton Boat Show
The University of Southampton is arranging a SMART.MAT event at the Southampton Boat Show on Tuesday, 16 September. This free event will start at 3pm and conclude with a drinks and networking reception starting at 5.30pm.
SMART.MAT is part of the Materials Knowledge Transfer Network and this event will introduce the concept of Smart materials and opportunities for developing applications in a variety of marine craft and offshore applications. The definition of Smart materials is broad and can include materials, surfaces, fluids, functions, structures and coatings that are in some way Smart by virtue of the way they behave in response to stimuli such as for example heat, pressure, light and strain. Materials that are 'smart' are therefore multi-functional, and additional functions can be achieved without interventions.
For the Marine sector, Smart materials could help improve operational efficiency and reliability of marine craft by reducing fuel consumption and wear on machinery or by indicating when servicing is required or if a system or structural fault is developing. An example of a Smart material application is found in the control strut of a greenhouse skylight that adjusts ventilation in response to temperature, or an embedded grid in a composite structure that measures strain and warns if safe load limits are exceeded.
This event is intended to stimulate interest in this growing area of materials science and encourage knowledge transfer from R&D, academic and other industrial sectors to create commercial applications and benefits for the marine industry. Full event information will be available online shortly at http://www.soton.ac.uk/business and for information about Smart materials go to http://www.smartmat.org
