Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) hosted its second annual Technology Showcase May 22-23, 2024, at the shipyard’s Production Training Facility. More than 50 vendors participated in displaying products and providing demonstrations to the workforce. The companies shared their new technologies which can be beneficial to both ship repair and maintenance.

“The demand signal of the Navy has drastically increased and when the ships are here for maintenance and repairs they only have a limited amount of time, and then they have to get back out to sea and on to their next mission,” said Shipyard Commander Captain Jip Mosman. “We need to get our work done as quickly, efficiently and effectively as possible.”

Mosman continued, “I have an amazing workforce here at the shipyard filled with talented, energetic, passionate people, and I need to pair them with the tools to help them be more efficient and effective to make sure that we as a shipyard succeed in our mission.”

The vendors at the showcase provided a wide variety of products and services to support shipyard maintenance and repairs.

“All of these efforts are targeted towards our mechanics being at the center of the universe and being able to demonstrate new technologies and capabilities right here inside NNSY to our workforce and work with shops and codes after the showcase to procure some of what we see as beneficial to our ship repair and maintenance efforts,” said Norfolk Naval Shipyard Innovation and Technology Insertion Division Head Matt DeLong.

“I think the biggest thing about the Tech Expo is that there are a lot of great products that we’re seeing and have been requesting in our shop meetings that can help the mechanics be more productive, such as laser ablation, and 3D printing,” said Inside Machine Shop (Shop 38) Mechanic Casey Pearce.

“The Technology Showcase focus is on the mission of on-time delivery of repaired ships and submarines back to the Navy’s nuclear fleet,” said Norfolk Naval Shipyard Business Process Consultant Lead Thomas Staskin. “It is these new technologies that will help the shipyard achieve its mission.”

“There is a lot of great information available at the Tech Expo and more people need to attend,” said Inside Machine Shop (Shop 38) Mechanic Donovan Beale. “There is a lot of helpful stuff on display, such as 3D Printing and the Confined Space Gas Monitoring System, which is something that can save a lot of lives.”
This year’s Technology Showcase was a great success. Make sure to attend next year with your team!