College Station News

TDI-Brooks announced it has broken ground on a new 16,000 square foot technical building at its headquarters in College Station, Texas, north of of Houston.The building is designed with 5,000 square feet of new office space along with technical work spaces, fabrication shops and storage areas. TDI-technical staff plan to move into the building by the end of the year.“This new location will not only allow for the growth of staff we’ve employed to keep up with the growing demand for our technical services in offshore wind…

Avangrid has awarded TDI-Brooks a shallow water geotechnical site investigation survey at block OCS A-0508, also known as Kitty Hawk Wind. The data collected will inform the design of the export cable and inter-array packages.The scope of work includes utilizing a TDI-Brooks’ owned Datum Neptune 5K (pCPT) at 155 sites and a newly-designed TDI-Brooks pneumatic vibracorer (pVC) at 80 sites. The pVC is a light weight (4,600-lb in air), high power vibracorer and has been successfully deployed on the US East Coast >200 times for offshore wind farm (OSWF) projects.

U.S.-based marine services company TDI-Brooks announced it was awarded geophysical, geotechnical and benthic sampling survey campaigns to study seabed conditions within the project lease area and potential export cable corridors for offshore wind farms off the U.S. East Coast. TDI-Brooks said it expects to begin the program in April and will continue through summer 2023 with two to three vessels in operations. The data collected will help determine safe and responsible project design and engineering along with identifying potential geohazards and benthic habitats.

Texas-based dredging and marine construction company Callan Marine announced the promotions of Chris Dearing to Vice President of Engineering and Production and Oliver Jones to Vice President.Dearing brings extensive experience in the development and management of production and field engineering programs at some of the leading dredging companies in the nation. He will continue to lead the development and training of Callan’s engineering personnel assigned to field-based and office-based roles.

The United States' largest dredging contractor Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation announced it has signed an agreement with the College of Engineering at Texas A&M University to provide funding and technical support for what will become the Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Laboratory of Dredging and Coastal Studies.Lasse Petterson from Great Lakes commented, “Our company has had a long and robust relationship with Texas A&M that has included research, participation in dredging short courses, and advocacy for the ocean and coastal engineering profession.

Galveston, Texas-based dredging contractor Callan Marine announced it has hired Chris Dearing as its new director of engineering. Dearing brings extensive experience in the development and management of production and field engineering programs at some of the leading dredging companies in the nation. In his new role at Callan Marine, he will lead the development and training of engineering personnel assigned to field-based and office-based roles. Dearing will be crucial to the development of training resources…

The Texas A&M Maritime Academy said it has been notified by the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration (MARAD) that the National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV) expected to arrive on its Galveston campus in 2025 will be named the Lone Star State.The ship, which is slated to be built by Philly Shipyard, is the fourth in a new series of vessels specifically designed to support both maritime training needs and disaster response capabilities.“The Galveston…

U.S.-based engines manufacturer Fairbanks Morse said Monday it has named Michael Clark its new chief operating officer. Clark will guide the company’s operations, engineering, supply chain and program management departments. He will also be responsible for the company’s environmental health and safety (EHS) initiatives.“Michael is a transformational leader dedicated to continuous process improvement,” said George Whittier, CEO of Fairbanks Morse, a portfolio company of Arcline Investment Management.

The Shearer Group, Inc. (TSGI) announced a new addition to its naval architecture, marine engineering & marine surveying firm, Daniel Toerner.A recent graduate from Texas A&M University, College Station, with a Bachelor of Science in Ocean Engineering, Toerner joins TSGI as a naval architect. During his time at Texas A&M, he interned at Electro-Mechanical Industries, Kiewit Offshore Services, and Clarus Subsea Integrity. He also studied during a summer abroad in Italy.Toerner was the Team Captain for Texas A&M’s Human Powered Submarine Team where he designed…

Fire onboard a boat or ship is generally considered the most dangerous situation on the water. While advances in technology have helped to mitigate risk, consistently investing to upgrade a crew’s firefighting training, skills and equipment is the best means to keep crew, ship and cargo safe if disaster strikes. While innovative new fire-resistant materials and advanced fire suppression equipment onboard ships and boats has helped to improve fire security, technology alone is not a one-stop security blanket in the quest to keep crew and ship free from harm in the case of a fire.

FIBERTOWN, a premier provider of high availabilityHouston data centers and business continuity offices has announced that the Houston division of Danish oil and shipping company, Maersk Oil, selected Fibertown data centers for high-performance colocation of its mission critical and disaster recovery systems. The growing oil and gas conglomerate will leverage the private gateway between FIBERTOWN colocation facilities to communicate between its production systems in Houston and disaster recovery systems in Bryan/College Station. “The crucial requirements for Maersk Oil were finding a colocation provider with no history of downtime and the ability to help them grow with no restrictions,” said Brandon Perryman, senior vice president for FIBERTOWN.

Specialty certifications programs are growing in most professions as the knowledge needed to practice continues to rapidly increase. Specialty certification supports the explosion of continuing professional development. The American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) Academy of Coastal Ocean Port & Navigation Engineers (ACOPNE) held its 6th Diplomate Induction Ceremony to honor 21 of its members for their higher education achievement during its annual meeting Monday, August 22, 2011, in San Diego, Calif.

Texas State Maritime Program (TAMUG) has selected the Buffalo Computer Graphics and Transas Marine USA team for the contract to replace their existing ship simulator. The new simulator complex will consist of a Transas Navi-Trainer Professional 3000 full mission ship simulator system with integrated GMDSS communications simulation capabilities, as well as full integration with the existing BCG PCS100 five-station ARPA/Radar simulator. Using Transas Marine's combination of simulation software, dedicated hardware (real ship controls) and commercial-off-the-shelf components, the simulator will be an ideal tool in the training and certification of United States Maritime Service Cadets.

Texas State Maritime Program, a component of Texas A&M University at Galveston (TAMUG) has selected the Buffalo Computer Graphics and Transas Marine USA team for the contract to replace their existing ship simulator. The new simulator complex will consist of a Transas Navi-Trainer Professional 3000 full mission ship simulator system with integrated GMDSS communications simulation capabilities, as well as full integration with the existing BCG PCS100 five-station ARPA/Radar simulator. Using Transas Marine's unique combination of simulation software, dedicated hardware (real ship controls) and commercial-off-the-shelf components, the simulator will be an ideal tool in the training and certification of United States Maritime Service Cadets.

Transocean Sedco Forex Inc. announced that Jon C. Cole has been name executive vice president, Shallow and Inland Water Operations, overseeing the company's industry-leading presence in the shallow and inland waters of the U.S. drilling market. Cole joined the company in 1977 in Corporate Planning and has since held a number of management roles in the company's Operations and Marketing departments, including Division Manager in Egypt ad Scotland and Senior vice President of European Operations. Prior to his new assignment, Cole held the position of Executive Vice President, Marketing. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va., where he received a bachelor's degree in chemistry and MBA.