Good afternoon, my name is Sandra Weber. I am the interim director of the Southeast Maritime and transportation Center, also known as the SMART Center, located at Tidewater Community College. The SMART Center is a National Science Foundation Advanced Technology Education grant. Our mission is to create a sustainable pipeline of skilled technicians for the maritime industry by promoting maritime careers and expanding

education and training pathways.

We first started preparing for offshore wind in 2014. At the time, it fell under our emerging technologies category. These were future technologies that we knew would eventually impact our regional maritime industry. With all bumps in the road our offshore wind projects have had to endure, I am really glad that we have finally been able to move offshore wind from being an emerging technology and into a reality for the industry.

Today, I am going to speak to you about how Tidewater Community College is preparing students for the offshore wind industry. The first thing I would like to do is show you some maritime industry images.

The Hampton Roads region has one of the largest shipbuilding and ship repair industries in the United States.

We have international industry giants like Huntington Ingalls Industries, BAE Systems, and Oceaneering. We also have dozens of smaller shipyards and hundreds of companies that subcontract for the industry. The massive cranes used by these companies are local landmarks that dominate our riverfront skyline.

Preparing the Workforce for the Offshore Wind Industry at Tidewater Community College

Sandra Weber

This industry employs thousands of workers and drives our local economy.

Now for the really exciting part. Those pictures that I just showed you…. Only half of them were pictures of the shipbuilding industry. The other half were pictures of offshore wind turbine, jacket, and substation manufacturing. As you can see, these industries look nearly identical. And that is because they are.

The complexity and the size of the projects in each industry is very similar. Most of you probably have an idea of how large a U.S. Naval submarine is. In this slide, the submarine is pictured in scale next to an offshore wind turbine.

Shipbuilding & Repair Offshore Wind Manufacturing

Similar Project Size and Complexity

Here is another example. On the left was an offshore wind substation module being built in Belfast, Ireland. On the right was the island module of the USS Abraham Lincoln being built locally at Newport New Shipbuilding.

These two projects are similar in that large steel modules are fabricated with full integration of complex systems such as electrical and wiring, piping, climate control, fire suppression, and personnel accommodations. Maritime trades

used to build massive aircraft carriers employ the same sets of skills needed to build offshore wind jackets, engine compartments and substations. These include trades such as design & engineering, planning, machining, shipfitting, pipefitting, electrical, mechanical, coating, and inspecting.

Tidewater Community College has been Working to Develop and Sustain a maritime Workforce for decades. Offshore Wind will be utilizing all aspects of the maritime industry and as you can see in this visual, TCC has created training programs for all types of maritime careers, above deck and below. What I want to focus on though, are all the programs that prepare technicians for shipbuilding and repair. These trades

represent the most additional jobs that will be coming to our region for off shore wind.

This list represents the currently established career studies certificates and associate degrees that TCC has available for the maritime trades. Students can attend TCC and take very specific courses to earn a certificate, such as pipefitting. If they decide they want to continue their education though, the courses from that certificate are built into the requirements for an associates

degree in that pathway. In the case of the pipefitting certificate, it is a specialization of the Maritime technologies degree.

Similar Skill Sets & Maritime Trades

Leader in Maritime Education

The maritime industry has long used apprenticeship as a way to train their workforce to have the high level of skills required to build maritime superstructures. In case you are not familiar with it, apprenticeship is traditionally a four year work based learning program. Students have required classroom based learning, offset by required hands on, on the job training. Tidewater community college has been

providing classroom training for the Norfolk Naval Shipyard apprenticeship program for almost 50 years.

In the last 15 years, TCC has expanded their capabilities and now provides apprentice related instruction for 11 area shipbuilding and repair companies, using the maritime technologies curriculum as the backbone of their programs. In the past decade, over 1600 apprentices have graduated from these programs.

TCC is also working toward getting kids interested in entering the maritime industry. We have a long standing dual enrollment program with Portsmouth Public schools that focuses on the preparing students to enter careers in the shipyard. Students are provided with welding technician training. Additionally they receive entry level shipyard trade knowledge through a course call Introduction to Ship Systems.

Three years ago, TCC launched a new pre-apprenticeship program in conjunction with four of our area high school districts and many of our maritime industry partners. In this program, Students receive hands on training in welding as well as monthly mentoring sessions from current maritime technicians and employers. At the end of the year, they have the chance to participate in a workshop featuring employer roundtable interviews. After last year’s workshop, 12 students were given job offers and another 12 had appointments for job interviews.

Apprenticeship-Related Instruction (ARI)

• Delivered ARI since 1970s for Norfolk Naval Shipyard

• TCC currently provides ARI for 11 shipbuilding & ship repair employers

• Partnerships produced over 1,600 apprentice graduates since 2010

High School

to Industry Pathway Programs

Dual Enrollment• Portsmouth Public Schools

• Welding

• Introduction to Ship Systems

Welding Pre-Apprenticeship• Established in 2017/2018• 208 Students in the first two years• Regional K12 partners include CPS,

NPS, PPS, VBCPS, VSRA, Colonna’s, Newport News Shipbuilding, Oceaneering, and Tecnico

For students and employers that are looking for maritime training programs that provide a quicker turnaround, Tidewater Community College has recently opened their Skilled Trades Academy. This 20, 000 square foot training facility located in Portsmouth VA specializes in providing hands-on, state-of-the-art instruction on the latest industry tools and equipment. Many of the courses offered at this facility can be completed in as little as

three weeks and prepare students for immediate employment in entry level positions in maritime trades such as marine coating, pipefitting, welding, sheet metal and electrical.

The last TCC program that I want to tell you about is the our renewable energy program. This program teaches students about design, installation and maintenance of alternative energy systems, including solar, thermal and wind. Students take courses such as wind turbine technology and have hands on working labs that include wind turbines.

The programs that I have shown you demonstrate what TCC already has available to prepare an offshore wind workforce. There are other steps that TCC can take to provide even more comprehensively for the offshore wind industry.

Skilled Trades

Academy

Warehousing & Distribution

Sheet Metal Structural Fitter

Maritime Pipefitter

Welding Booths

20,000 SF

Loading Dock Classroom

General Construct

2,400 SFOffice/Classroom

Carpentry Plumbing Pipelayer

Electrical

First, every single person that steps onto one of these offshore wind turbines must have a safety certification to do so. This required training is certified by the Global Wind organization. Currently, this training is not offered in the United States. TCC would like to work with others to bring this training to our region. This is a very important step to making our region more self sufficient for the industry.

Next, TCC should work on expanding their current program offerings with specific offshore wind courses and certificates. NCCER already has Offshore Wind Technician Curriculum that can be explored. Additionally, the Maritime Technologies program could easily be expanded to include an offshore wind manufacturing certificate and specialization. The same applies to adding specialized offshore wind technician

training to the renewable energies program.

The final step that TCC could pursue would be creating a program for military veterans to transition into offshore wind careers. Virginia has more than 500,000 military veterans ranging in age from 18 to 64. These veterans represent a work-ready pool of potential employees for offshore wind. TCC already has experience transitioning veterans from the military into other industries. An example of this is the Solar Ready Vets program. This five

eek program was developed based on meeting the specific needs of high-growth solar employers and was tailored to build on the technical skills that veterans have acquired through their service. A program like this could be easily created to provide the basic skills needed to transition military veterans into careers in offshore wind.

Tidewater Community College is dedicated to continuing to create new opportunities and to be a leader in offshore wind education. If you have any questions after this presentation, you are welcome to contact me. I have appreciated the opportunity to share with you what TCC has available to benefit the offshore wind industry.