{"id":41375,"date":"2026-10-20T08:00:01","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T15:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ssi-corporate.com\/?p=41375"},"modified":"2026-10-20T08:02:28","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T15:02:28","slug":"ssi-world-shipbuilding-conference-biloxi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ssi-corporate.com\/ja\/blog-lighthouse\/ssi-world-shipbuilding-conference-biloxi\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital shipbuilding, AI take center stage at SSI World Shipbuilding Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Digital<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Denis Morais CEO of SSI<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Digital transformation, artificial intelligence and the growing importance of connected shipbuilding systems were among the central topics at the SSI World Shipbuilding Conference 2026, held Sept. 29-Oct. 1 in Biloxi, Miss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This article originally published by<\/em> MarineLog<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Hosted by SSI, the three-day event brought together shipbuilders, naval architects, engineers, government representatives and technology providers to examine developments in digital shipbuilding and the challenges facing the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presentations focused on connecting engineering, production planning, construction and vessel sustainment through integrated digital systems. Other topics included product lifecycle management<\/a> (PLM), data governance, interoperability and emerging technologies aimed at improving shipyard productivity and information management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the recurring themes was the development of a digital thread connecting vessel requirements and design with production, delivery and long-term maintenance. Speakers also addressed the challenges of integrating computer-aided design, PLM, enterprise resource planning and production systems to establish consistent and reliable information throughout a vessel\u2019s lifecycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Artificial intelligence figured prominently in the discussions, with sessions examining potential applications in engineering productivity, decision support, workflow efficiency and information accessibility. Digital twins, advanced visualization, point-cloud technologies and model-based sustainment were also explored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Industry leaders discuss digital transformation<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The conference featured keynote presentations from executives at several major U.S. shipbuilders, along with government representatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jennifer Childs, vice president of quality and engineering at HII Ingalls Shipbuilding<\/a>, discussed engineering, quality management and digital modernization initiatives supporting complex naval construction programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her presentation examined the role of connected engineering data, digital workflows and collaboration across shipbuilding operations. A separate Ingalls presentation addressed the development of a unified digital strategy to integrate complex CAD and PLM relationships into a single authoritative source of information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve Mackintosh, vice president of engineering at Austal USA<\/a>, delivered a keynote titled \u201cJourney to a Digital Shipyard.\u201d He discussed Austal USA\u2019s modernization initiatives, including technology adoption, process changes and workforce engagement as the shipbuilder moves toward more digitally connected operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ben Bordelon, president and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards<\/a>, addressed the future of U.S. shipbuilding, including workforce development, operational challenges and technology investment. His presentation emphasized the need to balance digital modernization with practical shipbuilding execution and workforce readiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capt. Emily Tharp of the U.S. Coast Guard discussed lifecycle information management, digital deliverables and PLM data requirements. Her presentation highlighted the importance of maintaining accurate digital vessel information to support operations, maintenance and modernization throughout a ship\u2019s service life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Julie Miller, Dep. DD to Congressman Mike Ezell<\/strong>. Photo by James Edward Bates.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The topic was also addressed in a session on U.S. Coast Guard PLM data requirements presented by Darren Guillory, senior technical solutions specialist at SSI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Government speakers included Julie Miller, deputy district director for Rep. Mike Ezell, and Davis Bunn, legislative director for Rep. Barry Moore. Their remarks addressed domestic shipbuilding capacity, workforce development, industrial modernization and collaboration between industry and government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Connecting design and production<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Technical presentations examined ways to improve the transfer of information between engineering and shipyard production teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Topics included production planning, work package management, electrical 3D design integration, design validation, planning bills of materials and connected execution strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Industry participants included Aras<\/a>, Autodesk<\/a>, PROSTEP Group<\/a>, ForeThought, Canvas Envision<\/a>, PipeCloud<\/a>, Genoa Design International<\/a>, InnovMarine, Lloyd\u2019s Register, Prodigy Clean Energy and Apex Marine Designers, along with SSI technical specialists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conference also offered hands-on workshops covering ShipbuildingPLM, Autodesk Digital Shipyard, electrical integration, production planning, work packages and functional-to-detail design workflows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across the presentations, speakers emphasized the need for improved data quality, interoperability and configuration management as shipbuilders adopt more integrated digital environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another recurring topic was the increasing importance of digital information beyond vessel delivery, particularly as government and commercial operators seek more comprehensive data to support maintenance, modernization and long-term fleet sustainment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The discussions reflected a broader industry focus on connecting ship design, construction and lifecycle support while addressing the organizational and workforce challenges associated with adopting new technologies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Denis Morais CEO of SSI Digital transformation, artificial intelligence and the growing importance of connecte […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":41220,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[388,286],"tags":[1098,1104,1116,335,1115],"story":[10],"vertical":[],"productline":[],"stream":[3],"content-type":[641],"language":[635],"phase":[],"partner-type":[],"class_list":["post-41375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-shipbuilding","category-ssi-news","tag-ai-in-shipbuilding","tag-austal-usa","tag-bollinger-shipyards","tag-shipbuilding","tag-world-shipbuilding-conference","story-global","stream-lighthouse","content-type-news-events","language-english"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ssi-corporate.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ssi-corporate.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ssi-corporate.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssi-corporate.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssi-corporate.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41375"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssi-corporate.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41379,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssi-corporate.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41375\/revisions\/41379"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssi-corporate.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ssi-corporate.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssi-corporate.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssi-corporate.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41375"},{"taxonomy":"story","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssi-corporate.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story?post=41375"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssi-corporate.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=41375"},{"taxonomy":"productline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssi-corporate.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/productline?post=41375"},{"taxonomy":"stream","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssi-corporate.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stream?post=41375"},{"taxonomy":"content-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssi-corporate.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-type?post=41375"},{"taxonomy":"language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssi-corporate.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/language?post=41375"},{"taxonomy":"phase","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssi-corporate.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/phase?post=41375"},{"taxonomy":"partner-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssi-corporate.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/partner-type?post=41375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}