Vanguard Magazine

GAME CHANGER 38 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2019 www.vanguardcanada.com See the full interview online Q What is your role at your organization today? It has been an incredible few years lead- ing the BMT organization in Canada. I have come to appreciate what a small team of great people can do to make a difference in some of Canada's most important and challenging programs. A big part of my role is to continue to make BMT a great place to work and unlock the potential of all those great people to find new and creative ways to help make customer projects successful. A great part of that role is also to con- tinue to find new and interesting work for our team here and around the world. Q What was your most challenging moment? One of the most challenging moments was having to provide difficult advice to one of our customers that was having a hard time accepting the reality of a se- rious situation impacting the future of the program. The challenge was to have enough patience to be able to convey the importance of the issue without get- ting frustrated. Fortunately, there was an environment of trust between us and we were able to step back and agree on the best way ahead. Q What was your "aha" moment or epiphany that you think will resonate most with our readers? Tell us that story. Designing, building and supporting warships and submarines is one of the most complex enterprises in the world. I've had a number of "aha" moments in the last 30 years in this industry, but I think a key realization for me was that the greatest satisfaction and success comes from embracing the "why", that is, remembering why we do what we do, supporting organizations like the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in executing their mandate to enable our forces to do their jobs safely and effectively around the world. Q What is the one thing that has you most fired up today? It is a great time to be associated with the recapitalization of the RCN. After not building warships ships for almost 20 years there is a renewed energy and buzz around the industry with the first of the AOPS being delivered. Very shortly, Canadian sailors will be sailing around in new Canadian built ships that will again be as world-class as the CPFs were - and Canadian industry will be working to find new and creative ways of supporting them and keeping them operationally viable for decades. BMT has been involved in all the naval ship projects in the NSS program. It is hard not to get excited about that. Q What is a habit that contributes to your success? I hope I identify and focus on the im- portant things. Q What people or organizations do you believe best embody the innovation mindset? BMT Canada is fortunate to be located in Canada's largest technology hub - with over 500 companies and 23,000 employees working in some of the most innovative companies in the world. The speed of innovation and development of new technologies as well as the competi- tive spirit across these companies is em- bedded in the community's culture and is something we continually learn from. Q How has innovation become engrained in your organization's culture and how is it being optimized? BMT currently has employed a common global platform to capture, fund and ex- ecute innovative ideas across our group of Five Eyes defence and security companies. We have instituted a central innovation fund with a Dragon's Den type panel to select and promote the most promising ideas. While this is new across the BMT defence companies, it has resulted in a great list of innovative ideas and several game-changing products that have ener- gized the staff and show great promise to provide long term growth for the com- pany. Q What technologies, business models, and trends will drive the biggest changes in your industry over the next two years? We're starting to see more and more inter- est in advanced technologies. Things like smart ships – exploiting advanced naviga- tion and communications with on-board sensors and intelligent systems, as well as future potential for fully autonomous capabilities in some areas. Even logistics and asset data from disparate sources are being managed using technologies like blockchain and others to provide faster, more secure data sharing and real-time information. By leveraging advances in technology in a forward-thinking man- ner, the maritime industry is transforming dramatically and affords innovative com- panies like BMT a strategic opportunity by integrating people, technologies and traditional engineering best practices. Q What is your parting piece of advice? Remain optimistic. On very large complex projects it is easy to become overwhelmed by the seemingly never-ending challenges. It's very important to recognize that each of those challenges is surmountable, focus on solutions and acknowledge and cel- ebrate each success. Darcy Byrtus President, defence and security, canada BMT

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