Included in America’s maritime workforce shortage is a shrinking pool of design and engineering talent that makes timely, affordable naval construction possible. An aging workforce, irregular design workloads, and a thin bench of early- and mid-career naval architects have created a dangerous gap between shipbuilding ambition and executable capability. The competitive landscape has shifted, too. Foreign design entities, backed by national investment in digital engineering and model-based systems, are gaining ground. 

This session will examine the need for Congress to approve a dedicated $50 million naval architecture and ship design workforce development program, and the importance of sovereign naval vessel design capabilities to the nation’s security and the Navy’s long-range shipbuilding plans. It will also spotlight existing workforce development activities aimed at addressing this ongoing challenge.

Attendees will:

• Gain a clear picture of the current architecture and design workforce gap and the federal policy momentum behind closing it
• Learn how strategies like continuous design workloads, expanded academic pathways, apprenticeship pipelines, and training academies can prevent the expertise loss 
• Explore how early design maturity — supported by advanced digital tools — reduces change orders, compresses schedules, and sharpens competition
• Leave with actionable steps that maritime industry stakeholders can pursue now, ahead of and alongside federal policy momentum