Meet Andrew Pintar – Naval Architect Intern.

Andrew Pintar approached Silver Ships looking to gain insight into the day to day of designing workboats. Read our Q&A to learn more about Andrew’s time with Silver Ships.

1. What drew you to the naval architecture internship with Silver Ships?

“The draw to Silver Ships for me was the ability to work with a small, highly efficient team of engineers and designers, who get to tackle fun, complex projects. Working on a small team that does many custom projects meant that I was given the ability to perform meaningful Naval Architecture work. As an engineer working with small boats, you get to “wear many hats” so to speak. I was given lots of responsibility and I was able to work on engineering calculations and problem solving on all aspects of our projects including weight estimates, propeller calculations, structural calculations, stability analysis, planning performance analysis and more. No two projects are the same, and there are constantly new projects coming and going, meaning there’s always something new and exciting to work on. I appreciated the opportunity to contribute meaningfully and add value to the engineering team. Everyone in the office wanted to help me learn and were available to provide guidance when needed.”

2. What was your favorite project you worked on in your time with Silver Ships?

“My favorite project that I worked on this summer is a wider beam Ambar with Cuddy Cabin that we designed for California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife. This project was definitely what I spent the most time on. This boat was a super challenging project because we had a shorter timeline than usual to design the boat, and we had to solve a lot of challenges with the distribution of weight and systems on the boat. I enjoyed working directly with our design team and Naval Architects to make this boat possible, and I’m excited to see how it turns out in about a year from now.”

3. What is something you learned that you were not expecting?

“Coming into this internship I did not have any expectations. I knew almost nothing about designing and engineering small boats, because that’s not something my curriculum focuses on. I wanted to keep an open mind and learn as much as possible. I think the most important takeaway from this internship is to always come back with a fresh set of eyes. Whether that is another engineer checking your work, or coming back to your work the following week, it can be super easy to miss your mistakes when you have been working on a long or tedious task. This is vital in the marine industry where your product has to be reliable in a dangerous environment. On small boats especially, the devil is in the details. There is much less room for error on a small boat, where a few hundred pounds accounted for in the wrong location can completely change your design decisions.”

4. What is your next step in becoming a naval architect?

“My next step is to finish my senior year at the University of Michigan, after which I will do another internship in either the marine or construction industry and pursue a master’s degree in either Systems Engineering or Industrial Operations Engineering at the University of Michigan.”