Page 74: of Marine Technology Magazine (July 2012)

The Company The Company BIRNS has a long and successful history in the marine mar- ket?starting back in 1957, when the company was called upon to supply underwater camera housings with 400-ft. mag- azines for a classi ed project for the U.S. Navy. BIRNS later created advanced lighting solutions for the Sea Lab program in 1963, and soon developed a reputation for excellence in delivering trusted,  eld proven lighting systems for the off- shore and subsea scienti c industries. In 1968, the company received the largest contract for underwater lighting that the U.S. Navy had ever awarded?and in 2010 commemorated 50 consecutive years of ongoing partnership with the US Navy, and has since proudly supplied lighting and connector systems to other naval organizations around the globe. In 1990 the BIRNS Connector Division was founded in re- sponse to increasing customer demand for high-quality un-derwater connectors, which led to the development of several full ranges of high performance connectors, penetrators, and custom cable assemblies. The company?s brilliant lighting solutions continue to lead the industry, from intensely bright commercial diving helmet systems to extreme depth vehicle lights in LED and Light Emitting Plasma (LEP) formats. To- day, BIRNS products provide illumination at greater depths, and faster, more robust communication options for extreme applications, from submarines, diving bells and decompres- sion chambers, to ROVs, AUVs and UUVs worldwide. The Tech The Tech The company?s Quality System is certi ed to ISO 9001:2008 by DNV (Det Norske Veritas) and complies with NRC 10CFR50, Appendix B (?Quality Assurance Criteria For Nu- clear Power Plants and Fuel Reprocessing Plants?). In 2012, BIRNS? cable shop became SUBMEPP-certi ed to NAVSEA S9320-AM-PRO-020, and all BIRNS QA personnel and pro- duction technicians have been certi ed to J-STD-001 Class 3 and WHMA-A-620-A Class 3 for years. The company was awarded ABS (American Bureau of Shipping) Product Design Assessment (PDA) Certi cation for all of its popular lines of commercial submarine and man-rated SAT-system penetra- tors for ABS-classed vessels in 2011. In 2012 BIRNS launched a new line of innovative  ber optic penetrators, tailored for the rigors of the subsea environment and which can be adapted to a wide range of different cables, and recently introduced a new stocking system that allows the company to deliver BIRNS Millennium connectors and cable assemblies with an average lead time of just four weeks. The popular BIRNS Millennium series is rated to 6km and tailored for a wide range of optical, electro-optical, coax, electro-coax con gurations and electromechanical applica- tions (to 3 tons). The versatile series can be con gured for high voltage?hybrid electro-optical options can include both high voltage (= 3.6kV) and low voltage (=600V) conductors, and has the lowest losses in the industry (>1dB). BIRNS, I NC.BIRNS, I NC.1720 Fiske Place, Oxnard CA 93033 1720 Fiske Place, Oxnard CA 93033 Tel: 1-800-BIRNS-88 Tel: 1-800-BIRNS-88 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.birns.com Website: www.birns.com CEO: Eric Birns Employees: 25 Testing Capabilities BIRNS has a state-of-the-art, high performance hydrostatic pressure testing system, with a range of vessels rated to 20,000, 10,000, 5,000 and 1,000 psi. The system also has a robust, high volume helium testing capability, exceed- ing stringent ABS/DNV requirements for man-rated penetra- tor testing. BIRNS has provided industry-leading hydrostatic pressure testing for man-rated electrical penetrators and complex connector solutions since 1995, with the addition of saltwater testing in 2006. The hyperbaric device has a unique control panel for diverse, comprehensive testing on up to three circuits and in seven chambers simultane- ously, allowing several different tests to be run on multiple products. The company?s advanced in-house testing capabilities include a custom, automated Kikusi 16-channel Hi-Pot and IR testing system, as well as several new Mantis 3D scopes with digital computer imaging. BIRNS performs electrical testing (to 10kV) and hydrostatic pressure testing (to 20,000psi) per MIL-STD-1344, triple op- tical loss testing and custom tests like mechanical pull test- ing (to 16,000 lbs.) in straight or side loading and numerous test per UL requirements. BIRNS tests all of its products to meet or exceed ABS standards, as well as other stringent industry safety and design requirements?-including DNV, Underwriters Laboratories and Lloyd?s of London. July/August 2012 74 MTRMTR #6 (66-80).indd 74MTR #6 (66-80).indd 748/3/2012 10:56:30 AM8/3/2012 10:56:30 AM