TECHNOLOGY
Digital traveller – Tricore ’ s marketing and business development strategist Nawfal Benjjaoui pictured with digital operations manager Emma Bass .
MAKING WAVES
WORDS : DAVE ROBSON PICTURE : CHRIS BOOTH
How Emma ’ s career scans primary teaching to North Sea working
From teaching in a primary school to digitally scanning North Sea wind turbines – it ’ s been quite the career change for Emma Bass . After 12 years ’ teaching , Emma has swapped primary classrooms for what ’ s turning out to be a globetrotting role as digital operations manager with Tricore Technical Services .
Based at Stockton ’ s Preston Farm Business Park , there are three arms to the Tricore business – software , digital and operations .
Formed last year when Stockton ’ s Trident Technical Services and Darlington ’ s Core Systems Software joined forces , Tricore ’ s team specialises in using digital innovation to enhance physical installation projects .
Its pioneering work in digital twin technology involves LiDAR ( light detection and ranging ) modelling , AI and VR to enhance project efficiency and safety .
And it ’ s operating the LiDAR equipment that has sent Emma – who ’ s been married to Tricore ’ s commercial and digital director Paul Bass for 18 years – around the UK and beyond .
After completing her Global Wind Organisation training – mandatory certification for anyone working in the wind and renewables sector , both onshore and offshore – and having already accumulated LiDAR scanning experience with Tricore , Emma was recently despatched to fully scan two wind turbine generators ( WTGs ) for a major international developer .
After an hour-long journey from Grimsby in a crew transfer vessel , she had to clamber aboard the turbine and then climb down into the WTG in order to begin scanning .
And , she admits , it was then that the change from her previous professional life really hit home . She told Tees Business : “ I ’ ve done onshore turbines before but these were the first offshore ones and it was an amazing experience . They ’ re huge – a lot bigger than they look when you see them from the beach !
“ I stood there , fully harnessed up and kitted out , thinking , ‘ I ’ ve gone from being in the classroom with 32 five- and six-year-olds to being in the middle of the North Sea on a turbine !’.
“ As far as we know , I ’ m the first female who ’ s
86 | Tees Business