Gibbs & Cox Establishes Houston Office

Naval architecture and marine engineering firm Gibbs & Cox announced it is expanding its services into Houston with the aim to generate revenue in non-naval markets, develop and sell new products and/or services to non-traditional clients and contribute to existing programs.

"Over the last several months, we have hired a number of staff from the Houston area and expect this trend to continue as we continue to grow with our recent contract wins," Gibbs & Cox said in a statement on Monday.

In the near term, the company will continue to work virtually, with a growing number of staff working from home in Houston, Gibbs & Cox said, adding it intends to open a physical location once the COVID-19 pandemic recovery is underway.

Arlington, Va.-headquartered Gibbs & Cox said it has seen Houston diversify beyond its traditional role as an oil and gas hub to become a "hotbed of technology development, open innovation, collaboration possibilities across industries and incubation of new ideas" as "maritime, offshore oil and gas, and naval sectors are becoming increasingly interrelated through the use of new technologies". The firm—which also has offices and subsidiaries in New York; Newport News, Va.; Philadelphia; New Orleans; Chesapeake, Va.; and Canberra, Australia— said plans on "cultivating these attributes with its expansion into emerging maritime markets." 

The new Houston office will be led by director Todd Carrico, who joins Gibbs & Cox from SBM Offshore, where he served as the technology and business development manager. He was previously the seakeeping division model experimentation branch head at NSWC Carderock.

Carrico earned a Bachelor of Science in ocean engineering from the University of Rhode Island. Additionally, he holds a Master of Science in naval architecture and marine engineering from the University of New Orleans. He is active in the Texas Chapter of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) as well as many of the international engineering conferences based in the greater Houston area.