C&C Technologies

C&C Technologies, Inc. is a Louisiana-based company that specializes in surveying and mapping. Targeting marine construction, oil and gas, government, and telecommunications industries, it works on land and offshore, both domestically and internationally.  
 
Two of C&C’s areas of specialization include offshore survey services and cable route survey services. Cable and pipeline route services include identifying potential hazards from water’s edge to full ocean depth to help ensure the safety of the cable or pipe once it is installed.  
 
“Internet demand has prompted an influx of cable-laying projects throughout the world,” says C&C’s David Connell. These seafloor surveys provide clients with real-time representation of features and hazards, relying upon accurate surface and subsurface positioning. “The client needs to know if the pipe or cable is going to be damaged going over hills and valleys,” Connell continues. Specializing in multibeam sonar bathymetry surveys, C&C has developed proprietary survey software that displays the coverage area, bathymetry, and associated hazards as they appear on the navigation screen.  
 

"Two of C&C’s areas of specialization include offshore survey services and cable route survey services"

Marine technician positions at C&C range from hydrographers to geophysicists, electronics technicians, and surveyors. The company seeks individuals with basic computer skills and a background in fields such as electronics, surveying, physics, ocean mapping, or geology. “We hire a wide variety of people, as long as computer and math skills are there,” Connell emphasizes. Most candidates have a trade school, two-year, or four-year degree. 
 
The skills required to do C&C’s work are varied. Technicians operate side-scan sonars, sub-bottom profilers, magnetometers, and multibeam bathymetry systems and work with UNIX-based and other computers. These individuals are vital to the success of C&C and its clients. “If we didn’t have key personnel to operate and maintain our equipment, we’d never collect the data, make the maps, or generate the products our clients need,” stresses Connell. “There is no computer that can gather data by itself; without good people, we just couldn’t do what we do.” 
 
C&C sees its need for technicians continuing to grow. “We’re working in deeper and deeper water, which requires ever more sophisticated equipment,” says Connell, “so we will need to be a notch above where we are now.” He believes that technicians with a good education and experience dealing with computers, electronics, and robotics in the marine environment will be increasingly sought-after in coming years.