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SNAME 2003: World Maritime Technology Conference Guido Perla: Colombian Born, American Made Guido Perla has always had a love of the sea. Perla, who was born and raised in Barranquilla, Colombia, came to the U.S. in 1971 to pursue his dream of using the "tools" he was given to become a naval architect. His story is one that is marked by innovation, rela- tionships and hard work. — By Regina P. Ciardiello, managing editor GPA has provided Rigdon Marine LLC with the design for ten state- of-the-art GPA 640 platform support vessels (PSVs) to serve the Gulf of Mexico shelf and deepwater production markets. The 210- ft. (64-m) vessels, currently under construction at Bender Shipbuilding and Repair. All-American - GPA recently (in partnership with Lockheed Martin), provided detailed design and engineering support for R/V Kilo Moana, a 185-ft. SWATH (small waterplane area, twin hull) oceano- graphic ship, which is owned by the Naval Sea Systems Command and operated by the University of Hawaii. Built by Atlantic Marine. For Crowley Maritime's subsidiary, VMS, GPA provided preliminary, contract and detail design of the Alert, Attentive and Aware, all ABS classed and USCG inspected, for service in Alaska. Propulsion is provided by two Caterpillar 3612B diesel engines driving two Kamewa Aquamaster US 5001 Azimuth Z-drives. Guido Perla's philosophy on naval architecture and marine engineering — on life — is easily summed up: "I always follow what my father used to say," Perla said. "It is better to be wrong than to be average." Perla is not shy to admit that he's not always perfect, but that does not mean that he will not try and try again until he achieves perfec- tion. "You don't learn anything from sit- ting around and doing nothing," Perla quips. "You learn from making a move and taking risks. When we came into this world, we were given a brain, hands, eyes and a body - they are tools." he continues. "You can do anything you want with these tools - you can put them on a shelf and leave them there, or you can grab your 'tools' and try." While Perla admits that he strays from traditional, stock designs, there are some in the industry that are afraid to take these risks, or are maybe just con- tent with traditional, conventional designs. While he's not advising that owners and operators should abandon tradition for experimentation, he's sim- ply suggesting that some may benefit from as he puts it: "just wanting to stay on the continent rather than going across the ocean," or some may not. But. according to Perla, "if you don't try you'll never learn how to make it (the vessel design) better." Not that Perla is degree in naval architecture and marine engineering at the University of Michigan. It was not smooth sailing for Perla however. At the end of his first term at Michigan, the shipyard that had backed him went broke — leaving him with no tuition money. Undaunted, he found that he was eligible for a scholarship that would cover his next term's tuition. But not before, as Perla says, "immigration got in the way." Since he was not an American citizen, the University deemed he was not eligible for the scholarship unless he had a sponsor. Therefore, it came down to finding a sponsor or leaving the U.S. Ironically, he contacted the original shipyard, which by now had resolved its labor issues. His former boss offered Perla the same deal they had shaken on the year before on the condition that he would pay the yard back after he graduated. It was also during his time at the University of Michigan that Perla not only found his niche in naval architec- ture, but found love as well with anoth- er student, Karen Olsen. who became his wife in 1973, after graduation. Since Perla had fallen in love with both the U.S. and his wife, he had no intentions of returning to his homeland, so he began interviewing at various shipyards for positions as a marine engi- neer. He landed his first job at the now- defunct Jacksonville Shipyard. And in 1975. Perla headed west to a small town just north of Corpus Christi, Texas where he took a job designing OSVs and shrimp boats. While he was happy that he was doing what he had set out to do, Perla wanted more, so he and his wife traveled with their two small chil- dren, Bianca and Guido, Jr.. in 1977 to "I owe the credit to the beginning of GPA to Peter Schmidt, the owner of MARCO who gave me my first job. The day we signed the contract is the day that I con- sider the start of GPA." • Guido Perla • trying to play the role of the preacher of technology to the marine indus- try: he's simply advising that you have to at least make an attempt. "I'm not trying to insult anybody," Perla says. "But there are shipyards that have fully embraced technol- ogy and are doing great, some have even improved a lot in the last 10 years. Then there are others who have just not done anything." Perla does however acknowledge that technology as a whole is becoming more widely accepted in the marine industry in the last 10 years - even among those groups who were unoffi- cially labeled as "traditional" and/or "cautious" companies. He does warn, however, "1 have also seen companies spend millions of dollars on technology and go bankrupt." "It's (technology) a tool, and if you don't utilize it the right way, it doesn't matter how much money you invest or how much you believe in the project - you need to make it work for you." he says. Go West Young Man Born and raised in Baranquilla. Colombia to Italian parents, Guido Perla had an interest in anything that had to do with boats and ships. On the water, at any free moment. Perla formed his love for two modes of transportation — ships and planes — an early age. Perla, who often went sail- ing near his home on the Caribbean Sea, often dreamt of taking his love of vessels into a pro- fession where he could create and design them. Unfortunately though. Perla's dreams were at first squelched when he realized that no institutions of high- er learning in his native country offered courses of study in naval architecture or marine engineering — unless he joined the Colombian Navy. Rather than give up his civilian life, Perla decided to divert his interest towards mechanical engineering instead. During his course of study, Perla landed a job at a local Colombian shipyard. UNIAL S.A., and while there he found his niche — and luckily so did his boss at the shipyard. According to Perla, the owner of the yard cut him a deal that would allow him to travel to the U.S. to live out his dream. But his were plans put on hold when the shipyard workers decided to strike. Luckily a rival area shipyard, Astilleros Magdalena, S.A., which was in need of a naval architect, knew of Perla's familiarity of the marine industry and made him a similar offer. At the urg- ing of his boss. Perla left his native country bound for the U.S., to pursue a 38
