iain miskimmin

Digitally Built Engineer, historian, infrastructure enthusiast, CSM/RSWO/SO3 & professional sillyman. NED @COMobileIT & Digital Advisory #Sapper #BIMbrew

[iain miskimmin @Skimmod]

The National Infrastructure of Ukraine is under attack & understanding what is Critical & what is Vulnerable will help them prioritise reconstruction & protection from future disasters.

[iain miskimmin @Skimmod]

@JamesDrapper Its a massive challenge and something that is vital to home defence

[iain miskimmin @Skimmod]

Celebrating my return with a BIM brew.
Information management has become the frontline when dealing with infrastructure sabotage in Europe & worldwide. Yet we still don’t educate ourselves & the next generation.

[iain miskimmin @Skimmod]

@szczepanek_j @Digital_Sapper Absolutely ☕️

[iain miskimmin @Skimmod]

Splendid! Those who know me, know this account was hacked. finally got control back - phewww... So join me again for BIM Brews, Bicycles, Silliness, Digital Frustration, COMIT news, Innovations and other stuff. Sorry for the spammed messages, those who got them. @Digital_Sapper

[First Sea Lord Sir Gwyn Jenkins @GenGJenkinsRM]

Four countries, one message: we are stronger together.

This week I had the privilege of traveling to Lithuania 🇱🇹 , Latvia 🇱🇻 , Finland 🇫🇮 and Estonia 🇪🇪

Discussions focussed on Baltic security and how we can work more closely together through @JEFnations Northern Navies

1/5

[iain miskimmin @Skimmod]

@JamesDrapper Abso blooming lutely! 😎🎉

[iain miskimmin @Skimmod]

There isn’t a day goes by that i don’t miss this princess! She was a life saver. 🥺

[iain miskimmin @Skimmod]

@nicholadrummond Superb! For reservists too?

[iain miskimmin @Skimmod]

See you there?
https://t.co/3xrG4HJZ7j

[Sgt Maj Frenchie @SgtMajFrenchie]

It’s my last day as social media bloke with British Army Music. Of all the tunes we posted, this is my favourite… Grenade Fired Proper by the Massed Bands on Horse Guards with the bass trombones blowing like they mean it. New job Monday, still in green. #music

[Prof. Frank McDonough @FXMC1957]

3 September 1939. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announced on BBC radio at 11:15 AM that Germany had not responded to the British ultimatum to remove its troops from Poland and so “this country is at war with Germany”.

[Heroes Of Britain @HeroesOfBritain]

Petty Officer Tommy Gould lay flat on his back inside the casing of HMS Thrasher with an unexploded bomb in his arms. Lieutenant Peter Roberts was in front of him, pulling him through the darkness by the shoulders. Every time the bomb moved, it made a loud twanging noise, like a broken spring.

Hours earlier, on 16 February 1942, Thrasher had sunk a heavily escorted supply ship off Crete. Enemy escorts and aircraft answered with depth charges and bombs. The submarine dived and survived. After dark she surfaced to recharge her batteries. As the boat rolled in the swell, the crew heard something heavy banging above the pressure hull.

It was an unexploded bomb. Gould and Roberts volunteered to deal with it. They steadied it, wrapped it in a sack, secured it with rope and manhandled it forward until it could be dropped over the bows while Thrasher backed away.

Then they found a jagged hole in the casing, and beneath it a second bomb was lying on top of the pressure hull. It could not simply be lifted back through the hole. The only workable route was through a cramped space beneath the casing to a metal hatch about 20 feet away. In places there was barely room to lie full length.

Gould and Roberts lowered themselves in and wriggled towards the bomb with only a shaded light. Gould got onto his back and held the weapon against him while Roberts dragged him towards the hatch. They knew what would happen if an enemy aircraft or ship appeared: Thrasher would have to crash-dive.

The two men outside the pressure hull would be drowned.
For roughly 40 minutes they pushed, pulled and eased the bomb through the darkness until they could get it out, carry it forward and lower it over the side.

I recovered a photograph of the damaged casing; it marks where the bombs struck and shows Gould standing at the hatch through which the second one was dragged.

Roberts and Gould were both awarded the Victoria Cross. The official citation noted that Thrasher was still close to the enemy coast and that the men knew a forced dive could kill them. Gould later remembered coming back inside soaked through. The captain’s response was only: “You’d better get yourselves dried.”

[iain miskimmin @Skimmod]

AI will change construction. That part is inevitable.

Whether it makes us more capable, or merely produces more polished nonsense at greater speed, is down to people.

That is the conversation at #COMITConference2026. 9–10 Sept, London.
https://t.co/HYbJWFtF3a

[Nicholas Drummond @nicholadrummond]

This is my favourite cancelled aircraft. So cool. You could have launched and recovered it from a frigate. More range and endurance than a helicopter. And a decent payload capacity.

[iain miskimmin @Skimmod]

@RowlyPaul And that is the uncomfortable truth! Mostly they could not give a damn!

[richard cann 💙♿☮️ @richard_cann1]

Remember, it's not a price cap if it keeps rising! Ofgem is another toothless entity who's sole purpose is to maintain the profits of energy companies!🤬🤬🤬

[iain miskimmin @Skimmod]

@BigBearF1 Hapy birthday buddy!

[Paul Rowlands @RowlyPaul]

Network Rail tendering for a digital twin platform but without defined data standards it will be a very expensive but glossy silo.

It’s BIM roll out all over again.

[Temporary Works Design @TheBestCEO_uk]

the UK construction industry has a temporary works problem nobody talks about.

sites don't fail because engineers can't design.

they fail because nobody set up the process properly before work started.

no defined TWC. no register. no permit system.

just vibes and a method statement nobody read.

BS 5975:2024 exists precisely for this. clear roles. clear checks. clear handoffs.

but most contractors treat it as a box-tick after something goes wrong, not a setup task before anything starts.

i spend a surprising amount of my time helping sites fix the process mid-project.

it's harder. it's messier. and the risk window is already open.

getting the procedures right at the start costs a fraction of sorting it out under pressure.

that's the part contractors keep underestimating.