Craig Peterson, Co-Chair OCEANS 2023 Gulf Coast, Kenneth Sharp, TPC Co-Chair of OCEANS 2023 Gulf Coast
OCEANS 2023- Gulf Coast, “Blue Economy: Locally Sourced, Globally Driven,” was the 4th highly successful OCEANS ’s Conference assigned to our Gulf Coast that was sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Oceanic Engineering Society (OES) and the Marine Technology Society (MTS). It was planned, organized, and executed by the joint Gulf Coast MTS/ IEEE (OES) Local Organizing Committee (LOC), and we are excited to share highlights from the recent OCEANS 2023 Gulf Coast conference and expo. With over 120 exhibitors, the event featured cutting-edge technology, innovative solutions, and remarkable marine marvels. Attendees had the opportunity to explore the latest advancements in the field, sparking inspiration and collaboration. We welcomed over 1500 passionate attendees from around the world who shared their enthusiasm for the deep blue. The event’s success was a testament to the collective dedication and commitment to the world’s oceans.
OCEANS 02 and 09 “Ocean Technology for Our Future: Global and Local Challenges,” were in-person, technically excellent and exceptionally well attended conferences. They set a standard for Gulf Coast OCEANS Conferences and provided fantastic lessons learned for the Gulf Coast LOC. The OES Beacon Newsletter PDF Archive https://ieeeoes.org/publications/oes-beacon/ has valuable highlights on all past OCEANS Conferences. At OCEANS 2019 in Seattle, the General Chairs of OCEANS ’s 2020 Singapore (scheduled in April 2020) and OCEANS 2020 Gulf Coast “VISIONS for the Blue Economy” (scheduled in October 2020), had met and shared the incredible efforts and excitement of their LOC’s and Local communities for their in-person OCEANS ’s conferences. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible for delegates to meet and greet through an in-person conference. The LOC’s of Singapore and the Gulf Coast showed incredible flexibility and joined forces and with IEEE (OES) and MTS leadership, co hosting the first ever virtual IEEE OES/MTS OCEANS conference, Global OCEANS 2020: Singapore-U.S. Gulf Coast. This virtual conference was also unique as it combined two regional OCEANS into a single Global OCEANS. Even though the virtual Global OCEANS 2020: Singapore-U.S. Gulf Coast was deemed an incredible success, both LOC’s recognized that virtual events are not a replacement for the in-person dynamics and collaboration. The In-person event continues to be valuable to industries across many sectors, but especially the ability to highlight the local community’s capabilities. With the support of IEEE(OES) and MTS leadership, in-person OCEANS 2023 Gulf Coast and OCEANS 2024 Singapore (OCEANS – Singapore Conference (oceansconference.org) ) were assigned.
With our theme Blue Economy: Locally Sourced, Globally Driven emphasizing the fact that all our local efforts are integrally linked to the larger world ocean, we recognize that we must all work toward sustainability together. The Mississippi coast is home to a number of U.S. Navy and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) offices, many of which are located at Stennis Space Center, and it only makes sense that the LOC invited both to serve as Federal Honorary Co-Chairs for OCEANS 2023. Their acceptance and support had incredible impact on OCEANS 2023 Gulf Coast and started with their welcomes on the OCEANS 2023 Gulf Coast website:
“Naval Oceanography is excited to welcome the breadth of government and civilian sector oceanographic expertise to the Mississippi Gulf Coast for OCEANS 2023. This event will showcase the strong partnership between the U.S. Navy, U.S. Government agencies, Academia, and Industry along the Gulf Coast. Naval Oceanography and this consortium of talented organizations tackle some of the Nation’s toughest challenges, and I look forward to a productive conference.” – Admiral Ron Piret, Commander Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command.
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This is an amazing time to be located on the Mississippi Gulf Coast! OCEANS 2023 in Biloxi, MS will showcase many New Blue Economy opportunities, including the Gulf Blue initiative, the Roger F. Wicker Ocean Enterprise Facility, the U.S. Navy’s Gulf Coast Tech Bridge, the Commercial Engagement of Ocean Technologies (CENOTE) Act capabilities between NOAA and the U.S. Navy, Ocean Aero’s new office building in Gulfport and the Uncrewed Maritime Systems Test and Training Range located in the Gulf of Mexico. As the Director of NOAA’s National Data Buoy Center, I welcome you to the area and share your excitement that the new Blue Economy presents.” – Dr. William (Bill) Burnett, Director of the National Data Buoy Center
The enthusiasm, expertise, and makeup of the LOC echoed the amazing cooperation National, State, and Local government agencies, Academia, and Industry, and validated the faith that our superb IEEE OES and MTS Liaisons (Jerry Carrol and Zdenka Willis) had in the LOC. They worked tirelessly after the virtual Global OCEANS 2020 Singapore – Gulf Coast, first to modify the OCEANS Conferences schedule to fit the Gulf Coast into the schedule without having to wait 5 to 10 years, and then to support our decisions regarding the execution of our theme, to be an IN-PERSON CONFERENCE, only, and to have Two Federal Honorary Co-Chairs. The LOC General Co -Chairs and IEEE OES and MTS Liaisons recognized the importance of identifying and developing potential leaders for future Gulf Coast Conferences. OES: Brandy Armstrong, University of Southern Mississippi and MTS: Katharine Weathers, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, accepted positions as Deputy Co-Chairs and MTS: Clint Edrington, Northern Gulf Institute/Mississippi State University/ NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information and OES: Jane Moorhead, Mississippi State University, accepted leadership positions on the Technical Program Committee with OES: Ken Sharp KMS Oceanic Consultants. Brandy Armstrong and Katherine Weather were involved in every LOC policy decision and represented OCEANS 2023 Gulf Coast at OCEANS 2022 Hampton Roads. Additionally, they organized the OCEANS 2023 Young Professional Program and Students events. Brandy Armstrong authored the OCEANS 2023 GULF Coast OES Beacon article regarding Young Professionals, Women’s Program, Student Poster Competition and Ocean Decade Initiative.
The OCEANS 2023 Training Program, held on Day One, really delivered a first-class learning experience and delivered a comprehensive day of sessions led by industry experts in project management, cybersecurity awareness, leadership essentials, advanced technology, and interpersonal skills. Each topic was presented with expertise in its respective field. To have or not have an OCEANS 2023 Training Program was not taken lightly by the LOC. After several discussions with the young professionals’ groups of both MTS and IEEE, the LOC decided to provide training for this group (as well as any other attendees wishing the training). Several discussions took place to determine the need for both soft skills and technical training. The OCEANS LOC approached the Center for Higher Learning (CHL) at Stennis Space Center, Director Keith Long who compiled a list of training options and a survey sent to our young professionals. This OCEANS 2023 Training Program developed replaced the normal tutorials at previous OCEANS Conferences and received great interest and was well attended.
OCEANS 2023 Training Program Check In
The Three OCEANS 2023 Gulf Coast Plenaries were linked to the conference theme, “Blue Economy: Locally Sourced, Globally Driven,” in progressive manner (global, national, local), and by design allowed the LOC to structure each conference day’s events and activities. The attendance for each of the three plenaries was incredible and it is clear that the Plenary speakers set the tone for the overall conference and helped drive its success!
Plenary – Blue Economy: Global Perspectives.
The opening OCEANS 2023 plenary was exceptional and set the tone for the rest of OCEANS 2023. It featured HON Meredith Berger Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Energy, Installations, and Environment) | U.S. Navy and Nicole LeBoeuf Assistant Administrator | National Ocean Service, NOAA. These speakers detailed the importance of data collection efforts within their organizations, as well as how the data are used in their various missions. Familiar missions will include climate change, the increasing need for better understanding of the environment supporting global conflicts, solutions to degraded/depleting ocean resources, sustainable coastal development, and understanding our planet’s oceans as well as lesser-known missions such as humanitarian support, search and rescue.
Plenary – Blue Economy: National Perspectives.
The Wednesday Plenary featured Dr. Ruth Perry, United Nations Decade of the Ocean U.S. Committee, and Dr. Steven Thur, NOAA Oceanic and Atmospheric Research . The Speakers brought the global issues to the national level to include initiatives spearheaded by United States agencies and United Nations allies. They also detailed how their organization’s efforts align with the Blue Economy for sustainability and economic development.
Plenary – Blue Economy: Embrace the Gulf.
This final plenary on Thursday featured Laura Bowie, Gulf of Mexico Alliance; Hailey Bathurst, Gulf Blue Navigator; Valerie Alley, RESTORE Act (MDEQ); Dr. Jorge Brenner, Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System; Dr. James Kendall, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). These Speakers brought the scope of the Blue Economy to the Gulf of Mexico. Topics included elements of the Blue Economy that take place or are planned for the Gulf Coast region. These programs serve as assets along the U. S. Gulf Coast that support the continued development of the Blue Economy in the region.
The OCEANS 2023 Exhibit Hall buzzed – all the time!
The Mississippi Coast Convention Center Exhibit Hall was perfect for our 120 Exhibitors. Not too big and not too small. The Exhibit Hall was in a state-of-the art facility where all daytime meetings and activities for OCEANS 2023 Gulf Coast took place including Conference lunches and The Exhibitors Reception. It is ideally located on the beachfront in Biloxi! The fact that it was a short bus trip from the conference hotel made it the perfect venue to keep the 1500 registrants meeting with the Exhibitors during their free time. OCEANS 2023 Innovation Theater was centrally located in the Exhibit Hall and tremendously active with presentations by Saildrone, Teledyne Marine, NOAA, Xylem, Sonardyne and ESRI.
“From the Depths of the Oceans to the Reaches of the Stars” is the theme for the OCEANS 2023 Gulf Coast Gala.
The gala took place on Wednesday evening, 27 September , in the ballrooms of the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino. What made this gala so different and spectacular? The gala theme was taken from tag lines used by both our Honorary Federal Co-Chairs – the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command and the NOAA National Data Buoy Center. Both know, understand, and center their missions around all sorts of data – from the ocean bottom to atmospheric and space weather, and recognize all are important to our planet.
We celebrated this theme with a Fireside Chat featuring two incredible explorers who have visited the extremes of our planet and beyond. We welcomed Apollo 13 Astronaut Fred Haise, a native of Biloxi, MS, whose mission had the world on edge for its return to Earth following numerous challenges during the space flight. Joining him was Retired Navy Captain Barbara Scholley, a diving professional whose career includes expeditions to the USS Monitor and recovery efforts following the attack on the USS Cole. Fred and Barbara answered questions directed at the differences and similarities of their careers, training, and missions. The conversation included their activities in giving back and supporting industry, nonprofit, and educational institutions to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers in similar career paths.
Technical Sessions, Town Halls/Panels/Workshops
OCEANS 2023 Gulf Coast represented the first resumption of the live/in person only attendance format. Up to eight parallel technical tracks were run during the seven session time tracks: two on Tuesday afternoon, four Wednesday morning and afternoon, and one on Thursday morning. The total number of presentations including the student poster competition and general poster sessions was 244 with authors from 24 nations.
Student Poster Competition
In addition to the standard technical tracks, OCEANS 2023 Gulf Coast hosted eight local interest tracks that focused on the rapidly growing blue economy across the maritime technology sector.
The conference also hosted 14 panels and town halls on a variety of maritime technology and workforce development topics that were closely aligned with the technical program. These topics included:
- Operational Oceanography
- Offshore Wind Development
- Uncrewed Maritime Systems
- Tech Innovations for EEZ mapping
- Technological Innovation to Map, Explore, and Characterize the United States EEZ –
- Ocean Observing Technology
- Workforce Development
- Community-Based Ocean Observations
- NOAA’s Ocean Enterprise
- Commercializing developing technologies
- IOOS and Regional/National Collaboration Federal and Port Business Opportunities
- Maritime Sensing Technologies for U.S. Navy
- Gliders
- American Leadership in Marine Technology
Committed Support to the OCEANS Program from related Professional Societies:
- The Hydrographic Society in America (THSOA)
- Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI)
- Society for Underwater Technology (SUT)
Operational Oceanography
The final day of OCEANS 2023 Gulf Coast appropriately closed with a focus and Panel on Operational Oceanography with Rear Admiral Ronald J. Piret, Commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command | U..S Navy, and Dr. William Burnett, Director | National Data Buoy Center, as speakers. The Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (NMOC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are leaders in operational oceanography with a workforce footprint, a combination of civilian, military, and contractor personnel, spread across the country and around the world. While science and technology are always at the foundation of operational oceanography programs, the mission of each organization provides the purpose, focus, and application. With significant overlap in the collection and application of meteorological and oceanographic data, NMOC and NOAA partner together to support the Advanced Naval Technology Exercise (ANTX) culminating event to the OCEANS 2023 conference and see it as an opportunity to maintain competitive technical advantage, while also supporting outreach to the broader scientific and academic communities.
ANTX Demo Day
What’s ANTX? It’s the Advanced Naval Technology Exercise. It’s the process by which the Navy and their partners test new technologies in real-world mission scenarios (called vignettes) to see the advantages of integrating that technology permanently into that mission. Conference attendees were shuttled to the Port of Gulfport’s new Roger Wicker Ocean Enterprise Facility. The University of Southern Mississippi served as host for ANTX results displays.
OCEANS 2023 Gulf Coast Co-Chair Special Award
Highly Successful OCEANS Conferences don’t happen without incredible people. Laurie Jugan the OCEANS 2023 Gulf Coast Co-Chair was honored by Admiral Ron Piret and Dr. Bill Burnett with an award for her outstanding and sustained contributions to 4 highly successful OCEANS Gulf Coast Conferences and the marine technology community.
Suleman Mazhar has been working as a professor in Information & Communication Engineering at Harbin Engineering University (China) since July 2019. He did PhD from Tokyo University (Japan) and postdoctorate from Georgetown University (Washington DC, USA). He had BS-CS from FAST-NUCES (Lahore) and MS from GIK Institute (Pakistan). He is TYSP young scientist fellow (Ministry of Science & Technology China) and have won several research grants from international organizations such as DAAD (Germany), ICIMOD (Nepal), NRPU (Higher Education Commission Pakistan), WWF (Worldwide Fund for Nature) Pakistan. His research focus is deep learning and signal processing applications for environmental monitoring, with particular focus on underwater acoustics, and marine mammal conservation. He is a reviewer for professional journals such as Journal of Acoustical Society (America), IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, IEEE Sensors Journal, Applied Acoustics, IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems.
Peng Ren is a full professor with the College of Oceanography and Space Informatics, China University of Petroleum (East China). He is the director of Qingdao International Research Center for Intelligent Forecast and Detection of Oceanic Catastrophes. He received the K. M. Scott Prize from the University of York, the Natural Science award (first rank) from China Institute of Electronics, and the Eduardo Caianiello Best Student Paper Award from 18th International Conference on Image Analysis and Processing as one co-author. He has served as an associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.
Mohd Rizal Arshad is a full professor at the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Malaysia, where he specializes in ocean robotics technology and intelligent system. He received his B.Eng. in Medical Electronics & Instrumentation and PhD in Electronic Engineering from University of Liverpool, UK in 1994 and 1999, respectively. He completed his MSc. in Electronic Control Engineering from the University of Salford, UK in Dec 1995. He has supervised many postgraduate students and published extensively in local and international publications. He is a senior member of the IEEE, and was awarded IEEE OES Presidential Award in 2019.
Itzik Klein is an Assistant Professor, heading the Autonomous Navigation and Sensor Fusion Lab, at the Charney School of Marine Sciences, Hatter Department of Marine Technologies, University of Haifa. He is an IEEE Senior Member and a member of the IEEE Journal of Indoor and Seamless Positioning and Navigation (J-ISPIN) Editorial Board. Prior to joining the University of Haifa, he worked at leading companies in Israel on navigation topics for more than 15 years. He has a wide range of experience in navigation systems and sensor fusion from both industry and academic perspectives. His research interests lie in the intersection of artificial intelligence with inertial sensing, sensor fusion, and autonomous underwater vehicles.
John R. Potter (IEEE M’94, SM’02, F’18) graduated in the previous century with a joint honours Mathematics and Physics Degree from Bristol and a PhD. in Glaciology and Oceanography from Cambridge, UK studying Antarctic ice mass balance, where he spent four consecutive summers. This work helped underscore the non-linear fragility of polar ice to climate change and led to him receiving the Polar Medal from Queen Elizabeth II in 1988.
Nick is a Visiting Fellow at the UK National Oceanographic Center, Southampton His nomination was endorsed by the Underwater Acoustics Technology Committee. He had worked as a Research Associate and Lecturer at University of Birmingham and has been working as a Research Scientist at the Applied Research Laboratory, University of Texas, Austin. He has also served as a Program Officer at the Office of Naval Research Global. He is a senior member of IEEE (OES) and a Fellow of Acoustical Society of America (ASA). Nick has also been serving as Assoc. Editor for IEEE JoE and JASA. He is widely acknowledged for his expertise are seabed acoustics, parametric array modeling, sonar beamformer, underwater signal processing.
Maurizio Migliaccio (M’91-SM’00-F’17) is Full professor of Electromagnetics at Università di Napoli Parthenope (Italy) and was Affiliated Full Professor at NOVA Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL (USA). He has been teaching Microwave Remote Sensing since 1994. He was visiting scientist at Deutsche Forschungsanstalt fur Lüft und Raumfahrt (DLR), Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. He was member of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) scientific committee. He was member of the ASI CosmoSkyMed second generation panel. He was e-geos AdCom member. He was Italian delegate of the ESA PB-EO board. He was Member of South Africa Expert Review Panel for Space Exploration. He serves as reviewer for the UE, Italian Research Ministry (MIUR), NCST, Kazakhstan and Hong Kong Research board. He lectured in USA, Canada, Brazil, China, Hong Kong, Germany, Spain, Czech Republic, Switzerland and Italy. He was Italian delegate at UE COST SMOS Mode Action. He is listed in the Italian Top Scientists. He is an IEEE Trans. Geoscience and Remote Sensing AE, International Journal of Remote Sensing AE, and was IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering AE Special Issue on Radar for Marine and Maritime Remote Sensing, IEEE JSTARS AE of the Special Issue on CosmoSKyMed, Member of the Indian Journal of Radio & Space Physics Editorial board. His main current scientific interests cover SAR sea oil slick and man-made target monitoring, remote sensing for marine and coastal applications, remote sensing for agriculture monitoring, polarimetry, inverse problems for resolution enhancement, reverberating chambers. He published about 160 peer-reviewed journal papers on remote sensing and applied electromagnetics.
He has developed various types of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and related application technologies including navigation methods, a new sensing method using a chemical sensor, precise seafloor mapping methods, a precise seabed positioning system with a resolution of a few centimeters, a new sensing system of the thickness of cobalt-rich crust; and more. He has shown, by using these technologies that AUVs are practicable and valuable tools for deep-sea exploration.
Donna Kocak has had an outstanding career in defense and scientific projects developing and applying solutions in subsea optics, imaging and robotics. She graduated with an M.Sc in Computer Science in 1997 from the University of Central Florida; an MBA in 2008 from the University of Florida; and M.Sc in Industrial Engineering in 2011 from the University of Central Florida. She is currently a Senior Scientist, Advanced Concepts Engineering, and Fellow at the Harris Corporation in Melbourne, Florida, where she has developed novel optical imaging and communication solutions for under-sea defense and scientific projects. Prior to 2008 Donna Kocak was Founder and President of Green Sky Imaging, LLC (GSI) who developed laser/video photogrammetry software for underwater inspection and survey. Her earlier career positions were with Naval Training Systems Center, Florida; Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Florida; eMerge Interactive; and the Advanced Technologies Group in Florida.
John Potter has a Joint Honours degree in Mathematics and Physics from Bristol University in the UK and a PhD in Glaciology and Oceanography from the University of Cambridge on research in the Antarctic, for which he was awarded the Polar Medal in 1988. John has worked on polar oceanography, underwater acoustics, ambient noise (including imaging), marine mammals, communications, IoUT, autonomous vehicles and strategic development. He has 40 years’ international experience working at the British Antarctic Survey in the UK, NATO in Italy, SIO in California, NUS in Singapore and most recently at NTNU in Norway. John is a Fellow of the IEEE and MTS, an Associate Editor for the IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, IEEE OES Distinguished Lecturer, PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer & an International Fellow of the Explorer’s Club.
Dr. James V. Candy is the Chief Scientist for Engineering and former Director of the Center for Advanced Signal & Image Sciences at the University of California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Dr. Candy received a commission in the USAF in 1967 and was a Systems Engineer/Test Director from 1967 to 1971. He has been a Researcher at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory since 1976 holding various positions including that of Project Engineer for Signal Processing and Thrust Area Leader for Signal and Control Engineering. Educationally, he received his B.S.E.E. degree from the University of Cincinnati and his M.S.E. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Florida, Gainesville. He is a registered Control System Engineer in the state of California. He has been an Adjunct Professor at San Francisco State University, University of Santa Clara, and UC Berkeley, Extension teaching graduate courses in signal and image processing. He is an Adjunct Full-Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Candy is a Fellow of the IEEE and a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) and elected as a Life Member (Fellow) at the University of Cambridge (Clare Hall College). He is a member of Eta Kappa Nu and Phi Kappa Phi honorary societies. He was elected as a Distinguished Alumnus by the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Candy received the IEEE Distinguished Technical Achievement Award for the “development of model-based signal processing in ocean acoustics.” Dr. Candy was selected as a IEEE Distinguished Lecturer for oceanic signal processing as well as presenting an IEEE tutorial on advanced signal processing available through their video website courses. He was nominated for the prestigious Edward Teller Fellowship at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Dr. Candy was awarded the Interdisciplinary Helmholtz-Rayleigh Silver Medal in Signal Processing/Underwater Acoustics by the Acoustical Society of America for his technical contributions. He has published over 225 journal articles, book chapters, and technical reports as well as written three texts in signal processing, “Signal Processing: the Model-Based Approach,” (McGraw-Hill, 1986), “Signal Processing: the Modern Approach,” (McGraw-Hill, 1988), “Model-Based Signal Processing,” (Wiley/IEEE Press, 2006) and “Bayesian Signal Processing: Classical, Modern and Particle Filtering” (Wiley/IEEE Press, 2009). He was the General Chairman of the inaugural 2006 IEEE Nonlinear Statistical Signal Processing Workshop held at the Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge. He has presented a variety of short courses and tutorials sponsored by the IEEE and ASA in Applied Signal Processing, Spectral Estimation, Advanced Digital Signal Processing, Applied Model-Based Signal Processing, Applied Acoustical Signal Processing, Model-Based Ocean Acoustic Signal Processing and Bayesian Signal Processing for IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society/ASA. He has also presented short courses in Applied Model-Based Signal Processing for the SPIE Optical Society. He is currently the IEEE Chair of the Technical Committee on “Sonar Signal and Image Processing” and was the Chair of the ASA Technical Committee on “Signal Processing in Acoustics” as well as being an Associate Editor for Signal Processing of ASA (on-line JASAXL). He was recently nominated for the Vice Presidency of the ASA and elected as a member of the Administrative Committee of IEEE OES. His research interests include Bayesian estimation, identification, spatial estimation, signal and image processing, array signal processing, nonlinear signal processing, tomography, sonar/radar processing and biomedical applications.
Kenneth Foote is a Senior Scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from The George Washington University in 1968, and a Ph.D. in Physics from Brown University in 1973. He was an engineer at Raytheon Company, 1968-1974; postdoctoral scholar at Loughborough University of Technology, 1974-1975; research fellow and substitute lecturer at the University of Bergen, 1975-1981. He began working at the Institute of Marine Research, Bergen, in 1979; joined the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in 1999. His general area of expertise is in underwater sound scattering, with applications to the quantification of fish, other aquatic organisms, and physical scatterers in the water column and on the seafloor. In developing and transitioning acoustic methods and instruments to operations at sea, he has worked from 77°N to 55°S.
René Garello, professor at Télécom Bretagne, Fellow IEEE, co-leader of the TOMS (Traitements, Observations et Méthodes Statistiques) research team, in Pôle CID of the UMR CNRS 3192 Lab-STICC.
Professor Mal Heron is Adjunct Professor in the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia, and is CEO of Portmap Remote Ocean Sensing Pty Ltd. His PhD work in Auckland, New Zealand, was on radio-wave probing of the ionosphere, and that is reflected in his early ionospheric papers. He changed research fields to the scattering of HF radio waves from the ocean surface during the 1980s. Through the 1990s his research has broadened into oceanographic phenomena which can be studied by remote sensing, including HF radar and salinity mapping from airborne microwave radiometers . Throughout, there have been one-off papers where he has been involved in solving a problem in a cognate area like medical physics, and paleobiogeography. Occasionally, he has diverted into side-tracks like a burst of papers on the effect of bushfires on radio communications. His present project of the Australian Coastal Ocean Radar Network (ACORN) is about the development of new processing methods and applications of HF radar data to address oceanography problems. He is currently promoting the use of high resolution VHF ocean radars, based on the PortMap high resolution radar.
Hanu Singh graduated B.S. ECE and Computer Science (1989) from George Mason University and Ph.D. (1995) from MIT/Woods Hole.He led the development and commercialization of the Seabed AUV, nine of which are in operation at other universities and government laboratories around the world. He was technical lead for development and operations for Polar AUVs (Jaguar and Puma) and towed vehicles(Camper and Seasled), and the development and commercialization of the Jetyak ASVs, 18 of which are currently in use. He was involved in the development of UAS for polar and oceanographic applications, and high resolution multi-sensor acoustic and optical mapping with underwater vehicles on over 55 oceanographic cruises in support of physical oceanography, marine archaeology, biology, fisheries, coral reef studies, geology and geophysics and sea-ice studies. He is an accomplished Research Student advisor and has made strong collaborations across the US (including at MIT, SIO, Stanford, Columbia LDEO) and internationally including in the UK, Australia, Canada, Korea, Taiwan, China, Japan, India, Sweden and Norway. Hanu Singh is currently Chair of the IEEE Ocean Engineering Technology Committee on Autonomous Marine Systems with responsibilities that include organizing the biennial IEEE AUV Conference, 2008 onwards. Associate Editor, IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, 2007-2011. Associate editor, Journal of Field Robotics 2012 onwards.
Milica Stojanovic graduated from the University of Belgrade, Serbia, in 1988, and received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Northeastern University in Boston, in 1991 and 1993. She was a Principal Scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and in 2008 joined Northeastern University, where she is currently a Professor of electrical and computer engineering. She is also a Guest Investigator at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Milica’s research interests include digital communications theory, statistical signal processing and wireless networks, and their applications to underwater acoustic systems. She has made pioneering contributions to underwater acoustic communications, and her work has been widely cited. She is a Fellow of the IEEE, and serves as an Associate Editor for its Journal of Oceanic Engineering (and in the past for Transactions on Signal Processing and Transactions on Vehicular Technology). She also serves on the Advisory Board of the IEEE Communication Letters, and chairs the IEEE Ocean Engineering Society’s Technical Committee for Underwater Communication, Navigation and Positioning. Milica is the recipient of the 2015 IEEE/OES Distinguished Technical Achievement Award.
Dr. Paul C. Hines was born and raised in Glace Bay, Cape Breton. From 1977-1981 he attended Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, graduating with a B.Sc. (Hon) in Engineering-Physics.