September 2022 OES Beacon

From the President (September 2022)

Christopher Whitt, OES President

The countdown is on to the next OCEANS 2022 in Hampton Roads, VA, USA! We are really excited to see you there. If you can’t attend in person, be sure to take advantage of the virtual program. Around the society, many things are happening. There are several workshops and symposia this fall and early next year. We look forward to hearing about the Singapore AUV Competition results soon. While things are not the same as before the pandemic, there are always many ways for us to connect as ocean professionals. Look for events in your local chapter, and virtual events around the world.

Over the past two years the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development has started in earnest. OES was represented this past June at the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon by me, the VP Technical Activities and the Earthzine editor. We have been developing our own initiative for how OES will participate in the Ocean Decade; you can expect to hear more about this very soon! Information will be available at ieeeoes.org/oceandecade as it becomes available.

Many of our Ocean Decade activities have involved raising awareness about the massive needs and opportunities for research and innovation to support the science needed for the Ocean Decade. However, we expect that very soon we will start to highlight the many ways in which our members are increasingly providing that needed technology contribution to better understanding and management of the ocean. If your research or business involves innovation that does – or could – support ocean science and the Ocean Decade we want to hear about it!

Over the coming months we will have several Society events to look forward to. At OCEANS Hampton Roads we will announce our 2022 Award winners – look for information in the next Beacon issue. Also, at the October AdCom meeting we will elect our 2023 ExCom, which will set the leadership direction of the society for next year. Finally, the Providence Chapter has been diligently working for several years to get an IEEE Milestone recognition for the technology contribution of DSV Alvin. The unveiling of this milestone will occur Friday 21 October, 2022, at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, with OES executives and the IEEE President in attendance.

I’m proud to serve the Society and work with so many excellent volunteer friends and colleagues. There is always more to be done to serve our community and members, so if you want to contribute to the community, strengthen your professional network, and be involved in making OES happen, please email me or any Executive member at any time!