The MTS/Oceaneering Symposium returned for its 30th anniversary on September 15. The symposium serves as a kickoff for the MTS Washington DC Section's year ahead and is a signature event for the entire Capital Region maritime community. 

This year’s event saw the return of The MTS Technology Forum, a high-level panel discussion on emerging topics in the maritime industry. Since its addition in 2019, the forum has featured topics including uncrewed systems, the blue economy, technology trends and challenges, and more. This year’s discussion theme, “A New Era of Marine Technology and Data Management,” tied it all together. The forum happily welcomed back Lisa Blodgett, Sector Head of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory Force Projection Sector, as moderator. Blodgett has extensive experience in both advanced surveillance build programs and surveillance anti-submarine warfare systems with new technologies. She is also a member of the Defense Science Board Task Force on unmanned undersea systems.

OCEANS 2022 in Hampton Roads, Virginia, is just a few weeks away and the MTS community is buzzing with excitement. OCEANS is a perennially impactful event, and this year promises to be as energetic and exciting as ever. Building on the success of our in-person and virtual programming at OCEANS 2021, we again look forward to welcoming remote and on-site participation from our members, exhibitors, and the broader marine technology community!

I joined MTS six months ago, humbled at the opportunity to lead such a venerable institution and excited by the incredible strategic opportunities at our doorstep. To better understand how we could deploy an organizational strategy to best serve you, the MTS membership, I’ve spent most of my time thus far visiting with folks throughout our community. I’ve asked questions and sought to deeply listen to your thoughts and reflections. I’m grateful for the candid and open feedback that our staff, board, and members have shared about the future of MTS.

On September 9, scientists from a wide variety of STEM fields converged at the George Mason University Potomac Science Center for a one-day conference of the MTS Bioinspired Marine Systems Committee, sponsored by MTS and the George Mason University Department of Physics and Astronomy. 

The meeting brought together experimental, theoretical, and computational scientists from physics, ocean engineering, materials science, biology, biomechanics, fluid mechanics, mechanical engineering, robotics, computer science and electrical engineering, underwater acoustics, AI, and human-robot interaction communities. 

MTS AND SUT ANNOUNCE WINNER OF THE 2022 CAPTAIN DON WALSH AWARD FOR OCEAN EXPLORATION

• Winner is a leader in her field and a pioneer in applying new technologies, particularly marine technology, to challenging research questions 
• Her work post-Deepwater Horizon proved critical to the understanding of microorganisms in degradation of oil 

WASHINGTON, DC, US AND LONDON, UK — The Marine Technology Society (MTS) and The Society for Underwater Technology (SUT) are proud to announce that the 2022 Captain Don Walsh Award for Ocean Exploration has been won by the internationally recognised oceanographer Samantha (Mandy) Joye, a Regents’ Professor in the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of Georgia, USA, whose work has revealed unexpected connectivity between elemental cycles, unanticipated feedbacks between geological elemental and microbial dynamics, and fundamental controls on microbial populations and their activity. 

Dialogues with Industry: How can industry, science and government together advance ocean observing for 2030?

We are delighted to announce the start of Dialogues with Industry - a forum for compact and meaningful dialogue with new and established companies, academia and government. The dialogue series aims to highlight opportunities for the public and private sectors to work in partnership towards achieving a mature, vibrant ocean observing enterprise that will help accelerate the development of a thriving blue economy. 

Have you voted? I have! Voting for our next President Elect; Vice President for Early Career Ocean Professionals; Vice President for Government and Public Affairs; and Vice President of Education is open through 5:00 p.m. EST on October 18, 2022. This is your opportunity to shape the future of MTS.   

Welcome aboard to Claire Idell, our new Director of Member Engagement. I know that Claire has begun reaching out to our members, and I am very excited that she has joined the MTS team. Read more about Claire on the MTS staff page.

Now in its fourth year of operation, MTS member Terradepth aims to enhance humanity’s interaction with the ocean, support maritime operations across key sectors, and advance both scientific insight and the sustainable future of our planet. 

Part of a multifaceted approach to data collection and storage, Terradepth’s fleet of highly-configurable autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) provides cost-effective, detailed data capture that enables researchers and conservationists to observe previously undetectable patterns in underwater ecosystems. Increased capabilities related to safety, route, data collection, and data quality – plus the ability to respond to unforeseen circumstances and recovery location – add capacity for performing longer surveys at greater depth. 

On August 25, MTS's India Section celebrated the inauguration of its newest student section, Sri SaiRam Engineering College in Chennai. This induction marks the 10th MTS student section in India and serves as a testament to the strength of our India Section. We want to especially recognize the leadership of Dr. R. Venkatesan. In his role as chairman for MTS's India Section, Venkat has worked to bridge the gap between academia and industry.

Click HERE for a deep dive into the robust history of MTS's India Section. 

When MTS was launched in 1963, the founders set up a system of geographical sections and topical committees for members to self-select into. One can imagine they saw this structure as a mechanism to coalesce the diverse and growing membership around areas of interest—to support the small group interactions and conversation needed to move the landscape of marine technology forward.

This section and committee structure continues today; nearly unchanged from 60 years ago. Beyond just a sorting mechanism, this cross-cutting MTS engagement structure stitches together disparate regional concentrations of our membership with the wide array of topical expertise of individuals, companies, and partners spread across the globe. It provides unending points of connection that allow any member to connect with any other member, or topic, with only a couple of degrees of separation.

New England Section Elects New Leadership

The New England Section held elections for the section officer positions and we are pleased to welcome the following section officers:

Chair

Description: The Chair of each section shall serve ex officio as a member of the society’s Council. The local section Chair is responsible to the Vice President of Section Affairs. The Chair is responsible for the overall administration and leadership of the Section. The Chair presides at all Section meetings, appoints committee chairs, and serves as liaison between the Section and the Society Headquarters.  

Message from MTS President

As I write this note, the world has converged in Lisbon, Portugal for the UN Ocean Conference. Co-hosted by the Governments of Kenya and Portugal, it is an important event that highlights the importance of the world coming together for global ocean action. MTS has published its second UN Decade focused UN Decade of Ocean Sciences for Sustainable Development which is open access – check it out on the MTS website.

Let me start by echoing Chris’, MTS Executive Director, congratulations for Past President Drew Michel’s OTC Distinguished Achievement Award. A well-deserved honor! Thank you to our MTS Houston section for all their efforts at OTC. It was great to see many folks in person and we look forward to next year as OTC rebounds to pre-pandemic levels.

Earlier this month Chris, Jim Hanlon (VP Industry, Technology and Research and Halifax local) and Justin Manley (President Elect) represented MTS at the H2O Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Including 600+ delegates from more than two dozen nations, the conference highlights the growing and vibrant Canadian marine technology ecosystem and explores cross-cutting technology topics of key interest to the community, including offshore energy, environmental monitoring, and marine transportation. The Ocean Technology Council of Nova Scotia (OTCNS) hosts the annual event; MTS and IEEE/OES are working closely with OTCNS leadership to explore a partnership in the fall of 2024 when OCEANS returns to Halifax.

The marine technology ecosystem in Halifax continues to deliver impact across Atlantic Canada and beyond; anchored by the Centre for Ocean Ventures and Entrepreneurship (COVE), Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, Dalhousie University, and dozens of companies and non-governmental organizations. MTS members in the region have taken the initial steps to re-activate the Halifax section and we are excited to see the groundswell of interest, from students, early career ocean professionals, and established members of the field in supporting the marine technology ecosystem in Nova Scotia.

Since my last column I would like to welcome the 100+ new students, individuals, and ECOPs from Oceans in Action and OCEANS in Chennai. Also welcome aboard to our new business members:

• Liquid Robotics (Silver)
• MITRE (Institutional)
• Ocean Aero (Small Business)
• UAM Tec (Small Business)

We will announce our 2022 award winners soon! I sincerely appreciate all of you who took the time to nominate individuals, organizations and companies. We had a robust and strong slate which made it hard for our awards boards – a great challenge to have. We administer three awards boards: MTS Awards board; CAPT Don Walsh Award for Ocean Exploration– joint board with SUT; and the Walter Munk Scholar Award – joint board with the Water Munk Foundation. We can not run these boards without volunteers and my thanks to all of you who responded positively when we asked you to volunteer. We look for a diverse awards board each year so please let us know if you are interested in serving in 2023. Now looking forward we have a strong slate of events. First up is the next in the Women Leadership in Technology and Science webinar series which will cover Woman’s Issues in the Field – July 13 – Please register here. In September MTS will host two events and participate in a third event. The 14th buoy workshop will take place Sept 19-22, in Wilmington North Carolina, register here. The next Lakebed 2030 conference will be held September 28-30 in Traverse City, Michigan as well as being virtual. Abstracts due: July 1; Sponsorship due: July 1. I have been asked to participate at the U.S. Commercial Service’s business forum, Discover Global Markets: The Blue Economy” September 20 – 22, 2022, in Providence, RI.

In October we will return to Hampton Roads, VA for OCEANS2022. The LOC is working hard to put together a great conference so please pass the word and we hope to see many of the community in October. Join us from 17-20 October.

There are four positions open for the 2022 MTS Board Elections: President-Elect, Vice President of Early Career Ocean Professionals, Vice President of Education, Vice President of Government and Public Affairs. MTS members may nominate candidates for the open positions through 11:59 p.m. EST on June 15, 2022. 

Submit your nominations HERE