The NOAA Hydrographic Services Review Panel (HSRP) announces the 2022 Call for Nominations.

The panel advises NOAA on operations and research issues related to navigation, hydrographic surveying, nautical charts, tides and currents, geodetic and geospatial data and measurements, Arctic priorities and coastal data and resilience. Applicants should have expertise in marine navigation, port administration, maritime shipping or other intermodal transportation industries, cartography and geographic information systems, geodesy, geospatial data, physical oceanography, coastal resource management, including coastal resilience and emergency response, or other science-related fields.

Getting involved in the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainability

On 5 December 2017, the United Nations proclaimed a Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, to be held from 2021 to 2030. This Decade will provide a common framework to ensure that ocean science can fully support countries’ actions to sustainably manage the Oceans and more particularly to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Happy New Year!  I have so many exciting things to share with our membership.  MTS has welcomed our first Chartered Marine Technologists; the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development has kicked off; and we are in the process of electing our first MTS Vice President of Early Career Ocean Professionals. 

Chartered Marine Technologists (CMarTech)

2020 highlighted a year of civil unrest with racial injustices at its forefront. Well known to many, the summer of 2020 featured the unfortunate incident of a Black birder being threatened simply for trying to bird in central park. Sparking an eerie shared experience, a group of Black birders founded #BlackBirdersWeek. Aiming to dispel the myth that Black birders don’t exist, the week took social media by storm and other STEM disciplines started their own virtual movements. A tweet that has now received over 300 likes, by Dr. Tiara Moore started the foundation for #BlackInMarineScienceWeek, with organizers quickly responding and developing a committee. The week ran November 29-Dec 5, 2020 and made a huge impact globally. With over 1 million social media engagements, hundreds of participants, 50 panelists, 35 sponsors (including the Marine Technology Society), and 14 organizers, the inaugural #BlackInMarineScienceWeek turned out better than what was ever expected!

During the week panels included: Marine Careers, Marine Animals vs Plants, #DivingWhileBlack, #SinkOrSwim experiences in marine science, and Youth Empowerment all which are available on YouTube. The week ended with a day of professional development for Black marine scientists including branding and coding workshops and a networking social. Closing the week with aquarium takeovers in Virginia, Georgia, and Seattle. There was such great feedback from the week, Black in Marine Science has now launched a new weekly series, “BIMS Bites”. Airing Fridays at 10 am PST/1 pm EST, Black scientists take 5-minute bites into varying marine science topics in order to communicate science to the public while also changing the face of what a scientist looks like! Black in Marine Science plans to continue to highlight and promote Black excellence in marine science across generations, so make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on social media so you don’t miss our next big wave!

The book on CD-ROM, Operational Effectiveness of Unmanned Underwater Systems (OEUUS), was published in 1998 by the MTS ROV Committee and has been on sale by MTS for the last 20 years. Recently, the ROV Committee chair, Chuck Richards, decided to make it available for free on line due to the historical perspective it presents on the technology. The OEUSS was produced to provide guidance and information to those who use, plan to use, or are just interested in unmanned underwater systems and their associated technology. The publication’s 600 pages provide a discussion of the systems and what can be expected of them. In essence, it explains what they are, what they can and cannot do, where they are operating and how successful they are, what you should be aware of and what can be expected in the future. It provides an understanding of the “operational effectiveness of unmanned underwater systems.”

The OEUUS was written, edited and produced by Robert Wernli and Jack Jaeger. Both are MTS Fellows. Robert Wernli, as chair of the ROV Committee in the 1980’s, began the ROV conference (now the Underwater Intervention conference) in 1983 and chaired it thru the 1992 conference. The ROV conference was the first MTS conference to be held outside the U.S. and was taken to Scotland, Norway and Canada. The success of the ROV conferences essentially built the momentum and international perspective for the ROV committee to decide to produce the OEUUS, and because of the popularity of the CD-ROM technology at that time, Drew Michel, then ROV committee chair, decided to publish it in digital vice paper form.

I am excited to announce that after the review and adoption of the proposed changes to our Bylaws, the Marine Technology Society will be launching three new initiatives aimed at engaging Early Career Ocean Professionals (ECOP).

We are happy to announce that after the review and adoption of the proposed changes to our Bylaws, the Marine Technology Society will be launching three new initiatives aimed at engaging Early Career Ocean Professionals (ECOP).

New Membership Category

Beginning 1 January 2021, MTS will offer a new Early Career Ocean Professional (ECOP) membership category. ECOP members are defined as “an individual who is within 10 years of their last professional degree and self-identified as an ECOP.” This membership ($50) will come with all the rights and privileges of Society membership. Contact our office for more information on how to join or visit www.mtsociety.org/membership.

The Powering the Blue Economy™: Ocean Observing Prize challenges innovators to integrate marine renewable energy with ocean observation platforms, ultimately revolutionizing our ability to collect the data needed to understand, map, and monitor the ocean.

This joint prize between the Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®) Office at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) seeks to develop new technologies that can help fill the data gaps making it difficult to realize the full potential of the Blue Economy.

For the United States, November has our Thanksgiving and I would like to start by thanking all of you have volunteered on MTS efforts.  Thank you to the Section and Committee leaders, the 2020 Awards Committee, 2020 Board Nominating Committee, academic advisors for our Student Sections, the Captain Don Walsh joint (with SUT) selection panel, Local Organizing Committees for OCEANS 2020-2024, Editorial board, Woman Leaders in Technology and Science organizing committee, the many presenters on our webinars, and board members.

Congratulations to our new board members.  Our next President-Elect is Justin Manley. Justin is no stranger to MTS having served as the Vice President of Government and Public Affairs.  Mr. Manley founded Just Innovation Inc. in 2015. He supports clients from startups to multi-national corporations with core technical specializations in unmanned vehicles, robotics, sensors, and undersea systems.  The Vice President of Communications is Liesl Hotaling. Liesl served for 6 years as the VP of Education and Interim Director in the summer of 2017, and for the last year the VP of Communications.  She is the founder and president of Eidos Education, and specializes in real time data education projects and hands-on STEM educational projects supporting environmental observing networks and serves as the Manager of the Student Enabled Network of Sensors for the Environment using Innovative Technology (SENSE IT). The Vice President of Research, Industry, and Technology is Jim Hanlon. Jim is a 40-year veteran of the ocean technology industry, having worked in engineering, marketing, and management for companies in Atlantic Canada, Ontario and New England. Jim just retired as the CEO of COVE – The Centre for Ocean Ventures & Entrepreneurship. COVE is a 70+ tenant ocean technology hub in Halifax, Nova Scotia. COVE was the 2019 MTS and COMPASS Industrial Award winner.

For Immediate Release -

The fourth edition of the Offshore Technology Conference Asia (OTC Asia) is set to take place for the first time as a virtual event from 2-6 November 2020.

At the close of this, our first virtual GLOBAL OCEANS conference, I am overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude and relief. As many of our members may know, planning the OCEANS conference is a multi-year process, involving partners and contractors from around the globe. With only a sense of professional pride for payment, volunteers commit thousands of hours to assembling the conference. Little did our volunteers know that this year, the global pandemic would derail their efforts to produce an in-person conference. But with courage and determination, our conference Co-Chairs, Tom Wissing, Venu Pallayil, Craig Peterson, and Chia Chin Swee, along with their combined Local Organizing Committee (LOC), Honorary Government Co-Chairs Quah Ley Hoon (CEO, Marine Port Authority, Singapore), the Command for Naval Meteorology and Oceanography (CNMOC), and Chan Eng Soon (CEO, TCOMS, Singapore), and Honorary Corporate Co-Chair Leidos leapt to replace our in-person conference with a high-tech and successful virtual conference.

In just four months, our team of tireless volunteers produced a conference with over 500 technical papers, blending innovation from Asia and North America. Over the course of two weeks, we presented dozens of sessions on everything from autonomous systems to sustainable development. Each session was hosted by a team of experts, and featured live, interactive content. These sessions would not have been possible without the hard work of our technical program committee, session chairs, and moderators. I extend our sincerest thanks to our Keynote Speakers: RADM Lorin Selby, Chief of Naval Research, U.S. Navy, Dr. Hanu Singh, Northeastern University Singapore, and RDML (ret) Tim Gallaudet, Ph.D., NOAA who spoke on Autonomous Systems & Marine Autonomy; Hon. Roger Wicker, U.S. Senate, Dr. Kelvin Droegemeier, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, RDML (ret) Tim Gallaudet, Ph.D., NOAA who spoke on Visions for the Blue Economy; RDML John Okon, Oceanographer & Navigator of the U.S. Navy, Dr. Ruth Perry, Shell Exploration and Production Americas, and Mr. A.J. Reiss, SES, who spoke on Operational Oceanography; and Dr. Jyotika Virmani, Schmidt Ocean Institute, who spoke on Exploring Worlds Beyond the Coastline.

Founder and Senior Analyst of Strikepod Systems -

MTS: Tell us a little about yourself. Where did you grow up? Where did you attend school (grad/undergrad/etc.)? Were you always interested in the marine sciences?

Scientist G and Head of Ocean Observation Systems, National Institute of Ocean Technology Ministry of Earth Sciences, Chennai, India -

MTS: Tell us a little about yourself. Where did you grow up? Where did you attend school (grad/undergrad/etc.)? Were you always interested in the marine sciences? 

By Zdenka Willis -

Happy Fall! It’s hard to believe that summer has come and gone. 

Recognizing Her Outstanding, Sustained, International Contribution To The Development, Application, And Propagation Of Marine Technology Toward The Advancement Of Ocean Exploration

MTS Contact:
Monica Ostrander, +1 (202) 827 7174, [email protected]

Earlier this month, MTS spoke one-on-one with Dr. Kathryn Sullivan - the only person to have walked in space and descend to the deepest point in the oceans, The Challenger Deep – about her experience diving to the deepest point on Earth; some  of the challenges and opportunities she has faced along the way, and  her thoughts about the future of scientific exploration and discovery.

MTS: What were some of the most interesting things you saw or experienced in making the dive to the bottom of the Challenger Deep?

MTS Member and CEO of The Society for Underwater Technology -

I’m Steve Hall, born in the UK. I spent my early years in England, Australia, and eventually Wales where I finished school. Most of the time we lived near the sea, and between long summers on the beach, and growing up watching TV shows like Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and the Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, I was always interested in the ocean and particularly the machinery that enabled humans to explore the deep, though I was also very interested in aviation and spaceflight as a child of the Apollo era.

The Marine Technology Society Announces Its 2020 Award Recipients

Recognizing Engineers, Scientists, Technologists, Policy-Makers, Educators, And Students Who Have Made A Significant Impact

President’s Message