Marine Technology Society News from the Marine Technology Society

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VOLUME 32, NO. 1

MTS hires outreach firm

What’s new UI Conference Set for March Page 2

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MTS Scholarships Deadline Is April 15 Page 3 Commentary on Ocean Energy Page 7 Who’s Who in Washington, D.C. Page 14

In this issue:

MTS Conference News 2



Society News 4

Members & Others in the News 5

Section News   6

Professional Committee News 7

Business News 8 Science and Technology News 11



Education News 13



Legislative News 14



Resource News 14



Ocean Community Calendar 15

Marine Technology Society, Inc. 5565 Sterrett Place, Suite 108 Columbia, MD 21044 410-884-5330 410-884-9060 Fax

www.mtsociety.org

Stu Burley (left, seated) has a passion for students and ROVs. Read his story in the Education News section. Here he poses with physics teacher Laura Mission and their winning 2006–2007 Waimea High School ROV team in Hawaii.

Liz Corbin takes over leadership

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iz Corbin has written her first Drilldown column in this issue of Currents since assuming leadership of MTS on January 1. See the column in the Society News section.   Corbin, manager of the Science and Technology Branch of the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and

Tourism, took over the position from Bruce C. Gilman, P.E. Also assuming leadership positions on January 1 are Kevin Hardy, the new vice president of section affairs; Debra Kill, treasurer and vice president of budget and finance; and Jerry Boatman, president-elect. n

MTS membership hits high

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espite economic troubles hitting most countries around the world, the Marine Technology Society has reached a 20-year high in memberships, with 3,008 individuals, companies and institutions as Currents went to print. “I think people are catching on to the changes that are

occurring in the society, and they want to take advantage of the expanding member benefits,” said Executive Director Rich Lawson. Among those expanding benefits are more issues of the MTS Journal, an enhanced Career area on the Web site and Career Fairs at the OCEANS Conferences.

TS kicked off its new government and public outreach program in December. Board members Karen Kohanowich (vice president of government and public outreach) and Karin Lynn (vice president of publications), and Washington, D.C., Section members Hank Lobe and Rusty Mirick worked with Executive Director Rich Lawson on devising a program. They considered, among other things, how to prioritize the society’s areas of interest; how to engage members, committees and sections; and the timing for launching the program. The society has hired International Government Relations (formerly Fleishman-Hillard Government Relations) to carry out the outreach effort. “With a new Congress and administration coming on board, there is a tremendous opportunity to raise MTS’s profile and provide access to topic experts,” said Lawson. Among the plans for early in this year are reinvigorating the MTS Experts database, engaging sections and encouraging member participation. n Instrumental to the increase was a donation by MTS member Teledyne RDI to sponsor 100 college students for membership in the society. n

Conference News Currents, published bimonthly, is a membership benefit of the Marine Technology Society, the leading multidisciplinary society for marine professionals. Individual membership is $75. Life membership is a one-time $1,000. To join MTS, visit the Web site at www.mtsociety.org or e-mail [email protected]. Send information for Currents to [email protected]. The deadline to get items in the next issue of Currents is February 13. Send address changes to suzanne. [email protected]

OFFICERS President Elizabeth Corbin [email protected] President-Elect Jerry Boatman [email protected] Immediate Past President Bruce C. Gilman, P.E. [email protected] VP – Section Affairs Kevin Hardy [email protected] VP – Education and Research Jill Zande [email protected] VP – Industry and Technology Jerry C. Wilson [email protected] VP – Publications Karin Lynn [email protected] Treasurer and VP – Budget and Finance Debra Kill [email protected] VP – Government and Public Affairs Karen Kohanowich [email protected] Executive Director Richard Lawson [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Susan Branting [email protected]



Underwater Intervention 2009 March 3–5 New Orleans, La. www.underwaterintervention.com In its 16th year of partnership, the Association of Diving Contractors International and the Marine Technology Society’s ROV Committee bring together the very best in the Underwater Operations community. Underwater Intervention is the place to be for commercial diving, ROVs, AUVs, oil and gas, marine construction, shipwreck exploration and salvage, submersibles, communications, bridges and dams, nuclear and hydro energy, ocean mining, oceanography and marine technology. Technical Program Chair Justin Manley has packed the program with presentations covering advancements in technology and new equipment. There are also new workshops and tutorials.   For the second year, UI offers companion/spouse tours to the Laura Plantation, a unique Creole style plantation home; a swamp tour; a day-long tour of Jefferson Island’s Rip van Winkle gardens and Avery Island’s Tabasco factory and jungle gardens; and the New Orleans cooking school. These tours are ticketed separately from the registration fees and may be selected and paid for while registering for the show. At press time there were only a few booth spaces left on the exhibition floor, which will include many new companies this year. Online Registration with credit card is open. Registration forms are posted for those who wish to pay by check. Conference Hotels are the Royal Sonesta (headquarters hotel), the Marriott Convention Center, the Hampton Inn and Suites Convention Center, and the Hilton Garden Inn just one block from the convention center.

2009 Offshore Technology Conference May 4–7 Houston, Texas www.otcnet.org/2009 Registration for OTC .09 is now open. You may also sign up to receive e-mail updates about OTC .09 programs and events from OTC News. This year, the OTC Bookstore will be located on the

exhibit floor in Reliant Stadium. Don’t miss this opportunity to purchase books from OTC’s sponsoring societies and avoid costly shipping charges. OTC hosts an array of breakfasts and luncheons that showcase presentations from industry leaders. Seating is limited, so purchase tickets early.

OCEANS’09 MTS/IEEE Biloxi October 26–29 Biloxi, Miss. www.oceans09mtsieeebiloxi.org Two honorary co-chairs have been signed, one each from industry (MTS member Science Applications International Corporation) and government (The Commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command). Chuck Zang, senior vice president and general manager, SAIC Science and Systems Engineering Solutions Business Unit, and Rear Admiral David W. Titley, U.S. Navy, will serve as the representatives. The conference will feature a stimulating technical program, a busy exhibit floor and patron opportunities for any budget. A focus of the conference is to help inspire up-and-coming marine scientists by expanding the student poster competition through the “Sponsor-A-Student” patron opportunity. A new high school outreach program will allow students to experience the process of translating data into information, then using the information to make real-life decisions. For more information on these patron opportunities, visit the Web site.

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MTS SCHOLARSHIPS MTS is pleased to offer these outstanding scholarships. For MTS Student Members: n

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$2,500—Charles H. Bussmann Undergraduate Scholarship $2,500—Charles H. Bussmann Graduate Scholarship $1,000—John C. Bajus Scholarship (for undergraduates and graduates) Dieter Family Travel Scholarship: Full student registration and up to $500 for travel-related expenses to OCEANS’09 MTS/IEEE Biloxi

For MTS Student Members and Non-Members n

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$2,000—The MTS Student Scholarship for Graduates and Undergraduates $2,000—The MTS Student Scholarship for Two-Year Technical, Engineering and Community College Students $2,000—The MTS Student Scholarship for Graduating High School Seniors (who have been accepted into a full-time undergraduate program) $2,000—The Paros-Digiquartz Scholarship (for undergraduates and graduate students with an interest in marine instrumentation) Up to $10,000—ROV Scholarship (for undergraduate and graduate students, and high school seniors interested in remotely operated vehicles) Deadline: Submissions must be postmarked no later than April 15.

For more information and applications, visit the Education link on the MTS Web site www.mtsociety.org/education/scholarships.aspx

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Society News

D rilldown

From the MTS Leadership Liz Corbin

I Executive Director Rich Lawson snapped a photo on his cell phone during the MTS staff holiday luncheon at a restaurant in Ellicott City, Md. Pictured from left are Suzanne Voelker (administrator), Jeanne Glover (marketing and membership manager), Mike Hall (member groups manager), Susan Branting (communications manager) and Amy Morgante (MTS Journal managing editor). Chris Barrett, director of professional development and meetings, was absent.

Welcome New Members Africa/Middle East Abass Lateef Asia Lichuan Zhang Eastern Region Lee Erdman James Gant Doug Hodczak Sarah Kampbell Europe Terence Browne Ole Martin Dahl Dennis Farrell Svein Harald Glette Nina Gundersen Jan Petter Hoiaas Simen Wadd Johansen Lars Kristian Moen Houston Dave Adams Atif Aziz Robert Bayes Ron Beyer Asif Bhimji Lance Boll Brian Braun Joe Chlimoun Marianne Cocker



Otto DaSilva William Deppe Eric Van Dijk Troy Endicott Robert Finch Ian Florence Soheni Haque Christopher Howerter Mike Hutchinson Jeff Jannsen Howard Jenkins Dennis Katzilierakis Christopher Mason Patrick Matthews George McCafferty Roxanne Miller Ron Nance Yves Nerisson Brad Norwood Samuel Orellana Willemijn Pauw Nicholas Poradek George Reilly Douglas Robertson Raphael Siri Walter Steedman David Stephen Jeffrey Thomas Jared Tillman Kjetil Wold Crane Zumwalt

Monterey Jeffrey Cullen Patricia Cheng Terry Newfoundland/Labrador Marcel S. Montrose Southern Region Jeffrey Morin John Rowland Western Region Steven Lee Hannuksela

President

’m very much looking forward to serving as MTS president for the next two years. Outgoing President Bruce Gilman has been a generous mentor as I prepared to move into the position held by all the great leaders who have helped build our society. We have an outstanding board of directors, including experienced veterans and enthusiastic newcomers, to guide the growth and development of MTS. One of my favorite quotes is by Charles Darwin and states that “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” We’ve certainly been in the midst of great change recently, and fortunately MTS has been steadily pursuing orderly change for several years to meet the challenges faced by our industry and our society. The strategic plan has focused the activities of the board, the council and the staff to support moving MTS toward becoming a more respected and innovative organization, responsive to the needs of our members and contributing to the understanding of the role of marine technology in today’s world. There are several initiatives where I hope to focus my attention. Growing the international presence of MTS has been under discussion for some time, and we will continue to evaluate how best to support our international sections and serve the global interests of our members. As a long-time exhibitor at OCEANS, I hope to work with the leadership of MTS and IEEE/OES to strengthen the exhibit side of our flagship conference. A lot of work was done by members in the last year to improve the way that the OCEANS conferences are organized and executed. I think we can now turn our attention to ways to grow the exhibition to provide a stronger venue for our participating companies to showcase their products and services. Another area that deserves a lot of attention is the society’s expanding education program. There has been much discussion of the need in the U.S. to maintain its global competitiveness in the face of declining numbers of engineers and other science and technology professionals. Workforce development, beginning with sparking the interest of students early and sustaining that interest with continued support, such as our expanding scholarship program, is the key to meeting this challenge. It is encouraging that President-elect Obama is naming distinguished scientists to help lead his administration. MTS has a new opportunity to exert its Voice of Marine Technology to the benefit of all. With the dedication and experience of our members, we can be strong, smart and adaptable so that we not only survive, we thrive. n

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Members and Others in the News Kudos to Subsea 7 MTS member Subsea 7, through its i-Tech division, announced that its ROV team onboard the semi-submersible Ocean Bounty has been honored by Chevron Australia with an “Outstanding Contractor Award” at the operator’s Contractor Health, Environment and Safety Management Forum. i-Tech was recognized for “the successful planning and execution of the ROV operations on Chevron’s 2008 Ocean Bounty rig campaign for Wheatstone.” The team onboard the rig was singled out for its “dedication to safety” and “looking out for each other” across all members of the rig team, which resulted in incident- and injury-free operations on the rig. This award comes on the back of i-Tech’s Asia-Pacific business having recently achieved a momentous milestone of four years without a lost-time incident across all onshore and offshore operations. Congrats to Electrochem New York-based MTS member Electrochem’s new state-ofthe-art technology facility in Raynham, Mass., was selected as one of the Economic Impact Award winners by the Massachusetts Alliance for Economic Development. Electrochem was given the Gold Award for the Southeast region. This award is based on attributes in the categories of job growth, facility expansion, investment and community involvement. New NOAA Head William J. Brennan, Ph.D., has become the acting undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and acting administrator of NOAA. He succeeds retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher Jr., an MTS member, who resigned to return to private life after

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guiding NOAA for the past seven years. New Faces at Fluro MTS member Fluro has appointed MTS member Skip Alvarado to head its new business unit, Fluor Offshore Solutions in Sugar Land, Texas. Bimal Parikh will lead business development efforts for Fluor Offshore Solutions, focusing on prospect screening, customer and partner relationships, and overall strategic planning. Mueller Is New VP Alliance Engineering has promoted MTS member Wayne Mueller to vice president of its Deepwater Business Unit. He has more than 16 years experience in project management and design/construction engineering of numerous offshore fixed structures and floating topsides facilities, both domestic and international. New CEO at Global B.K. Chin, the CEO of Global Industries, the parent company of MTS member Global Industries Offshore of Houston, resigned in November and has been replaced by board member John A. Clerico, who will serve as interim CEO. Wishart Promoted MTS member John Wishart has been appointed group managing director designate of Noble Denton. Wishart, previously president of Technip in North America, succeeded David Sutton. New Board Members MTS member Schilling Robotics has appointed Hobart “Hobey” Birmingham and Taft Symonds to its board of directors. Birmingham is a managing director of The Perreault Birmingham Group,

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which provides consulting and investment banking services to high technology companies. Symonds has been the chairman of the board at private investment firm Symonds Trust Co. since 1978. NASA Awards NASA and the U.S. Department of the Interior presented William T. Pecora Awards to NASA’s Quick Scatterometer, or QuikSCAT, mission team and to Samuel N. Goward, professor of geography at the University of Maryland, who was recognized for his “outstanding and sustained scientific leadership in advancing remote-sensing science and especially the continuation of the Landsat Program.” QuikSCAT measurements have had enormous impact on marine forecasts by enabling early detection of the location, direction, structure and strength of ocean storms. New Chair at USAC The U.S. Science Advisory Committee for Scientific Ocean Drilling (USAC) has named Brad Clement of Florida International University as its new chair. Clement served as a USAC member for the past two years and has a long history of involvement in scientific ocean

drilling. He succeeds Christina Ravelo of the University of California, Santa Cruz. New VP at Northop Northrop Grumman Corporation has named Paul F. Sullivan vice president of operations for its Naval and Marine Systems Division (N&MSD) at the company’s Electronic Systems sector. In his new position, Sullivan will have executive responsibility for all phases of the division’s Department of Defense and Homeland Security programs, along with division responsibility for strategy development, customer engagement, and Navy-related program execution. Presidential Medal Adm. James D. Watkins, the former president of the two organizations that merged to form MTS member Consortium for Ocean Leadership, was honored in December by President Bush with the Presidential Citizens Medal. The medal recognizes citizens who have performed exemplary deeds of service for the nation. Along with his 37-year career in the Navy, Watkins led the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy from 2001 to 2004. n

In Memoriam Cmdr. Lawrence “Larry” Shumaker died of cancer October 21 at his San Diego home. He was 76. After graduating from Annapolis, Shumaker served on several San Diego-based submarines. In 1959, his former Annapolis classmate MTS member Don Walsh helped him join the crew of the bathyscaph Trieste. As Walsh’s assistant officer in charge, Cmdr. Shumaker played a role in the Trieste’s successful dive to the deepest place in the ocean, 35,800 feet to the bottom of the Marianas Trench, near Guam. Although Shumaker did not make the record dive himself, he did pilot the bathyscaph for the world’s second-deepest dive, to 19,000 feet. Shumaker left active duty in 1966 and joined Lockheed where he was chief pilot of the newly constructed Deep Quest manned submersible. He co-founded the Deep Submersible Pilots Association and was active in the Navy League of the United States and the Explorers Club. n



Section News Houston The section is gearing up for its next big event—the Sporting Clays Tournament at the American Shooting Center on February 28. Registration is full, but sponsors are being sought. For more information, go to the section’s Web site at www.mtshouston. org. For more information, contact Co-chair Jennifer Williams at (281) 552-5969. Chair: Evalyn Shea, [email protected]

Japan Section Chair Toshitsugu Sakou (left) greeted guests at the section’s 20th anniversary event in November where Professor Hisaaki Maeda (above) was one of the speakers.

Japan To commemorate its 20th anniversary, the Japan Section had a Special Seminar on November 28 on the Hakuho-Maru, a 3,000-ton research vessel—also 20 years old—moored at the Harumi-Pier of the Port of Tokyo. Section Chair Toshitsugu Sakou gave a welcome speech, summarizing the history of the section, which was organized in 1988. The chair at that time was the late Dr. Kenji Okamura, who was a member of the Board of Directors of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, which had just been established. The introduction was followed by three presentations. Hisaaki Maeda, professor at Nihon University and professor emeritus of the University of Tokyo, spoke on “Status Quo of Marine Science and Technology.” Kazuhisa Kuda, director of the Department of Naval Systems Development, Technical Research and Development Institute, Ministry of Defense, gave a presentation about the department. Hidekazu Tokuyama, a professor with the Ocean Research Institute of the University of Tokyo, spoke on “Ocean Survey and Monitoring— Present and Future.” Section Secretary Hiroyuki Nakahara gave the closing remarks. More than 70 participants enjoyed informative and stimulating talks, which were followed by a guided tour of the vessel. Chair: Toshitsugu Sakou, [email protected] Monterey The Monterey Bay section will hold a wine-tasting meet-andgreet networking opportunity on February 24 from 6:30 p.m.– 8:30 p.m. at Taste of Monterey on Cannery Row. The event is free for members and non-members (bring a friend!). Past-President Bruce C. Gilman, P.E., and President-elect Jerry Boatman will be on hand to welcome and toast all who attend. An afternoon tour of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute is available



for those who are interested. RSVPing for both the tour and the wine-tasting is required. Contact section Chair Jill Zande at (831) 646-3082 or [email protected] to RSVP or for more details. San Diego At a dinner in October, the San Diego section honored its interns and the companies that supported them last summer. Look for the photo and story in the Education News section. Chair: Barbara Fletcher, [email protected] Washington, D.C. The section held its traditional and festive Evening at the U.S. Naval Observatory’s (USNO’s) James Melville Gillis Library in December. Commander Andy Lomax, USNO deputy superintendent, discussed USNO’s mission and history, and provided tours, including a look through one of the primary telescopes at Jupiter and four of its moons. Chair Barry Stamey recognized the passing of Sir Arthur C. Clarke and discussed his love of the oceans as the audience viewed a video message that Sir Arthur prepared for the Oceans 2005 MTS/IEEE Washington, D.C., Conference. Stamey recognized the new section officers, Rusty Mirick, vice-chair; Brent Evers, secretary; and John Fornshell, treasurer, and discussed upcoming plans and opportunities. According to Stamey, “The highlight of the evening was a presentation by Dr. Bob Gagosian, president and CEO of MTS member Consortium for Ocean Leadership. Bob emphasized how important the ocean is to our future. He pointed out that we have an ingrained, land-based perspective that needs to be changed so that we view ‘Planet Ocean’ as it really is. In a fastmoving video, he gave several examples of the challenges of undertaking research at sea and some of the discoveries of the last 30 years, then moved to the importance of the ocean in climate change. He emphasized that if we are to adapt to climate change we need to know what we are adapting to, which results from predictions that require models. And, of course, models require data. This data needs to be collected 24/7, and that can only be accomplished by ocean observatories. He pointed out that technological breakthroughs have now placed us in a position to undertake this challenge.” Stamey closed the evening with a viewing of the video “One Ocean” that captured the theme of the Oceans 2005 Conference and encouraged all to become “One Ocean Resultants.” Chair: Barry Stamey, [email protected] Duke University Jacob Sobin, the instigator of the recent creation of a Duke University Student Section, has graduated and passed his leadership duties to a new president: Andrew Thaler, a Ph.D. student with the Duke Marine Lab. Each of the three entities with members at Duke has a representative: Erin LaBrecque, also a Ph.D. student, is the Marine Lab chair; David Honig, a Ph.D. student at the Nicholas School/Marine Lab, is the Nicholas School Chair; Ashish Gholap, a master’s student in the Pratt School of engineering, is the Pratt School chair. Undergraduates are represented by Undergraduate Chair Lauren Shwisberg, a freshman at Pratt. n

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Professional Committee News

commentary

From the MTS Membership Burt Hamner

Renewable Energy Chair

For clean energy and green jobs, send out the ships

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ver 100 offshore renewable energy projects have been proposed around the U.S. If all were constructed, they would make a big contribution to our energy supply and security. The most recent proposal, for seven offshore wind/wave projects around the country, would cost an estimated $28 billion and create thousands of green jobs. These projects all have one thing in common: ocean surveys are needed for all the proposed sites. The surveys must be geophysical and ecological, and they must establish baseline conditions for installing technologies and monitoring changes in the environment. The first surveys should be high-resolution sidescan sonar imaging of the seabeds in the proposed sites. Then video surveys should examine the ecology. These surveys require ships, crews, equipment, supplies, fuel and more. The incoming administration says it wants “shovel ready” projects to fund in order to create jobs. Our coastal maritime and marine technology communities are ready to go with just a few months’ notice. They will create waterfront jobs and advance the development of clean, renewable energy on our coasts.  Advancing clean energy is not the only opportunity and benefit of these projects. All coastal states want better knowledge of their coastal seas, and NOAA and others are helping them with surveys. Coastal surveys for energy sites can and should be expanded to include areas of particular concern for fisheries and research. This means more jobs, more knowledge and a more sustainable future. Perhaps even more ocean renewable energy opportunities can be discovered. The marine technology and maritime communities are “propeller ready” for ocean surveys. The new administration should create an Ocean Discovery Fund that supports surveys for ocean renewable energy and sustainable management of coastal zones. There are few better ways to create lots of jobs and economic activity right now in clear, direct support of a blue energy future. n

Support your industry! Donate to MTS Scholarships. www.mtsociety.org/shop Currents 

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Marine minerals meeting draws worldwide expertise By John Wiltshire Marine Minerals Committee Chair

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n November, 90 people attended the Underwater Mining Institute (UMI) at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, an annual meeting that draws on the worldwide expertise of researchers; industry professionals; and environmental, resource, and policy managers to provide the latest information relevant to seabed minerals. The MTS Marine Minerals Committee is a major sponsor of UMI, and the conference serves as the committee’s annual meeting. This year’s conference included presentations from distinguished professionals representing an excellent group of international firms that have in recent years been making solid progress toward the development of reliable technologies for marine mining. There were two presentations from the large Dutch commercial research organization MTI Holland/IHC Merwede, accounts of two new breakthrough technologies for sulfide mineral exploration, reviews of the technological progress made to date by Neptune Minerals and the Chinese deep seabed mining engineering group, and a special session sponsored by the host organization, the Mississippi Mineral Resources Institute, that focused on the exciting new technology developments being made by this group for the exploration of marine hydrate deposits. Among the important presentations on environmental impacts was one by MTS member Dr. Philomene Verlaan, who delivered a review and analysis of the IMMS Code

for Environmental Management of Marine Mining. The code was originally adopted by the society in 2001 to provide independent policy guidance for commercial developers and regulators in an effort to promote the responsible development and adequate environmental controls for marine miners. Verlaan presented her recommendations of how the Code should be updated and an analysis of suggested changes she received from others. Other presentations on this topic focused on the imminent commercial developments of deep seabed hydrothermal sulfide deposits and included the perspectives of commercial developers (Nautilus Minerals and Neptune Minerals) and academic researchers from Duke University and Pennsylvania State University. In other subject areas, there were presentations from all of the three executive officers who, collectively, have managed the remarkable ascension of Nautilus Minerals, two very interesting geochemical/biological studies of ferromanganese deposits, three presentations of new geological and geochemical advances in the understanding of hydrothermal sulfide deposits, two very different perspectives regarding the potential commercial recovery of methane hydrates, and a special presentation by Prof. Cornel de Ronde describing the Society of Economic Geologists and their potential relationships to the MTS Marine Minerals Committee. The minerals meeting provides perhaps the most appropriate setting to discuss these and other related issues of timely interest. We have an See Committees on page 8



Business News £10,000,000 Saltire Prize seeks ocean energy innovation

Editor’s Note: Prizes, government contracts, funding opportunities, scholarships and much more are published monthly in the MTS E-News. If you haven’t been opening the E-News, you’ve been missing out!

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he Scottish government’s £10 million Saltire Prize has officially opened for registration. The purpose of the prize is to stimulate innovation across the world that will lead to delivery of the best wave and tidal energy technology. The Saltire Prize will be awarded to the individual, team or organization that can demonstrate in Scottish waters a commercially viable wave or tidal energy technology that achieves a minimum electrical output of 100 gigawatt hours over a continuous two-year period using only the power of the sea and is judged to be the best overall technology after consideration of cost, environmental sustainability and safety. To register interest in the Saltire Prize, look for the registration form at www.saltireprize.com.The finalized guidelines will be published by June 30. Registration of interest will also ensure you receive a copy of the full application pack and guidelines at that time. n Fluor Opens New Unit MTS member Fluor Corporation has formed a new unit within its upstream business line to focus on the offshore oil and gas market. Fluor Offshore Solutions will be headquartered at Fluor’s Sugar Land, Texas, location and have offices in Trinidad, Abu Dhabi and Manila. Fluor Offshore Solutions will offer clients a range of services, including studies, engineering, procurement, fabrication, installation, commissioning and other related services. Web link: www.fluor.com Developers Sought The Crown Estate has invited proposals from developers to install the U.K.’s first commercial marine power sites in the area around Pentland Firth in north Scotland. This first round of development is intended to generate 700 megawatts of clean electricity from wave and tidal sources by 2020. The announcement comes a few months after the U.K.’s first commercial-scale marine turbine, SeaGen, was plugged into the national grid at Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland. The Crown Estate said that the initial machines it plans to commission will be full-size demonstration devices deployed in small arrays. Large-scale



marine devices would require more investment in the national grid to carry the power to where it is needed. DOF Wins Contract MTS member DOF Subsea has been awarded a $6.3 million contract by Encana Corporation to provide specialist subsea services from multipurpose support vessel Skandi Bergen on the Deep Panuke project offshore Nova Scotia, Canada. The scope of work, which will be managed by DOF Subsea Canada, includes the removal of sections of decommissioned cables and flowlines, pre-lay survey and wellhead measurement. The Deep Panuke project involves the installation of facilities required to produce and process natural gas, which will be processed offshore and transported via subsea pipeline to Nova Scotia. First gas from Deep Panuke is expected in 2010. Web link: www.geoconsult.no J P Kenny on Project The South West Regional Development Agency (RDA) has selected MTS member J P Kenny, a unit of John Wood Group, to manage the design, procurement and construction of the Wave Hub renewable energy project 16 kilometers off the coast

of South West England. The RDA is leading the development of Wave Hub, which will create the world’s largest wave energy farm. Wave Hub will be an electrical “socket” on the seabed connected to the national grid via a subsea cable. With a capacity of up to 20 megawatts, it will allow the pre-commercial testing of wave energy devices on a grand scale. The project will

Committees

employ technology developed by Pelamis Wave Power. Web link: www.jpkenny.com Odyssey Marine TV Show MTS member Odyssey Marine Exploration and the Discovery Channel kicked off the first of an 11-part series called “Treasure Quest” on January 15. Among those featured in the new series is MTS member Tom Dettweiler, who was the leader of the team that discovered the Titanic. “Treasure Quest” combines the search for treasure with cutting-edge technology and the stories of the historic ships and those who sailed them. In November, the company filed its Response to Spain’s Motion to Dismiss or for Summary Judgment in the Black Swan admiralty case pending in U.S. Federal Court in Tampa, Fla. In its pleadings, Odyssey asserts that the See Business News on page 9

Remote Sensing The committee will be playing a major role in the OCEANS’09 MTS/IEEE Biloxi Conference next October in Mississippi. Herb Ripley, committee chair, has been asked to be on the Conference Technical Program Committee, and the goal is to have as many as eight sessions devoted to remote sensing. Stefano Vignudelli, committee vice chair, has agreed to work closely with Ripley to help pull together these ses-

sions. Currently, it is anticipated that there will be sessions on satellite altimetry, hyperspectral, marine lidar, SAR, marine winds from space, multispectral and digital photography. The committee has undertaken the task of publishing two new reference posters. These posters will deal with both spaceborne and airborne sensor systems and will detail what applications each is most suited to. It is hoped to have these posters ready for distribution in mid-2009. Anyone interested in working on a poster technical review team is asked to contact Herb Ripley. Ideally, each poster would have a three-person team. These posters will make ideal reference materials and will be designed for wall mounting. Chair: Herb Ripley, herb@ hyperspectralimage.com n

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continued from page 7 established history of fostering multidisciplinary debate on complex topics related to seabed development. Next September, the UMI meeting will be held in Gelendzhik, Russia, and hosted by the State Scientific Centre Yuzhmorgeologiya. n

Business News continued from page 8 Black Swan site and the cargo recovered do not represent an entity to which sovereign immunity would apply. In other news, the company has filed Admiralty Arrest Complaints in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida on two separate shipwreck sites it recently located in the north Atlantic Ocean. The sites are believed to be the remains of steel-hulled vessels. For the third quarter of 2008, Odyssey reported revenue of $2.2 million, compared to $1.3 million in the third quarter 2007. The company also reported a net loss of $6.5 million, compared to a net loss of $5.4 million in the third quarter 2007. The net loss per share for the third quarter 2008 was $.13, compared to a net loss of $.11 per share in the third quarter 2007. Web link: www.shipwreck.ne Grays Harbor Formed MTS member and Renewable Energy Committee Chair Burton Hamner has formed a new company to develop offshore wave/wind renewable energy projects. The Grays Harbor Ocean Energy Company LLC has filed applications for preliminary permits to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to develop 1,000-megawatt offshore wave/wind projects at seven sites in six states. The projects are certain to be a test case for resolving questions about permit jurisdiction between FERC and the Minerals Management Service. Using U.K. offshore wind farm construction costs, the seven 1,000-megawatt projects would cost about $28 billion to build.  Web link: www.graysharboroceanenergy.com

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SeaKeepers’ New Partnership MTS member The International SeaKeepers Society has a new partnership with Palladium Technologies, which will create an onboard graphical interface for the SeaKeeper 1000™ ocean and atmospheric monitoring system. Palladium will incorporate the data collected from the SeaKeeper 1000™ system with the company’s flagship product, the SiMON alarm and monitoring control network. Web link: www.seakeepers.com Maine Task Force An Ocean Energy Task Force has been established in Maine to look at strategies for ocean-based wind energy, tidal and wave energy, as well as for updating information regarding offshore oil and gas resources and technology. The task force will report interim findings to the state’s governor by April 1. Technip Contracts MTS member Technip reported third quarter revenue of €1.9 billion, €789 million of which was from the company’s subsea division. This represents a drop from €2.16 billion in the third quarter of 2007. Technip’s net income rose to €121 million in the third quarter of 2008, and the company reported a backlog of €7.7 billion and total net cash of €1.555 billion. Technip is expecting group revenue of €7.3 billion for the full year of 2008, with subsea revenue of around €2.6 billion. Technip will expand its Asiaflex Products manufacturing facility to include the production of subsea umbilical systems as of 2010. A manufacturing facility is under construction in Tanjung Lansat, Malaysia, on schedule to deliver flexible pipe and umbilicals in 2010. The facility will serve deepwater oil and gas

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markets in the Asia-Pacific, India and Middle East regions. Technip has received a $180.5 million contract from Aker Installation Floating Production for the second phase of development of the MA D6 oil field offshore eastern India, which is scheduled for the first half of 2009. Technip plans to expand its Angoflex umbilical manufacturing plant in Lobito, Angola, to meet a growing demand for longer length and larger diameter umbilicals in West Africa. The expansion of the facility is expected to be completed by 2010. Web link: www.technip.com Oceaneering Contract MTS member Oceaneering International has secured a one-year term contract with estimated revenue in the range of $25 million to $30 million for use of the MSV Ocean Intervention and other related services, starting in February. The contract contains a customer option for a one-year extension. The customer has contracted Oceaneering to conduct inspection, repair and maintenance of deepwater subsea facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. Web link: www.oceaneering.com Slower Ships Ships along major East Coast shipping routes in the U.S. are now required to travel at no more than 10 knots in designated areas. NOAA imposed the speed restrictions in December in an effort to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales, whose migratory route crosses major shipping lanes. The speed restrictions extend 20 nautical miles out from major East Coast ports. Multi-Year Contract MTS member C-Innovation has been awarded a multi-year

ROV operational contract by Heerema Marine Contractors for seven ROV systems starting in 2009. C-Innovation’s high-specification Schilling Robotics UHD’s, combined with new situational awareness subsea visualization, navigation and worldwide satellite communications, provide an operational convergence with Heerema Marine Contractors’ subsea operational goals for the future. ROV operations will be coordinated by C-Innovation from the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil, North Sea and West Africa to support Heerema Marine Contractors’ worldwide operations. Web link: www.mtllc.us PowerBuoy Installed Ocean Power Technologies has installed one of its PowerBuoy wave power generation units off Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay on the island of Oahu under the company’s ongoing program with the U.S. Navy. In the quarter ending October 31, the company showed revenue of $0.7 million and operating losses of $5.4 million for the second quarter. The company’s fiscal year runs through April 30, 2009. Web link: www.oceanpowertechnologies.com/ OTEC Pilot Plant Hawaii will be home to a 10megawatt ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) pilot plant through a partnership between the Taiwan Industrial Technology Research Institute and Lockheed Martin. The ocean temperatures and the subsea terrain make the waters surrounding Taiwan and Hawaii ideal for this technology. Lockheed Martin has developed and studied OTEC technology for three decades, and plans for the plant are already underway. See Business News on page 10



Business News continued from page 9 ISE Signs for Two AUVs International Submarine Engineering has signed a contract to supply and operate two Explorer autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). The AUVs will be used under the ice in the Lincoln Sea, supporting Canada’s seabed survey program in 2010 and 2011. The contract calls for the build of two Explorer AUVs rated to a depth of 5,000 meters. NRCan requirements call for a payload configuration consisting of both single and multibeam echosounders, and an inertial navigation system with external acoustic homing. Web link: www.ise.bc.ca Seeing with Seaeye Researchers can view video images on the Internet from a working Saab Seaeye Falcon ROV from MTS member Saab Seaeye as it works from an unmanned experimental laboratory off Vancouver Island, Canada. At the same time, a 3-D image of the vehicle in operation is also displayed online. Conceived by the Ocean Technology Laboratory team at the University of Victoria, the subsea hub platform is the first undersea laboratory with its own resident ROV. Real-time access over the Internet will allow researchers to monitor and conduct tests on equipment from anywhere in the world. The subsea laboratory—Ocean Technology Test Bed (OTTB)—is designed to exploit the potential of the Internet in accessing subsea research projects relating to the development of ocean technologies. The company has expanded its production capacity by 50 percent with the opening of a new 24,000-square-foot factory in Fareham, Hampshire, U.K.

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Custom-built facilities have been integrated into the new building, including a training area, production cells and dedicated test areas, providing onsite space for customerready control containers and launch-and-recovery systems linked into the factory for final ROV integration. Web link: www.seaeye.com MBARI Instrument Battelle is launching a cooperative effort with MTS member Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) and NOAA to manufacture and commercialize an analytical instrument that will help scientists understand and predict climate change. This new instrument measures the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) in the ocean and atmosphere. The information is needed to understand the global ocean uptake of atmospheric CO2. The autonomous pCO2 monitoring system will be manufactured at Battelle’s specialized scientific instrument manufacturing facility in Columbus, Ohio, and will be commercially available next summer. RBR Ltd. is working with MBARI to develop PUCK-enabled instruments. Such instruments facilitate integration of RBR sensors into monitoring networks using the PUCK protocol to configure real-time settings and upload data. An RBR instrument is part of a current MBARI demonstration of a network of diverse instruments using IEEE-1451, Sensor Web Enablement and PUCK standards. Web links: www. rbr-global.com, www.mbari. org/pw/puck.htm U.K.’s Ocean Energy A £1 million research initiative to reduce costs of marine energy using innovative technologies transferred from

ISE will deliver two AUVs to Natural Resources Canada.

traditional industries was unveiled in December by the U.K.’s Carbon Trust. The research initiative, which focuses on component technology innovation, is part of a wider set of Carbon Trust activities to drive down costs in the marine energy sector and make marine power a commercial reality by 2020. Energy from wave and tidal power could provide up to 20 percent of the U.K.’s current electricity and has the potential to cut carbon dioxide by tens of millions of tons. Ultimately, the global estimated value of worldwide electricity revenues from wave and tidal stream projects could be between £60–£190 billion a year. Blackwater’s Navy Following the hijacking of a Ukranian ship by Somali pirates, Blackwater Worldwide, the North Carolina-based private military contractor, plans to provide escort services for ships in the Gulf of Aden that need security. Wind Project Abandoned British oil supermajor Royal Dutch Shell and its partners have withdrawn from a major U.K. wind energy project. The consortium of Shell, Scottish

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Power and Denmark’s Dong Energy have abandoned the Cirrus Array project off the northwest coast after denying earlier that it had exited the project. The project had been blighted by concerns from the Ministry of Defense over radar interference from turbines. Searching for Wrecks UnderSea Recovery plans to rapidly expand its operations by leveraging its proprietary marine detection technology in the search and recovery of historic shipwrecks. The company is in discussions in Mexico concerning its proposal to procure permits to explore for historic shipwrecks in the territorial waters of Mexico. It will be negotiating with the National Institute of Anthropology and History and other agencies for the appropriate survey agreements. The company is developing proprietary shallow-water detection technology and continuing to develop its deep-water proprietary location and recovery technologies, including a 3-D high-resolution sub-bottom imaging sonar and a system of rapidly-reconfigurable polymorphic remotely operated devices. Web link: www.unsr. com. n JA N UA RY / F E B RUA RY 2 0 0 9

Science & Technology News Chikyu Repairs Repair work on the damaged azimuth thruster gears of the deep-sea drilling vessel Chikyu began in October at the Sasebo Shipyard in Japan. The Japan Agency for MarineEarth Science and Technology expects all repairs to be completed and shakedown operations conducted by May 2009, when the Chikyu will resume NanTroSEIZE drilling operations with Expedition 319, off the coast of Japan’s Kii Peninsula. Revised Drilling Plans Due to changing drilling vessel schedules and fiscal constraints, revised plans have been applied to the IODP expedition schedule for fiscal years 2009 and 2010: (1) Two Pacific Equatorial Age Transect (USIO) expeditions comprise the first scientific operations aboard the newly refurbished JOIDES Resolution, followed by Bering Sea and Shatsky Rise late in fiscal year 2009, (2) Canterbury Basin and Wilkes Land (USIO) have been deferred to fiscal year 2010 operations, (3) The Great Barrier Reef (ESO), renamed Great Barrier Reef Environmental Changes, is scheduled for late 2009, (4) Chikyu will operate for around 150 days in the NanTroSEIZE region in fiscal year 2009, (5) operations for two currently scheduled NanTroSEIZE expeditions (CDEX) are slated to start in May 2009. Web Link: www. iodp.org/expeditions

with a subsurface opening. As waves come in and out, the water level inside the chamber goes up and down. The moving surface of the water forces air trapped above it to flow into and out of an opening that leads to an electricity-generating turbine. The turbine’s blades always rotate in the same direction, despite the changing direction of the air stream as the waves come in and out. The challenge is to design a device that resonates and thus operates efficiently at a broad spectrum of wave frequencies, and an unexpected finding from the MIT analysis provides a means of achieving that effect. The key is the compressibility of the air inside the OWC chamber. That compressibility cannot be changed, but its impact on the elevation of the water can be, simply by changing the size of the OWC chamber. The simulations showed that using a large chamber causes resonance to occur at a wider range of wavelengths, so more of the energy in a given wave can be captured. The lead MIT researcher, Chiang Mei, the Ford Professor of Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is currently working with graduate students on wave power absorbers on coastlines of different geometries and on how to extract wave power from an array of many absorbers.

of the observatory was coordinated by MTS member Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). The MARS Observatory, which is operated remotely, serves as both a “power strip” and a “high-speed internet connection” for scientific instruments in the deep sea. The heart of the observatory consists of two titanium pressure cylinders packed with computer networking and power distribution equipment. These cylinders are nestled within a protective metal pyramid on the deep seafloor. This central hub is connected to shore by a 52-kilometer-long cable that can carry up to 10,000 watts of power and two gigabits per second of data. Most of the cable is buried a meter below the seafloor. Web link: www. mbari.org

Better Wave Device MIT researchers are working with Portuguese colleagues to design a pilot-scale oscillating water column (OWC) device that will capture significantly more of the energy in ocean waves than existing systems, and use it to power an electricity-generating turbine. Situated on or near the shore, an OWC consists of a chamber

MARS Goes Live The Monterey Accelerated Research System (MARS)—the first deep-sea ocean observatory offshore of the continental United States—went “live” in November, returning the first scientific data from 900 meters below the ocean surface. The system was six years and $13.5 million dollars in the making. Construction

Grays’ Paradox Solved Armed with cutting-edge flow measurement technology, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have tackled the problem and conclusively solved Gray’s Paradox. Sir James Gray concluded in 1936 that the muscles of dolphins simply weren’t strong enough to support swimming at more than 20 miles an hour. Timothy

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This illustration shows the layout of the Monterey Accelerated Research System (MARS) Observatory. (Graphic courtesy of David Fierstein© 2005 MBARI)

Wei, professor and acting dean of Rensselaer’s School of Engineering, developed a new state-of-the-art water flow diagnostic technology by modifying and combining force measurement tools developed for aerospace research with a video-based flow measurement technique known as Digital Particle Image Velocimetry, which can capture up to 1,000 video frames per second, concluding that “dolphins are simply much stronger than Gray or many other people ever imagined.” Scripps Expedition During research expeditions in Mexico, scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego, captured unprecedented details of vibrant sea life and ecosystems in the Gulf of California. The expedition found new species and marine animals previously never seen alive while revealing disturbing declines in sea-life populations and evidence that human impacts have stretched deep into the Gulf. Large schools of fish documented in earlier expeditions at locations such as El Bajo seamount have vanished. The researchers also See Science & Tech on page 12

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Science & Technology News continued from page 11 say depths at comparable areas, such as Cocos Island off Costa Rica, reveal much more marine life and healthier ecosystems than those studied in the Gulf of California that are impacted by fishing and pollution. Although the evidence of human encroachment was plentiful, the researchers also traveled to remote locations where sea populations thrived, destinations where human impacts are reduced or virtually non-existent. Real Kelp, Fake Reef The world’s first artificial kelp reef was officially completed in November. The 175acre reef was constructed by dumping 120,000 tons of rock ranging from the size of a soccer ball to a miniature refrigerator in a patchwork over an area about 1 mile by 2.5 miles at a depth of 30 to 50 feet 2 miles south of San Clemente Pier, San Diego. The reef was undertaken by Southern California Edison to make up for environmental damage caused by the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. The reef is named for the late Wheeler North, a California Institute of Technology scientist and kelp researcher. Fake Muscle, Real Power SRI International used the waters off the Santa Cruz Harbor to test technology that it calls “artificial muscle.” Researchers were looking for a way to power ocean buoys without batteries. The wavepowered generator uses SRI’s Electroactive Polymer Artificial Muscle (EPAM), a rubbery material that can generate electricity by simply being stretched and allowed to return to its original shape with no need for complicated and costly hydraulic transmis-

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sions, typically found in other wave-power generators. Since this solution requires few moving parts and is based on relatively low-cost polymers, there is great potential for low-cost production of electricity, the non-profit research institute said. Scottish Algae Biofuels Scientists in Scotland and Ireland won European funding for a new research project to create “mari-fuels”—the marine equivalent to plantbased biofuels. Marine scientists based in Oban north of Glasgow are to lead a €6 million research program to investigate ways of converting seaweeds and plant algae into fuel as an alternative to the increasingly controversial use of food crops to produce biofuels. The Scottish Association for Marine Sciences laboratory has been pioneering techniques for exploiting the kelp, which, unlike the plants currently used for bio-diesel, naturally grows at an extremely fast rate. Acid Levels Rising Rising acid levels in the Southern Ocean off Antarctica will start destroying sealife three decades earlier than previously thought according to new findings by Ben McNeil of the University of New South Wales, and Dr. Richard Matea of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. Scientists had predicted that when carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached 550 parts per million—compared with about 383 parts per million today— the oceans would become so acidic that the calcium in the shells of sea creatures would start dissolving. However, it was thought it would take 60 to 100 years for such a “tipping point” to be reached.

Weird Microbe Diet An unusual microorganism discovered in the open ocean may force scientists to rethink their understanding of how carbon and nitrogen cycle through ocean ecosystems. The organism seems to be an atypical member of the cyanobacteria, a group of photosynthetic bacteria formerly known as blue-green algae. Unlike all other known free-living cyanobacteria, this one lacks some of the genes needed to carry out photosynthesis, but it provides natural fertilizer to the oceans by “fixing” nitrogen from the atmosphere into a form useable by other organisms. Without photosynthesis, it can’t take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and convert it into sugars. So it’s not clear how the new microbe feeds itself. Either it has some way of feeding on organic matter in its environment, or it lives in close association with other organisms that provide it with food. Seismometer Memory Researchers from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and the Spanish Council for Scientific Research have developed an ocean bed seismometer that operates using a data acquisition and storage system based on CompactFlash memory cards such as those used in commercial digital cameras. The machine’s low energy consumption means it can operate independently for two months at depths of up to 6,000 meters. Thanks to its low-consumption batteries, the machine can monitor earth tremors using passive seismic techniques for long continuous periods in the ocean depths. Vortex Energy A University of Michigan engineer has made a machine that works like a fish to turn

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potentially destructive vibrations in fluid flows into clean, renewable power. The machine, VIVACE for Vortex Induced Vibrations for Aquatic Clean Energy, is the first known device that could harness energy from most of the water currents around the globe because it works in flows moving slower than 2 knots. Turbines and water mills need an average of 5 or 6 knots to operate efficiently. VIVACE uses a hydrokinetic energy system that relies on “vortex-induced vibrations,” which are undulations that a rounded or cylinder-shaped object makes in a flow of fluid, which can be air or water. The presence of the object puts kinks in the current’s speed as it skims by. This causes eddies, or vortices, to form in a pattern on opposite sides of the object. The vortices push and pull the object up and down or left and right, perpendicular to the current. Working Wave Plant A wave energy plant in the sea outside Lysekil, Sweden, has been successfully producing energy on and off for three years. According to Science Daily, the station is durable and maintenance free, thanks to its simple mechanical construction. The generator is a linear generator rather than an ordinary generator, which transforms rotation energy to electricity. “This means that a wave energy station with an ordinary generator needs energy transmission systems such as gear boxes or hydraulic systems and other complicated details that wear out and require much more maintenance than a linear operation,” according to Rafael Waters of Uppsala University Division of Electricity. Two more plants will be added next year and connected to one of the world’s first wave energy parks. n JA N UA RY / F E B RUA RY 2 0 0 9

Education News

San Diego Interns and Organizations Honored

San Diego Interns and the places they interned last summer, front row from left: Kathleen Doan-Ha, Sidus Solutions; Tammy Tran, Merkel; Kate Lee Newcomb, SeaBotix; Courtney Prodor, Scripps; Devyn Stewart, Scripps; Mike Gorney, SeekTech. Back row, from left: Irving Torres, Teledyne RDI; George Santellano, Fugro Pelagos; Alex Chang, SAIC; William Zhang, Merkel; Thomas Rode, InterOcean Systems; Simon Weber, SonTek; Mick Hammock, Hubbs; Anthony Tran, Hubbs. Internship Program Chair Larry Nordell is third from the right in back. Two students who interned at Scripps could not attend.

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elebrating 10 years of its high school intern program, the San Diego Section held its annual Intern Appreciation dinner last October at Tom Ham’s Lighthouse restaurant. Eighteen interns in grades 10 and 11 were sponsored last summer,

performing tasks such as plankton counting, electronics assembly, quality assurance, fish tanks cleaning, and documentation. During the dinner, both the interns and the participating organizations were

honored. In some cases the students’ internships were sponsored by a company or organization other than the one they interned with. The caption above lists the companies the students interned with. Funding for these intern-

ships came from the San Diego Section; MTS members Teledyne RDI, Fugro Pelagos, SAIC, SeaBotix, SonTek/YSI; and Sidus Solutions, Merkel, Unified Port of San Diego, AUVSI, SeekTech, InterOcean Systems and Impulse. The student are enthusiastic about their experiences, and the effect on their futures is evident in this message from 11th grader Mike Gorney: “I just finished my six-week internship at Seektech. While there I was working with two other interns to design a low-cost heliostat with a magnetic drive. I was using solid works to design the body of the heliostat, and I made the arms with metal bars that I bent with a bender. I did a lot of research on heliostats, magnetic drives, and coordination of heliostat mirrors. It was somewhat hard, mostly because it was my first job. But everyone there was very friendly and helped me with anything I needed. After this internship I am seriously considering becoming an engineer.” n

Stu Burley’s passions: ROVs and students By Kathy Yim Hawaii Section Secretary

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assion is defined as a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object or concept. Stewart “Stu” Burley can be described as having passion—a passion for ROVs. Stu has been a long-time member of the MTS ROV Committee, so when the committee broached the idea of building small ROVs in the classroom, he jumped on the opportunity. Stu initiated research, knowing that Kauai, Hawaii, had no ROV programs—this would be a first of its kind. High school physics teacher Laura Mission sought and received $5,000 in funding from a program of the Kauai Economic Development Board called Aloha Ike, which means “to love learning” in Hawaiian. Stu got his employer, Computer Science Corporation, to add money, and together the funds allowed him to set up an ROV program with 12 seniors in Laura’s class at Waimea High School (WHS). Stu also donated money out of his own pocket, and continues to fund programs today. The students met once a week and built a small ROV. When Stu learned about ROV competitions at the University of Hawaii on Oahu and the Big Island Regional on Hawaii Island in Hilo, the team built a larger ROV and entered both competitions. At the Big

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Island Regional competition, the ROV team received top honors in engineering in 2005-2006. In only its second year, 2006-2007, the team placed second in the overall competition. The interest in and awareness of ROVs is growing fast and furious on the island of Kauai, attributable to the numerous community appearances by Stu and the ROV school teams. At present, Stu works with six schools—from elementary to high school— of which five are building ROVs and plan to compete. Besides teaching and getting students excited about underwater robotics, Stu has a bigger mission and a more important message to convey. He is adamant that his high school seniors attend college and do so on scholarships. Going above and beyond his “ROV duties,” Stu educates his students about scholarships and assists them with their applications. He is proud to report that the first 12 seniors from the first ROV team on Kauai are all attending college on scholarships. Passion aptly describes Stu Burley. He gives selflessly of his time and resources to inspire the bright and talented students on Kauai with his passion for science and technology. As his students would surely attest, Stu is definitely making a difference on the island of Kauai. n

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Legislative News Cabinet Appointments Jane Lubchenco, an Oregon State University marine biologist, was tapped by the Obama administration to head NOAA. According to the Washington Post, “Lubchenco, a conservationist who has devoted much of her career to encouraging scientists to become more engaged in public policy debates, is also a vocal proponent of curbing greenhouse gases linked to global warming.” Obama named John P. Holdren, a Harvard physicist best known as a proponent of cutting emissions of heat-trapping gasses, intensifying energy research and limiting the spread of nuclear weapons, as his science adviser. Dr. Stephen Chu moved from a position as director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to secretary of energy. Ken Salazar, former senator from Colorado, was tapped to be secretary of the interior. Interior includes the Minerals Management Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service. Obama Team Presentation Dr. Robert Gagosian, president of MTS member Consortium for Ocean Leadership, represented the ocean science community in a December meeting with the Obama Presidential Transition Team. In his presentation, Gagosian focused on energy and climate issues and noted the existence of a federal agency document— the Ocean Research Priorities Plan (produced by the Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology)—to address research. The plan is ready to be implemented but has not been appropriately funded. “The meeting was an extraordinary event and a huge opportunity for our community to demonstrate the challenges facing our nation and the role and opportunities that ocean science has in addressing and mitigating those challenges,” Gagosian noted in the consortium’s newsletter.

Changes on Capitol Hill U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) is now the chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, while Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) remains as the ranking member on the committee. Senator Inouye passed the gavel of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee to John Rockefeller (D-WV), and the loss of Ted Stevens (R-AK) means that Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) will be the ranking member. In the House, the biggest change in committee leadership is that Henry Waxman (D-CA) will now chair the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Bills’ Passages Look Up As Currents went to press, the future of the fiscal year 2009 appropriation bills has become more apparent. With only 3 out of 12 funding bills signed into law, the bulk of the domestic spending programs has been under a continuing resolution since October 1. With the election of Barack Obama, House and Senate Democrats said they planned on conferencing the remaining funding bills and presenting the new President with an omnibus spending bill once he’s sworn into office in January. According to the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, this news bodes well for science funding, as the current House and Senate bills provide increased funding for science at the various ocean agencies, including the NSF, NOAA and NASA. Once the fiscal year 2009 spending bills are completed, appropriators will move quickly to present a large economic stimulus spending package to the President and then start the fiscal year 2010 budget process. n

Resource News ODP Index The recently published cumulative index to the Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) renders more than 22 years of scientific material from a broad range of marine geoscience subdisciplines into a comprehensive reference tool. Web link: www-odp.tamu.edu/publications Census Report In November, the Census of Marine Life, comprising scientists from 82 nations, issued its fourth global report. The report details major progress towards the first ever marine life census, which will be released in October 2010. Web link: www.coml.org MPA Framework The Framework for the National System of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) of the United States has been released. It provides overarching guidance for collaborative efforts among federal, state, commonwealth, territorial, tribal and local governments; and stakeholders to develop an effective national system of MPAs from existing sites and identify gaps in the protection of significant natural and cultural resources. Web link: mpa.gov/ national_system/final_framework_sup.html

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Climate Choices The National Academies have officially launched a new, congressionally requested study called “America’s Climate Choices.” This suite of activities provides policy-relevant advice, based on scientific evidence, to guide the nation’s response to climate change. Five consensus reports will be released in 2009 and 2010. Web link: dels.nas.edu/basc/climate-change/news_ archive.shtml#launch Ocean Blog The Consortium for Ocean Leadership has started a blog to encourage interested persons to share their thoughts on the consortium’s news and announcements, and engage Ocean Leadership in a dialogue or pursue a conversation with the rest of the science community. Web Link: oceanleadership.blogspot.com 2008 Coastal Report The Environmental Protection Agency released the 2008 National Coastal Condition Report in December. The reports describe the ecological and environmental conditions in U.S. coastal waters. Web link: www.epa.gov/owow/oceans/nccr n

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Ocean Community Calendar FEBRUARY 17–19 1st Annual Subsea Technical Conference Perth, Western Australia www.promaco.com.au/2009/sut

MARCH 31–APRIIL 2 Offshore Asia Conference & Exhibition Bankok, Thailand www.offshoreasiaevent.com

MAY 21–23 6th European Seminar: Offshore Wind and Other Marine Renewable Energy in Mediterranean and European Seas Brindisi, Italy http://www.owemes.org/new/download/ owemes_09.pdf

MARCH 3–5 Underwater Intervention Conference New Orleans, La. www.underwaterintervention.com

APRIL 1–2 Offshore Survey09 Technical Conference Southampton, U.K. www.offshoresurvey.co.uk

MARCH 16–22 5th World Water Forum Instanbul, Turkey www.worldwaterforum5.org

APRIL 27–30 ICES Deep-Sea Symposium Horta, Azores, Portugal www.turangra.com/deepocean

MARCH 22–26 NACE Atlanta, Ga. www.nace.org

APRIL 29–MAY 1 ENTELEC 2009 Houston, Texas www.entelec.org

JUNE 11–9 Undersea Defence Technology (UDT) Europe 2009 Cannes, France www.udt-europe.com/udteurope2009.asp

MARCH 23–27 Marine Geoscience Leadership Symposium Washington, D.C. oceanleadership.org/mgls

MAY 4–7 Offshore Technology Conference Reliance Center Houston, Texas www.otcnet.org/2009

JUNE 16–18 Seawork 2009 Southhampton, U.K. www.seawork.com

MARCH 31–APRIL 2 Ocean Business 2009 Southampton, U.K. www.oceanbusiness.com

MAY 11–14 OCEAN’09 IEEE Bremen Bremen, Germany www.oceans09ieeebremen.org

JUNE 16–18 EnergyOcean 2009 Rockport, Me. www.energyocean.com

MARCH 31–APRIIL 2 5th International Conference on Bio-Acoustics Loughborough, U.K. bioacoustics2009.lboro.ac.uk

MAY 11–14 U.S. Hydro 2009 Norfolk, Va. www.hypack.com/hydro09

JUNE 17–19 TRANS-NAV 2009 Gdynia, Poland transnav.am.gdynia.pl

JUNE 8–12 American Society of Marine Engineers Turbo Expos Orlando, Fla. www.asmeconferences.org/TE09

AUGUST 23–26 16th International Symposium on Unmanned Untethered Submersible Technology Durham, N.H. ausi.org/events/uust AUGUST 30–SEPTEMBER 4 18th International Mass Spectrometry Conference Bremen, Germany www.imsc-bremen-2009 SEPTEMBER 9–11 Offshore Europe 2009 Aberdeen, U.K. www.offshore-europe.co.uk SEPTEMBER 13–17 GITA: 186h Annual GIS for Oil and Gas Conference 2009 Houston, Texas www.gita.org/events/oil_gas/09 OCTOBER 13–14 MTS Dynamic Positioning Conference Houston, Texas www.dynamic-positioning.com/next_ conference.html OCTOBER 26–29 OCEANS’09 MTS/IEEE Biloxi Biloxi, Mississippi www.oceans09mtsieeebiloxi.org

General Issue

Winter 2008/2009, Volume 42, Number 4 Papers in this general issue cover a wide variety of topics, including the use of low-cost AUVs to carry out rapid environmental assessments, observations of the Middle Island sinkhole in Lake Huron using stereo-video for deepwater benthic habitat surveys, and computer modeling and submarine technologies in marine archaeology.

Online Now!

Coming in March: The first MTS Journal devoted to papers by student authors. Guest edited by Katherine Croff of the University of Rhode Island, this issue will present work from the bright minds who will lead the marine technology field in coming decades. This is the first issue of the expanded offering of the Journal, which is moving toward publishing six issues a year.

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Support Scholarships! Houston Honors Scholarship Winners

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huck Richards (standing, third from left), chair of the Houston Section Scholarship Committee, was among the audience applauding winners of MTS Houston Section scholarships at the Texas A&M University Scholarship Banquet in College Station in October. The Houston Section gave scholarships to these MTS student members who are pictured standing from left: Richard Erwin (Dr. John C. Freeman Scholarship), Jack Fernandez (Wayne Ingram Scholarship), John Bandas (C.A. Richards Scholarship) and, sitting, Jillian Van Zandt (Glenn Lochte Scholarship) and Gavin Blockhus (Dr. John C. Freeman Scholarship). n

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