Month: September 2020

The SUT are looking for a new CEO

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We are looking for a person with excellent leadership and inter-personal skills and preferably someone who has extensive experience in directing/managing SME businesses/organisations to manage the affairs of the SUT .

You would act as the Society’s principal point of contact with the world outside of the Society and promote or enhance the Society’s standing with the public, government, other organisations, and the industries with which the Society and its members are involved. Knowledge of the ocean, marine and subsea arena is useful but not essential. 

A high-level qualification in science, technology, or business is preferred and the successful candidate will have an extensive working knowledge of international activities. Business development is  key part of the role to ensure the financial stability of the organisation. 

There is a small UK based secretariat to manage, we are moving to a home-based working arrangement although we anticipate semi-regular FtF meetings in the UK SE Region.  Some international travel is expected in the future. 

If you are interested in applying for this new exciting opportunity, please click here to apply or contact David Brookes, SUT Hon Sec.

Marine Environmental Science

by Mick Cook

One of several voluntary roles I fulfill is that of Council Member/Treasurer of the Society for Underwater Technology. The SUT, founded in 1966 in the UK, is now a world-leading ‘Learned Society’ specialising in the promulgation, education and training of marine science, technology and engineering. It is now truly global and supports a range of Special Interest Groups (SIG) that focus on specific activities in disciplines such as Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics (OSIG) and Marine Renewables.

I have been a member of the OSIG SIG for more years than I care to remember and chaired the SIG for some 10+ years. It has grown to be the world’s foremost group concerned with such matters. OSIG SIGs meet quarterly to discuss issues of interest and are very active in conducting training, seminars, workshops etc.

As the seas and oceans of the world become increasingly used as a resource for a host of activities, more and more attention is paid to the environmental impacts of such use. So much so that SUT is planning on setting up an SIG specifically for Marine Environmental Science.

If you are interested in participating in this new SIG please contact me at [email protected] 

New Joint SUT-MTS Captain Don Walsh Award for Ocean Exploration awarded to Dr Edie Widder

Joint SUT/MTS Press release 1500hrs BST Tuesday 22nd September:

WASHINGTON, DC, US AND LONDON, UK — The Marine Technology Society and The Society for Underwater Technology are proud to announce that Dr. Edie Widder is the inaugural recipient of the Captain Don Walsh Award for Ocean Exploration. Dr. Widder is an MTS member, MacArthur Fellow, a deep-sea explorer, and conservationist who combines expertise in oceanographic research and technological innovation with a commitment to reversing the worldwide trend of marine ecosystem degradation. 

Awarded jointly by the Marine Technology Society and the Society for Underwater Technology, this esteemed award is named after American oceanographer, explorer, retired naval officer, and marine policy specialist Captain Don Walsh. Walsh and co-pilot Jacques Piccard were aboard the bathyscaph Trieste when it made its daunting record descent on January 23, 1960 into the deepest point of the world’s oceans – the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench. The award recognizes outstanding, sustained, international contribution to the development, application, and propagation of marine technology toward the advancement of ocean exploration.

“Don Walsh is one of my superheroes – right up there with Marie Curie, Jacques Cousteau, and my mother – so to be the recipient of this first ever Don Walsh Award for Ocean Exploration is a huge deal,” said Dr. Widder. “I’m incredibly grateful to MTS and SUT for this honor and for all that they do to promote the development of tools for exploring the least explored regions of our ocean planet.”

A specialist in bioluminescence (the light chemically produced by many ocean organisms), Dr. Widder has been a leader in helping to design and invent new submersible instrumentation, and equipment to enable unobtrusive deep-sea observations. Working with engineers, she has conceived of and built several unique devices that enable humans to see beneath the waves in new ways, including HIDEX, a bathyphotometer which is the U.S. Navy standard for measuring bioluminescence in the ocean; important information for keeping submarines hidden from above. Dr. Widder also built LoLAR, an ultrasensitive deep-sea light meter that measures light in the deep ocean, both dim down-welling sunlight and bioluminescence – both important determinants of animal distribution patterns. She helped found the Ocean Research & Conservation Association in 2005 – an organization dedicated to the study and protection of marine ecosystems, and the species they sustain through development of innovative technologies, science-based conservation action, and public education. In the summer of 2012 Dr. Widder, along with several other scientists, filmed the giant squid in its natural habitat for the first time ever. The historic footage aired on Curiosity on the Discovery Channel in January of 2013. Her innovative work earned her the 2018 Explorers Club Citation of Merit; she became one of just six women to earn this honor.

“MTS couldn’t be prouder to bestow the inaugural Captain Don Walsh Award For Ocean Exploration upon Dr. Edie Widder,” said Marine Technology President Zdenka Willis. “From helping to devise cutting-edge marine technologies to logging hundreds of hours exploring the depths aboard deep sea submersibles to sharing her discoveries with her peers and the global community alike, Dr. Widder is well deserving of an award named for one of the foremost pioneers in our field. We are honored to count her as a colleague and cannot wait to see where her expertise takes her next.”

“As well as recognizing outstanding individual achievement, a key objective of the Captain Don Walsh Award is to spotlight role models who will inspire early career marine technologists, scientists and engineers” said Society for Underwater Technology President Ralph Rayner.  “Edie Widder is a perfect exemplar of what young members of our community can aspire to.  She and Don Walsh provide an inspiration to us all.”

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The Marine Technology Society (MTS) promotes awareness, understanding, and the advancement and application of marine technology. Incorporated in 1963, the international society brings together businesses, institutions, professionals, academics, and students who are ocean engineers, technologists, policy makers, and educators. The Society publishes a peer-reviewed journal — The Marine Technology Society Journal. It has three technical divisions and 31 Professional Committees (technical interest groups). The society hosts several conferences yearly. And, it supports 13 Sections, which focus on events and programs unique to their geographic areas, enhancing networking among local colleagues, businesses, universities and government/military offices.

The Society for Underwater Technology (SUT) is a multidisciplinary learned society that brings together organisations and individuals with a common interest in underwater technology, ocean science and offshore engineering. SUT was founded in 1966 and has members from more than 40 countries, & branches in 10, including engineers, scientists, other professionals, and students working in these areas. In recent decades many of our members have come from the offshore hydrocarbon sector, today we also see growing numbers of members from offshore renewables, marine autonomous systems, and the policy, law and insurance sectors who support offshore activities of many kinds.

For further information contact:

MTS Contact:
Joshua Speiser, +1 (202) 827 7176, [email protected]

SUT Contact:

Steve Hall, +44 7947 911992, [email protected]

CEO Update – Steve is Moving On

Dear members, friends and supporters of SUT. Many thanks once more to everyone who’s rejoined the Society, individual or Corporate, in recent weeks. We very much appreciate your faith in us, especially in the challenging times we’ve all been through. We’ll continue to work hard to provide value to our members, even if much of the interaction for now still needs to be virtual rather than face to face. Members still outstanding at the end of September will be deleted from the database so do please respond to Jane if you haven’t already.

It’s good to see that our Perth, Australia branch is already able to carry out some face to face meetings and we look forward to when this can be rolled out across the whole of the SUT family.

In the meantime we’ll continue with our regular webinars and podcast, and our committees and Branches are meeting very effectively online. Forthcoming podcasts cover autonomous underwater warfare, salvage and decommissioning, & offshore wind with more always under preparation.

Keep up to date with what’s happening via https://sut.org/events/ for all but USA Branch, who list theirs at https://sut-us.org/Events

Steve Moving On

Many of you know that I have a strong interest not only in underwater technology, but in how we transition to a sustainable economy, learn to value a biologically diverse & healthy marine environment and to benefit from what I like to call ‘Vitamin Sea’. To that end, I’ve accepted the offer to become the next CEO of the Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum in South Wales – an opportunity for me to help my home region adapt to changing climate, rising seas, the transition to offshore renewable energy – and combine all that with Pembrokeshire’s successful coastal tourism, outdoor pursuits & agriculture industry, whilst influencing policy makers and funding agencies.

I’ve submitted my notice to finish my term as SUT CEO with effect from the SUT AGM on 14th December 2020, and will work with my excellent staff, our Executive and Council to ensure an orderly transition. If any of our members might be interested in being my successor please contact our Honorary Secretary David Brookes, if you don’t have his details contact me or any of the staff and we’ll pass on his email address.

It certainly won’t be the last of me and SUT – I’ll continue to be a member of several committees and working groups, will honour existing commitments to serve on conference panels and chair external meetings, and will assist my successor, when appointed, in taking up his or her duties.

I’d like to thank you all for your support, friendship and laughter over the last three and a half years. SUT has a well-earned international reputation as a politically neutral, well-informed source of expertise and knowledge about many aspects of working in an underwater environment. We’re still growing overseas, we continue to support students, provide input to policy development, share knowledge and even in these strange COVID times have tried hard to maintain regular contact with our members, in part through the weekly podcast and fortnightly webinars.

It’s still three months away so I’ll be working as normal, and will update you with more news nearer the date on succession planning and who does what as we move into 2021.

Thanks.

Steve Hall CEO 15th September 2020 [email protected]

CEO Update September 2020

Dear members and supporters of SUT – it’s hard to believe that it’s already September. Thanks to everyone who’s renewed their subscriptions, Jane is working hard to chase up those that are left. Don’t forget that we do have a hardship scheme in place to assist members who’d like to renew but have been laid off work by Corporate Members, or who are individual members unable to find contracts in the present downturn – contact me or Jane Hinton directly if you’d like to request a free membership on the scheme for 2020-21.

On Friday 4th September we said farewell to long-serving SUT Staff Member Cheryl Ince. She joined us way back in April 2004, and many of you will have met Cheryl at SUT events, trade shows, and meetings. Once COVID restrictions are over we look forward to meeting Cheryl to give her a belated warm send-off on behalf of colleagues and members – if anyone would like me to pass on messages to her I can happily do so.

We also welcome Aberdeen-based events manager Jacqui Adams back part-time initially from furlough. It’s still too early to know at what point we can resume anything like ‘business as usual’ but Jacqui is looking at how we ensure events and training can be held online until we can again meet safely face to face. We’re working hard on getting SUT in good shape for the coming months.

Don’t forget to tune-in to the Underwater Technology Podcast via your usual supplier, and our fortnightly webinars are available on the YouTube Channel ‘SUTMedia’ for free viewing. We’re always interested in new content for any of our outreach activities so please get in touch if you’ve something to share with our members. 

Steve Hall CEO SUT

10th September 2020