Author: Emily Boddy

July 2017 Update from SUT CEO Steve Hall

Dear members & friends of SUT, since joining SUT as Chief Executive three months ago I’ve been very impressed by the commitment and energy of the volunteer members of our various branches, committees and special interest groups. I’ve now had a chance to visit branches in Houston, Aberdeen and London, attended committee meetings and taken part in the social events that are part of the tradition of SUT and play an important role in building friendships, networks and knowledge transfer across sectors and across generations. I’m heading off to Crete for a fortnight’s summer vacation with the family on 8th July so will miss London & Southern England branch’s summer barbecue on 20th July onboard HQS Wellington but it promises to be an excellent night – do contact [email protected] if you’d like a ticket. I see that Houston will be hosting their annual scholarship fundraising clay and skeet shoot on 18th August, email Araceli Lopez [email protected] for more info and on 12th July our Perth branch, for whom it is of course winter rather than summer are having an informal casual catch up at The Cheeky Sparrow – to gauge numbers please register at www.trybooking.com/QHKF

L-R Steve Hall, Cheryl Ince, Jen Maninin, Emily Boddy, Jane Hinton enjoying lunch at the Old Bank of England

Whilst on the subject of Perth, staff member and branch manager Jennifer Maninin visited our London office on July 5th, taking a day off her vacation in Europe. Jennifer spent much of the day with our publications officer Emily Boddy going through our websites, exchanging ideas and learning from one another – it was really good to see the enthusiasm from each of them for improving what we do. I’m encouraging the SUT staff in all the branches to think of us as a single global family, and where resources permit, I hope to see staff exchange opportunities arise over the next couple of years so that we can further develop as a joined-up organisation.

In my last engagement as vice chair of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission during June I was able to showcase SUT’s role as an international, multidisciplinary voice for education, industry, technology and science. Our friends from the Marine Technology Society were also present for part of the meeting and it helped impress upon delegates of 148 countries that in the ocean, private sector operators are often the key actors, especially in areas beyond national jurisdiction. My term as an Officer at UNESCO is now over (my successor is Dr Monika Breuch-Moritz of the Federal Maritime & Hydrographic service of Germany) but I’ve been asked to ‘stay in the loop’ to keep UNESCO IOC informed about developments in underwater technology and help feed into international ocean policy – an important role for SUT. As a consequence of the UNESCO work I’ve also had requests from representatives of governments about how SUT might be able to assist in education and policy development – watch this space for further news.

The Big Event currently dominating the lives of the London and Aberdeen secretariat and a hard working committee of volunteers is the 8th International Conference of the Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics Committee “Smarter Solutions for Future Offshore Developments” on 12-14th September 2017 at the Royal Geographical Society, Kensington, London. The conference is attracting plenty of interest and promises to be a prestigious and fascinating event. To find and more and book your place see www.sutconnects.com

SUT will be hosting two half-day sessions in the Decommissioning Zone at Offshore Europe in September, including talks on the use of autonomous underwater vehicles in decommissioning, the biodiverse habitat underneath a platform and even on repurposing offshore structures for leisure and recreation – see www.offshore-europe.co.uk/Decommissioning-Zone/ for more.

Also in September the Aberdeen branch will host a ‘Question Time’ style event of Wednesday 20th, where I will play the role of compere. Looking forward to the event – more information coming soon.

October promises to be a busy month with an SUT presence at the European Marine Science Educators Association meeting in Valetta (Newcastle next year so an opportunity to involve the North East England Branch) and plenty happening in Perth Australia, more on that in the next newsletter. November we’ll be hosting the Autonomous Vehicles session at Oceanology International China then supporting the ‘Oceans of Knowledge’ event at the Royal Institution of Great Britain with our friends from IMarEST, so plenty to look forward to as the year moves forward,

A couple more dates for your diaries – the SUT Annual General Meeting date is now confirmed as Monday 11th December at Trinity House, London. Two days later on 13th December our Aberdeen branch will have theirs, at which I am looking forward to being one of the speakers. I promise not to go on too long!

Finally – we’re moving! Part of my remit is to ensure long term financial health for SUT, so on 1st August we will move the headquarters to serviced office premises at 1 Quality Court, Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1HR

This will save approximately £25k per year on what we have been paying at Fetter Lane, whilst remaining in the heart of London and not requiring any relocation for our staff. By the time of my next newsletter we should have settled, so I’ll add some photos of the new office.

May 2017 Update from SUT CEO Steve Hall

Dear Members and friends of the Society for Underwater Technology. It’s now 8 weeks since I started as Chief Executive, and I’d like to give you an update on what I’ve been doing, and have planned for the next few weeks as we approach the northern hemisphere summer.

My first week at SUT coincided with our attendance at Ocean Business 17 which was held at the UK’s National Oceanography Centre. It provided an excellent opportunity to be introduced to our member companies exhibiting there, and individual members visiting the show. I attended the meeting of the joint SUT – ECOR (engineering committee on ocean resources) Panel on Underwater Robotics, chaired by Neil Bose from the Australian Maritime College in Tasmania, and look forward to being able to contribute my knowledge on marine policy and legal aspects of autonomous vehicle operations to the Panel in future.

On the Friday of that first week I was invited to the Diving Museum, Gosport to attend the unveiling of their exhibit of the world’s oldest diving helmet by John Deane, on loan from the Science Museum of London. SUT have been enthusiastic supporters of the work of the Diving Museum, and I very much recommend calling by to say hello if you are visiting the south coast of England. The museum houses a unique collection of equipment, from the earliest days of ‘barrel diving’ (for salvage operations) through to modern sport diving, hard-hat diving, military operations and diving in support of the offshore energy sector. Housed in a Victorian gun battery, it’s a short drive from the Submarine Museum at HMS Dolphin, which also features a collection of deep diving equipment such as a diving bell and submarine rescue vehicle.

Back at the office for my second week saw my first chance to get to know our London-based staff Jane, Cheryl and Emily better, learn the office systems, and engage with the committee that’s putting together the Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics (OSIG) 8th international conference in 12-14th September “Smarter Solutions for Future Offshore Developments”. There’s a first-rate programme coming together and it promises to an excellent event that SUT is proud to be supporting. SUT’s Council also met in my second week in the new role, it’s a very different experience as the Chief Executive rather than as a Council Member!

The Houston team of Zenon, Patsy, Araceli and Anna at Patsy’s home

In the third week I attended the London and South East England branch evening meeting ‘Recent developments in the technology of subsea valves for critical applications’ and met the branch members. Next up was my first overseas visit since joining SUT, to attend the Offshore Technology Conference 2017 in Houston. This was suggested by our Chair of Council as a good way to ensure a SUT presence at OTC and an opportunity to meet the Houston Branch. It was a delight to meet up with the SUT Houston core staff Patsy, Anna and Araceli and Chair Professor Zenon Medina-Cetina, and branch member John Allen was an excellent local guide at the enormous OTC complex. Whilst there I was able to hold meetings on decommissioning with Roger Esson of Decom North Sea, discuss US energy policy with a senior staff member of the US Department of Energy, and meet representatives of SUT corporate members including Jukes Group, Wood Group and Castrol. Evening meetings took place with members of the Houston branch committee, and with the local staff. I felt very welcomed and look forward to a long and productive time working with our US colleagues.

Steve with John Allen at Rice University Houston, with the owl mascot

I was particularly impressed by the connections our US members have built up with the universities to encourage the next generation, and was honoured to meet Professor Fathi Ghorbel at Rice University, and with student Marissa Malinoski who takes a lead with the Galveston section of our Texas A&M university student chapter. The Galveston visit was also an opportunity to see the superb outreach and education facility of the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig Museum and Education Center – it would be wonderful to have such a facility open to the public in the UK too! Overall I learned a great deal from visiting the Houston Branch and look forward to rolling out best practise observed at all of our branches across the SUT family.

Tim Cornelius receiving the Lennard-Senior award for outstanding contribution to tidal energy at All-Energy Glasgow

Upon my return from Houston it was straight to Glasgow to attend ‘All-Energy’ where SUT is the Learned Society Patron. Again an opportunity to meet our staff, this time Jacqui and Emma from the Aberdeen Office, as well as a number of our Scotland-based members. I was invited to attend the prestigious energy leader’s dinner at the City Chambers, met many of the leading lights of the renewable energy sector, and the highlight was to present the SUT’s Lennard-Senior Award to Tim Cornelius, CEO of Atlantis Resources Ltd, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to promoting tidal energy. It was good to meet up with SUT’s friend and great supporter Judith Patten MBE during All-Energy, and I look forward to a continued relationship with the growing world of offshore renewables.

John Bevan chairing Diving & Manned Submersibles Committee meeting on board HQS Wellington 17/5/17

Back to London and an enjoyable meeting with our friends at Reed Exhibitions to discuss SUT’s continued involvement with the Oceanology International series of events. We’ll be playing a key role in the conference sessions at OI China in Qingdao in November 2017 and London in the New Year. I also attended the Diving and Manned Submersibles Committee meeting on board HQS Wellington on 17th May, and the London & South East England branch ‘Lunch at Learn’ about underwriting offshore renewables risks kindly hosted at Charles Taylor PLC on the 19th.

In the next weeks I’ll continue to ‘learn the ropes’ about how the Society works, continue meeting branch members, and promote SUT on social media (follow SUT on Facebook , LinkedIn & Twitter @SUT_news, or my own feed @saltwatersteve) and at meetings and conferences. As a follow-up from a new contact met at ‘All-Energy’ I’ve been invited to speak on deep sea mining, marine genetic resources and rising technologies at the ‘Blue Economy’ conference in Marseilles 30-31 May with SUT’s costs covered by the organisers.

I’m visiting Aberdeen branch at the start of June to attend their monthly branch meeting and get to learn more about the sector there. Later in June I’ll be attending the Assembly and Executive Council of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, where I’ll come to the end of my two year term as Vice Chair, a role I was elected to when I was Head of the UK’s delegation. Although SUT is not a country and so has no vote at a UN body, we are an Observer Member of UNESCO-IOC in recognition of our strong education and outreach role, and I’m sure we’ll continue to play an active part in the global ‘ocean literacy’ movement. In particular the Member States value our role as a rare voice for industry in the international ocean science, governance and policy world so SUT is helping to ensure that the needs of our members and supporters are fed-in to development of global ocean stewardship, sustainable development under the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and wealth creation from ocean resources.

Lots more goes on of course than I’ve highlighted here, and I’d like to say thank you to my staff who have adjusted admirably to having to put up with a new CEO while they are very busy in their day to day roles running the society. I’d like to pay tribute too to the amazing effort put in by our volunteers in the various committees and branches. SUT’s greatest strength are the talented women & men who make it run and adapt to a rapidly changing world.  More news from me towards the end of June.

Thank you for your continuing support. Steve Hall, 22nd May 2017 [email protected]

Welcome from our new CEO

Dear members & friends of SUT, allow me to introduce myself, Steve Hall. I started as the new CEO of the Society for Underwater Technology at the start of April after Dr Bob Allwood’s retirement, and following a first week attending the Ocean Business trade show in Southampton am now settling in at the London office. As some of you will know I’ve been a member (eventually Fellow) of SUT since the 1990s, mainly supporting our education activities, presenting at the Christmas lectures, and serving as a member of Council, including stints as Chair and Hon Secretary. It will be quite a different kind of role as Chief Executive, I’m very happy indeed to have been appointed, and am looking forward to working with the global SUT family to help deliver a modern, international Learned Society that promotes the further understanding of the underwater environment and encourages the sharing of ideas, best practice, research, techniques and tools to explore the ocean and harvest resources in a responsible manner.

My own background is in ocean science, technology and policy. I worked for the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council for over 26 years, ending up as head of the International & Strategic Partnerships Office at the National Oceanography Centre, where I was also head of the UK’s delegation to UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, where I was elected vice-chair in 2015. Over the last decade I’ve helped the UK, EU and UN system develop policy on marine autonomous systems, marine spatial planning, decommissioning, tsunami warning systems, fisheries reform, oil spill response, data management and many other areas of ocean governance & policy. Before that my career included time as programme manager for ‘Autosub’ AUV science missions, conducting tracer chemistry analysis at sea as part of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment, acting as the schools and colleges liaison officer, interaction with Learned Societies and Professional Bodies and an early phase of my career in a small private sector survey company and as a hydrocarbons specialist for HM Customs and Excise.

SUT enables me to bring all of this broad experience to the service of our members, as we face a rapidly changing world where the ocean will be increasingly where humankind looks for living space, energy, food resources, minerals and security. It’s a wonderful time to be working with the global ocean science, engineering, education and policy community and I look forward to engaging with you all in the coming years. Email me at [email protected] , follow me on Twitter as @saltwatersteve and at @sut_news

Announcement of our new CEO

Below is a transcript of the letter written by our Chairman of Council, Peter Metcalf, to our members, announcing the succession of the CEO. We would like to congratulate  Steve Hall on his new role as the CEO of the SUT. We look forward to working with Mr Hall and to seeing what the future brings for the Society.

 

To All SUT Members

Dear Member,

Succession of CEO

As you will be aware, last year Bob Allwood announced he would be retiring in April this year and therefore standing down as CEO of the SUT after over 7 years in post.  We instigated a search and ended with a short list of four excellent candidates.  After some considerable discussion we decided on Mr Steve Hall and I am delighted to say that he has accepted the position and will be starting on 1 April.

Steve is well known to many of the SUT Members, having chaired the Education and Training Committee for seven years and as a Member of Council for two years.  Since starting his career in 1986 in a small private sector engineering survey company, he has over 30 years of experience in the marine science, technology, energy, policy and education sector, and is currently Head of the International and Strategic Partnerships Office at the UK’s National Oceanography Centre. Steve is Chair of the Marine Science Coordination Committee’s International Working Group and Head of the UK delegation and ad-hominem Vice-Chair at UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.

I am sure that all Members will give Steve the support that Bob has enjoyed over the last seven years.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Metcalf, Chairman of Council.

Oceanology International 2016 Student Careers Day

Earlier this year, 50 graduates, students and PhD students from universities such as Cranfield, Liverpool and Plymouth attended Oceanology International at the Excel Centre to gain an insight into the best approaches to get into the competitive oil and gas industry.

Farnaz Ghasemi, representative of the SUT+ committee and Project Engineer – Field developments with ADIL chaired a Student Careers Day which was organised jointly by SUT+ and The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST).

Presentations were given by Chetan Laddha of OTM Consulting, Jee Ltd.’s Arabella Walker, Kevin Cortial of Eni Engineering E&P, Wood Group Kenny’s Dornaz Ghasemi  and Thomas Bennett of Halliburton Sperry Sun, who revealed he had many doors close on him before securing his job.

Following the presentations, questions from the audience were fielded by the panel before further networking over coffee.

Ms Ghasemi said: “The message for attendees was to be persistent, be creative and not give up however many challenges they may face getting into the industry. The event was very successful and hopefully we will see some of the students who attended the event in the industry one day.”

SUT introduces new technology deployment course for offshore engineers

The Society for Underwater Technology (SUT) is launching a new course for engineers to form a greater understanding of the deployment of new technology within offshore developments.

The one-day course, in association with Astrimar, is aimed at engineers at all levels who are involved in the deployment of new offshore technology or who need to accommodate existing technology in more challenging applications. It is also suitable for operators, contractors, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and technology developers.

The course, which takes place on June 9 at London’s Imperial College, will provide an overview of industry best practice for the qualification of technology and how to select and design appropriate testing regimes to demonstrate functionality, reliability and durability.

The programme will be split into a combination of presentations, discussions and group break-out sessions, including:

  • The Technology Qualification Process
  • Use of Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs)
  • Types of testing to support qualification at each TRL
  • Qualification of extended/modified technology
  • Application of FMECA for technology qualification
  • Residual technical risk and uncertainty
  • Qualification assurance

 

Dr Bob Allwood, CEO of SUT said: “As the subsea industry moves into deeper waters and more difficult operation environments, additional technical risk and uncertain reliability performance is introduced. A defined qualification process is required to manage the risk associated with the first or early deployment of the technology and this course will demonstrate this in a dynamic and interactive way, which will be of interest to all engineers working in the industry.”

The course will run from 9am to 5pm in the Billiard Room, 58 Prince’s Gate, Imperial College, London and costs for £430 members and £530 for non-members. For further information, please contact [email protected] or 01224 823637.

Fugro commits support to SUT’s eighth OSIG international conference

Logo_Fugro_CMYK

– More than 200 abstracts already submitted for 2017 event –

 

The Society for Underwater Technology’s (SUT’s) eighth Offshore Site Investigation & Geotechnics (OSIG) International Conference has received substantial support from Fugro, with the company becoming the principal sponsor for the 2017 event.

The conference titled ‘Smarter Solutions for Future Offshore Developments’, takes place from 12-14 September 2017 at the historic Royal Geographical Society in London. The event is attracting a lot of interest with more than 200 abstracts already submitted from potential speakers.

The conference offers an opportunity for geotechnical engineers, geoscientists and academics specialising in offshore topics to share their knowledge and experience. The 2017 conference will focus on new research and developments in site investigation data acquisition, evaluation and integration, geotechnical analysis and design as well as field operational experience.

Tim Dunne, Global Business Line Director for Marine Site Characterisation at Fugro said: “As a leading global supplier of marine geotechnical site characterisation services, Fugro is delighted to continue its support of OSIG. This major conference event provides an unparalleled platform to exchange knowledge and experience with other experts and we are very pleased to be principal sponsor in 2017.”

Dr Bob Allwood, CEO of SUT added: “We enjoy a strong relationship with Fugro and I’d like to express my sincere thanks for their support. Delegates will hear from a range of high profile speakers on new research findings and innovative ideas as to how we can improve efficiency, develop more collaborative approaches and offer innovation towards ‘Smarter Solutions for Future Offshore Developments’.”

OSIG 2017 will look into the challenges currently faced by the offshore oil and gas industry and call for innovative approaches to improve efficiency and rigour in practice. The event will also discuss what the offshore renewable energy industry has identified and addressed, through major research programmes, on key technical issues that must be solved to support its growing strength.

The conference will host the fourth Bramlette McClelland Lecture and a special issue of the EAGE Near Surface Geophysics journal will be published preceding the conference with selected papers to be presented in a dedicated session. A conference dinner will also be held at the Natural History Museum.

A number of sponsorship opportunities remain available. For further information, please contact [email protected] or 01224 823637. More details can also be found at:  https://sut.org/event/osig2017/

SUT launches campaign to roll out children’s book in schools with Subsea 7 backing

– ‘Can a Lobster be an Archaeologist’ aims to ignite interest in underwater career opportunities-

 

The Society for Underwater Technology (SUT) has launched a campaign to get its illustrated children’s book into primary schools with the support of Subsea 7.

Subsea 7 has provided an Aberdeen school with copies of SUT’s educational book, ‘Can a Lobster be an Archaeologist – Quirky Questions and Fascinating Facts about the Underwater World’ which is aimed at growing interest in the exciting variety of careers on offer under the waves.

HAZELHEAD_SCH_BOOKS_035Primary 5 pupils at Hazlehead Primary School, who recently studied sea life as a topic, were each given a copy of the book thanks to a corporate donation from Subsea 7. SUT is calling on support from other companies to help them roll the book out in schools across the city.

The book, aimed at 10-14 year-olds, takes its name from a true story about Larry the lobster who helped divers discover a missing 8,000-year-old Stone Age civilisation near the Isle of Wight. The 150-page book has been drafted by SUT members who are marine scientists, divers, subsea engineers, academics and from the merchant navy.

 

It covers topics such as:

  • Why do ships go missing in the Bermuda Triangle?
  • Are lake monsters real and do werewolves exist in the Arctic Sea?
  • How to build an underwater robot
  • Filming underwater movies
  • Whirlpools and discovering treasures from sunken ships
  • Where rubbish goes when it’s dumped at sea.
  • Could living under the sea be an alternative to relocating to Mars?
  • What will happen when the ice caps melt?

 

Dr Bob Allwood, CEO of SUT and one of the authors said: “It’s a challenging time for many sectors at the moment, but it’s important that we continue to inspire school pupils and show them all of the possibilities that are open to them in a way that brings to life all of the wonders of working underwater. I would like to thank Subsea 7 for the generous contribution in providing these books to the children and we would welcome support from other organisations to help roll this out to as many schools as we can.”

Subsea 7’s Stuart Inglis, who is also a member of SUT+, added: “This is a great initiative for both Subsea 7 and SUT to be involved with as it is important we all inspire young pupils to learn more about the oceans. It has been really encouraging to hear the pupils talk about what they have already studied in class and hopefully, with these quirky stories, they will continue to learn about what goes on under the water.”

Companies interested in getting involved with the campaign can find out more information by contacting: [email protected]. The book has been funded by SUT, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. All proceeds from the book go towards SUT’s Educational Support Fund, set up to help young people pursue learning and development opportunities. ‘Can a Lobster be an Archaeologist?’ retails at £12.99 and can be purchased from Amazon and www.sut.org.

SUT is also hosting its annual Christmas Lectures at the end of the year for primary and secondary school pupils. Teachers interested in attending should contact: [email protected]

 

Cost efficiencies event to hear from Bibby Offshore, Fugro and Schlumberger

SUT Bibby joint

– SUT and The Hydrographic Society to host annual Aberdeen seminar in June –

Delegates will hear from representatives of Bibby Offshore, Fugro and Schlumberger at The Society for Underwater Technology (SUT) and The Hydrographic Society in Scotland (THSiS) annual joint half day seminar at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC).

Registration is now open for the ‘Cost Efficiencies – more bang for your buck seminar’ on June 15, which will highlight innovative equipment, methodologies and business models which can help address the needs of industry in a time of reduced oil prices and the associated drive for cutting costs.

Now in its third year in this format, the event will begin with a buffet lunch during registration followed by three conference sessions of 75 minutes which are set to be chaired by representatives from SUT, DOF Subsea and BP. Each session is separated by a coffee break to allow delegates to network and visit the exhibitor stands.

Presentations from Bibby Offshore and Fugro will open the first session on innovative contracting methodologies and philosophies. Session two will feature the latest autonomous technologies, Schlumberger on its Wave Glider system, UTEC on using Autonomous Underwater Vehicles and ASV on Autonomous Surface Vehicles. The final session will look at technology advances in buckle arresting, tensioners and monitoring systems designed to provide cost benefits to the end user.

Dr Bob Allwood, CEO of SUT said: “We have another excellent programme this year with the support of some major organisations. This is an opportunity for companies of all sizes to find out how others are adopting new and innovative approaches to business in the present environment.”

Tickets for the event cost £75 for SUT and The Hydrographic Society UK (THS UK) members and £95 for non-members. Sponsorship booths are also available for £300. Sponsoring companies will receive a free delegate pass and their company logo will be included on promotional material. For more information visit https://sut.org/event or contact [email protected]

New SUT Events Manager

Nicola HendersonWe are delighted to introduce Nicola Henderson who joined the team as our new Events Manager at the start of the New Year.  Based in our Aberdeen office, Nicola is responsible for the operation of all the Society’s events within the UK, in addition to providing support for our very active Aberdeen Branch.  Previously, Nicola worked for British Land plc in London and, prior to that, prosource.it in Aberdeen whose clients are predominantly in the oil and gas industry.  She replaces Kirsty Webster who has moved on to a new challenging post based in Glasgow.