December 13, 2017 – MTS-San Diego Holiday Dinner @ Bali Hai Restaurant, San Diego

Individual and Corporate members joined for the evening to recognize the participant students in this year’s High School Internship program. The Internship Program also recognized Teledyne RDI, Sidus Solutions and Sontek for their 15th year sponsorship in the program. The evening included a raffle with lots of fantastic prizes; all proceedings will help to fund internship positions for high school students in 2018.

November 16, 2017 – MTS San Diego Monthly Meeting @ Old Scripps Building, La Jolla

Speaker: Josh Wells, CEO, Planck Aerosystems. Topic: Josh presented a talk on the technical shortcomings of commercially-available drone products in the maritime environment, and an overview of the work Planck has done to overcome those challenges in our products. Planck Aero is a drone intelligence company, based in San Diego, enabling  drones to operate from moving vehicles detecting, identifying and tracking automatically objects on land and water. More info at http://www.planckaero.com/

October 26, 2017 – MTS San Diego Monthly Meeting

September 28, 2017 – MTS San Diego Monthly Meeting

Speakers: Brian Alvara (President) and  Victor Ciccarelli (CEO) of 3R’s Robotics   (http://www.4dsci.com/about-pvp/ )

Topic: Present and demonstrate “real-time” virtual reality. 360degree 3D Virtual Reality Camera Systems is an area in which Brian and Victor have collaborated to provide services to SeaWorld and Google. They possess the materials, design capabilities, engineering know-how, and fabrication skills to produce specialized camera rigs holding up to 32 cameras, with capability to transfer data at rates of 2GB/second and display virtual reality-like experiences. These cameras are being used for underwater exploration and to enhance marine educational programs.

August 24, 2017 – MTS-San Diego Monthly Meeting Series

Speaker: Gwen Nero, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, Director of Corporate Affiliates, Business Development, Industry Outreach, and Innovation. Topic: New SIO Public Outreach Programs and vision

UC San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography is one of the oldest, largest, and most important centers for global ocean and earth science research and graduate training. The scope of the institution has grown in recent years to include biological, physical, chemical, geological, geophysical, and atmospheric studies of the earth as a system. Scripps Institution of Oceanography (Scripps) is rising to meet new challenges ahead for science and society as the Earth’s climate changes. Scripps partners with agencies, resource managers, industries, and the public who can make a difference by putting Scripps science to work for society. Gwen Nero, Director of Corporate Affiliates, Business Development, Industry Outreach, & Innovation at Scripps, will provide an overview of Scripps academic, research, and public outreach programs and a new vision for industry collaboration at Scripps.

Bio:  Gwen Nero is Director of Corporate Affiliates, Business Development, Industry Outreach, and Innovation at UC San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography. At Scripps, Gwen created and directs the Scripps Corporate Alliance, a program that facilitates collaboration between Scripps and corporate members just recently launched in 2017. She works closely with the UC San Diego Office of Innovation and Commercialization and innovation programs across the UC San Diego campus and San Diego Region to support Scripps research commercialization, collaborations with industry, and talent recruitment of students and postdoctoral fellows to industry careers. Gwen represents Scripps on the boards of The Maritime Alliance and CleanTech San Diego. Gwen completed a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Columbia University, taught for the NSF I-Corps program, lead programs for a life science innovation fund and a startup incubator in New York City, and worked at Columbia Technology Ventures before joining UC San Diego and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

July 15, 2017 – MTS-San Diego Annual Golf Scramble – Liberty Station

June 22, 2017 – MTS-San Diego Corporate Appreciation Dinner

May 25, 2017– MTS-San Diego Monthly Meeting Series

Speaker:  Mark Fleming, Business Development Manager – Government & Military Sales, VideoRay LLC.

Abstract: Mark discussed the new VideoRay Mission Specialist Series (MSS) ROV which utilizes a system of interchangeable, modular components, communicating through a single intelligent network. This topology provides an extremely flexible and customizable platform which can be easily adapted to target specific missions. It is this flexibility which sets apart the Mission Specialist ROV Series from current technology in the Remotely Operated Vehicle Industry. It provides a flexible, scalable, customizable platform which can accept additional thrusters, sensors and accessories on location.  Components can be removed individually from the configuration without affecting the entire system, providing full plug and play capabilities.  The philosophy behind the Mission Specialist Series is fitting each system to the sensors, tools, depth rating, and thrust needed for the job at hand, rather than retrofit accessories to a standard ROV.

Mark Fleming retired from the U.S. Navy as a Chief Warrant Officer 5 after more than 30 years of service with distinction. His titles include Master EOD Technician, EOD Officer, and Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist. His personal decorations include the Bronze Star with Combat Distinguishing Device, Meritorious Service Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Gold Star and Combat Distinguishing Device, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, and various service and campaign awards.

April 17, 2017 – MTS-San Diego Monthly Meeting Series

Speaker:  James Walton, sales manager of AML Oceanographic (formerly Applied Microsystems Limited) talked about some interesting CTD deployments in Canada and Kuwait and then go on to discuss UV based anti-fouling techniques.

Abstract:  AML is based near Victoria, Canada and is an innovative manufacturer of Sound Velocity, CTD and environmental sensors, probes and instruments. AML’s success story originated with developing UV protected CTDs for the Smart Oceans project run by Ocean Networks Canada.  Their UV biofouling protection technology was developed and tested with the help of the Folger Pinnacle node on the NEPTUNE cabled observatory, and soon after concluding the test there AML supplied 5 CTDs to be deployed on Smart Oceans.  They made one or two mistakes along the way, and James will recount the story of the sale, what went wrong, what they did to fix it, and an example of a later sale to another customer where they learned from their previous mistakes.

Mr. Walton has a BSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Alberta, and lived in Japan for 6 years.  James joined the AML sales team in 2011, and is currently sales manager for environmental and science-related projects globally, supporting the regional sales people, agents and resellers.

March 16, 2017 – MTS-San Diego Monthly Meeting Series

Speaker: Kevin Hardy, Founder, Global Ocean Design, San Diego, CA. Topic: Chinese Exploration of Ocean Trenches

Abstract: The Shanghai Ocean University, located in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), is leading the aggressive development of a sustainable means to access the deepest ocean trenches on a predicable, if not routine, basis. Prof. Weicheng Cui, anointed “Hero of the Deep Sea” by the Chinese government for his development of the 7km rated Jiaolong submersible, manages the project.  His unique funding model includes private and city investment, with the goal of technology transfer to a  close-coupled ocean-centered, high tech industrial park.  Four unique surface support vessels are being developed to carry the HOV Rainbow Fish to its dive sites, two large monohulls, typical of gyre scale oceanographic research ships, and two exotic vessels, a tri-hull catamaran, and an icebreaker.

This talk described the hadal landers and ARVs, Autonomous Remotely-controlled Vehicles, what we in the west refer to as HROVs. Shallower diving submersibles from Graham Hawkes are also planned.  The twin MIRs may reluctantly be moved from Russia to China, which can support the submersibles.

The talk will show a number of creative approaches the Chinese are bringing to solve the many problem associated with such a massive undertaking.

Speaker bio: Kevin Hardy founded Global Ocean Design after retiring from a career at Scripps Institution of Oceanography that spanned 40-years. Along with his wife, Michelle, Kevin was an invited lecturer to the Shanghai Ocean University, and the adjacent Lingang  High Tech Business Park, in early August 2016.

January 28, 2017 – Review of Students Applications 2017

The volunteer screening committee reviewed applications for the  MTS-SD  2017 Summer Internship Program. MTS Members gathered at Sidus Solutions office to read and evaluate applications. Big thank you to Larry Hagstrom for hosting and to all the volunteers that participated.

Jan 19, 2017 – MTS-San Diego Monthly Meeting Series

Speaker: Jeremy Crutchfield, Senior Engineer, from the San Diego County Water Authority:

Topic: News and updates from the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant, which on December 14, 2016 marked the first anniversary of the nation’s largest seawater desalination project!

Jeremy has seventeen years’ experience planning, designing and constructing water infrastructure projects. He has been with the San Diego County Water Authority for nearly ten years after beginning his career as a design consultant with Black & Veatch in Los Angeles, CA. Jeremy has worked on a variety of projects including treatment facilities, conveyance and storage facilities, large diameter pipeline installation, and hydroelectric facilities; and currently leads the Water Authority’s Facilities Planning Group. Jeremy earned his Civil Engineering degree from the University of Arizona and his masters in Civil Engineering from Loyola Marymount University.