Isela Ibrahimovic, Coordination Chair, OCEANS Limerick 2023
Introduction
This was the first time the OCEANS conference came to the “Emerald Isle” and the first entirely in-person conference after COVID-19.
The event was held at the University of Limerick Green Campus, a beautiful parkland with the River Shannon as its unifying focal point. The local hosting was led by the Centre for Robotics and Intelligent Systems (CRIS), the only research Centre in Ireland in underwater robotics, with the support of the key partner for the event, Marine Institute, a leading Irish marine research institution.
OCEANS’23 Limerick attracted close to 700 delegates across all the registration categories.
Delegates gathered from around the world for four days (5 to 8 June) to highlight relevant topics and current trends while creating a community of learners and influencers who consistently advance research, practices, and policies under the “Blue Ocean Planet Earth” theme. The conference theme was broader, enabling the committee to offer a diverse technical programme, but with a focus on the relevant local and geographical interest topics.
Behind the “scene,” there is always a great team of people making OCEANS events possible. We give special thanks to our local committee members who worked very hard to ensure a successful conference.
General Chair: Prof. Daniel Toal, CRIS, UL
Honorary Chair: Prof. Karen Wiltshire, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI)
Peter Heffernan, Special Advisor of Board of Directors, Oceano Azul Foundation, Portugal.
Coordination Chair: Isela Ibrahimovic, CRIS, UL
Executive/UN Decade of Ocean Science Chair: Fiona Grant, Marine Institute.
Finance Chair: Gerard Dooly, CRIS, UL
Technical Chair: Edin Omerdic, CRIS, UL
Technical-Co Chairs: Phillipe Cardoso Santos, CRIS, UL
John Ringwood, Dept. of Electronic Engineering, Maynooth University.
Tutorial Chair: Cathal O’Donnell, CRIS, UL
Student poster Chair: Petar Trslic, CRIS, UL
Women in Engineering Chair: Aoife Hegarty, Atlantic Technological University.
Young Professionals Chair: Lubna Luxmi, CRIS, UL
Young Professionals Co-Chair: A’Qilah Ahmad Dahalan, University of Limerick,
Exhibits Chair: Ray O’Brien, University of Limerick, Bernal Institute, MaREI
Exhibits Co-Chairs: Anthony Weir, CRIS, UL
Jerry Hallissey, Shannon Foynes Port Company.
OCEANS 2023 programme
To reflect and underpin the conference theme, a set of local Limerick topics was chosen to be the conference’s centerpiece. A series of plenary and keynote talks were presented to highlight them. These local topics include Offshore wind energy, Ship decarbonisation, Drones in marine applications, Cultural heritage and underwater archaeology, Artificial Intelligence in Ocean Science & Technology, Analytics and Sensing: A new age of dynamic observations, Renewable Energy from the Sea (Wave, Tidal, OTEC, Salinity gradient…), Sustainable Blue Economy, Maritime Vehicle Navigation, Deep Sea Mining, deep sea exploration and parallels to outer space.
In addition, all the traditional OCEANS conference technical tracks ensured that the conference in Limerick retained and maintained its standard structure.
Plenaries and panels
The plenaries took place on the morning of each conference day. The plenary sessions included one keynote speaker and a panel discussion with several experts in the subject area. In total, we had 20 speakers, including the moderators.
PLENARY I: Offshore Wind, Carbon Neutral Energy by 2050, Keynote Una Brosnan, Head of Offshore Strategy & New Markets, Mainstream Renewable Power
Expert Panel: Philip Cole (WindEurope), Peter Lefroy (RWE), Noel Cunniffe (Wind Energy Ireland), Jeannine Dunne (GDG), Jerry Hallissey (SFPC).
Plenary I (from left to right): Noel Cunniffe (Wind Energy Ireland), Liam Lacey (moderator, Marine Institute), Philip Cole (WindEurope), Jeannine Dunne (GDG), Una Brosnan (Mainstream Renewable Power), Peter Lefroy (RWE), Jerry Hallissey (SFPC and Prof. Daniel Toal.
PLENARY II: Sustainable Commercial Use of Seas and Oceans,
Keynote Mary Crowley, President Ocean Voyages Institute. Expert Panel: Prof. Karen Wiltshire (AWI), Prof. Richard Neilson (National Decommissioning Centre UK), Kimberly Blakemore (Analog Devices), Gerard Dooly (CRIS/UL), George Kallimasiotis (Resolve Marine).
Plenary II. Kimberly Blakemore (ADI), Prof Karen Wiltshire (AWI), Prof Richard Neilson (National Decommissioning Centre UK), Gerard Dooly (CRIS/UL), George Kallimasiotis (Resolve Marine). Mary Crowley (Ocean Voyages Institute). Fausto Ferreira (moderator, OES/FER), Prof. Daniel Toal, (from left to right)
PLENARY III Ocean Health and Resilience,
Keynote: Peter Heffernan, Ocean Ambassador & Member of the Board of the Oceano Azul Foundation. Board Member EU Mission Board ‘Restore Our Ocean and Waters by 2030.’
Expert Panel: Craig N. McLean (Former Chief Scientist NOAA), Sigi Gruber (Senior Advisor EU), Carol Anne Clayson (WHOI), Paul Connolly (Marine Institute).
In addition to the regular technical programmes and plenaries, we had three special sessions/town hall covering relevant topics such as green shipping, fair and affordable access/use of ocean technology and industry accelerators (new partnerships and findings).
Special session titles:
- Green Shipping, moderated by: Peter Lefroy, RWE Ireland
- Accelerating Technology Development to Address Climate Change: New Types of Partnerships and Funding, moderated by Kathryn Hautanen, Analog Devices/Ocean & Climate Innovation Accelerator
- Fair solutions in engineering for sustainable oceans, moderated by Niall McDonough, Marine Institute
Technical sessions
Ten parallel trucks were run during each conference day, covering a total of 428 presentations, including the general poster session and student poster competition. There were ten special sessions. Traditionally the highest number of papers were presented under the “Autonomous underwater vehicle” topic. The programme was exciting, comprehensive and well-balanced.
Tutorials
As an add-on to the general programme, the first day of the conference was dedicated to the tutorials. Ten tutorials and one workshop were held on 5 June, with an attendance of over 220 delegates across all sessions. The tutorial fee was included in all full registrations, which we believe significantly increased the number of tutorial attendees.
The covered topics were the following:
- Detection of Underwater Acoustic Signals – theory and techniques
- SAR Remote Sensing of the Ocean Surface
- Building Marine Cyber Resilience using Cybersecurity Standards,
- Governance, Risk and Control
- Transceiver Design for Underwater Acoustic communications
- Introduction to LSTS Toolchain: Bridging interoperability challenges
- Data Management: A Short Hands-On How-To
- MARUS – Unity Based Simulator for Marine Robotic
- Underwater Optical Sensing and Real-time Data Transmission: in-situ measurement of marine particles and other organisms
- Navigating Estuary and Port Applications of Small Autonomous Surface Vessels: Tips, Pitfalls, and Rules of the Road
Women in Engineering
The WIE activities during the conference were run by the OES and MTS societies’ WIE chairs with the support of our local team. The sessions were scheduled as a working breakfast and lunch on the last conference day, 8 June.
Donna Kocak, Lubna Luxmi, Sarah Jane Pell and Giulia de Masi (host).
IEEE OES Women in Engineering (WIE) hosted a special session breakfast with a panel that featured three women (Lubna Luxmi, Donna Kocak, Sarah Jane Pell) communicating how their experiences have helped shape their careers and how challenges & support have influenced where they are today.
The WIE lunch was a collaboration between the Empowering Women for the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development Programme and the Women Leadership in Marine Technology and Science initiative. It was hosted by Liesl Hotaling, Marine Technology Society and moderated by Ronan Long, WMU-Sasakawa Global Institute.’
The panelists were:
- Fiona Grant, Women in Blue Economy Intelligence Gathering and Capacity Boosting
- Mariamalia Rodriguez Chaves, Gender Mainstreaming in Ocean Governance Bodies
- Ellen Johansen, Understanding the Role of Gender in the Practice of International Marine Science
- Renis Auma Ojwala, Gender Equality in Ocean Science for Sustainable Development: Analysis of Ocean Science Institutions in Kenya
- Cathy Hogan, Scaling Up Actions to Empower Women for the Ocean Decade
Young professionals
The young professional breakfast was held on Wednesday, 6 June, and offered an opportunity to hear from veterans in the ocean engineering sector about professional development and career exits. The panelists were:
- Mandar Chitre, Head of the Acoustic Research Laboratory (ARL) at the Tropical Marine Science Institute (TMSI)
- Christoph Waldmann, Senior Scientist. MARUM
- Asma Khatoon Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, UL
- Nuno Cruz, Centre for Robotics and Autonomous Systems at INESC TEC
Student Poster Competition
One hundred and fifty-six abstracts were submitted for the student poster competition, and based on the threshold score, around 121 were selected for 2nd stage of review (SPC). Following this 2nd review stage, 14 posters were selected for the SPC final.
The SPC jury selected the following winners:
- First Prize: Amelia Ritger, University of California,
- Second Prize: Jared McFadden, Florida Atlantic University
- Third Prize: Patrick McGuire, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
The prize winners’ details were announced during lunchtime at the Innovation Hub theatre on the closing day.
You can read the SPC report, winning article and articles from top two winners in this Beacon issue, too.
Exhibition
The exhibition was held in two connected marquees near the conference hall. This made it still possible to bring the technical sessions and the exhibits close together and to have an increased footfall in the exhibition space. The existing crisis inevitably led to reduced exhibitors registering for OCEANS Limerick, and we eventually had 46 booths available. Hard work by the LOC resulted in 42 Institutions (Companies, Research Institutes, Professional Bodies, Societies, and Media Organizations) represented across 46 booths (triple, single, shared or small booths). The exhibitor track was run in the Innovation Theater, and the slots were given to all exhibitors to address the audience and present their products, research or institutions.
Social programme
As in all OCEANS conferences, the social program is essential in enabling delegates to relax and interact in an informal atmosphere. The OCEANS ’23 Limerick team organised a schedule of events designed to give delegates the full flavour of Irish culture.
- Student mixer
The Student Mixer was organised for registered students and student poster competitors in a casual setting for networking. Young Professionals and leaders from the Oceanic Engineering Society and Marine Technology Society attended to orient the students to the OCEANS conference and guide how to get the most out of the event. Stables Club, University of Limerick, has a great atmosphere with DJ and BBQ.
- Icebreaking event
Another successful networking event was held on Monday afternoon (5 June), the Icebreaking Reception in the University Concert Hall Atrium—a great way to end the first day with relaxing music, good food and drinks.
- Exhibition reception
Tuesday afternoon was reserved for networking with exhibitors, starting with the Canadian National Pavilion event, followed by the exhibitors’ reception. Drinks and nibbles were offered to enable exhibitors and attendees to relax in an informal environment.
- Gala dinner
The conference banquet was held at the Strand Hotel and was followed by a visit to King John’s Castle for an exciting medieval experience. The gala program included traditional Irish music and dance, and 480 delegates could also enjoy the performances of Prof. Daniel Toal, whose fiddle melodies give the atmosphere an extra spark of Irish hospitality.
Suleman Mazhar has been working as a professor in Information & Communication Engineering at Harbin Engineering University (China) since July 2019. He did PhD from Tokyo University (Japan) and postdoctorate from Georgetown University (Washington DC, USA). He had BS-CS from FAST-NUCES (Lahore) and MS from GIK Institute (Pakistan). He is TYSP young scientist fellow (Ministry of Science & Technology China) and have won several research grants from international organizations such as DAAD (Germany), ICIMOD (Nepal), NRPU (Higher Education Commission Pakistan), WWF (Worldwide Fund for Nature) Pakistan. His research focus is deep learning and signal processing applications for environmental monitoring, with particular focus on underwater acoustics, and marine mammal conservation. He is a reviewer for professional journals such as Journal of Acoustical Society (America), IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, IEEE Sensors Journal, Applied Acoustics, IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems.
Peng Ren is a full professor with the College of Oceanography and Space Informatics, China University of Petroleum (East China). He is the director of Qingdao International Research Center for Intelligent Forecast and Detection of Oceanic Catastrophes. He received the K. M. Scott Prize from the University of York, the Natural Science award (first rank) from China Institute of Electronics, and the Eduardo Caianiello Best Student Paper Award from 18th International Conference on Image Analysis and Processing as one co-author. He has served as an associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.
Mohd Rizal Arshad is a full professor at the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Malaysia, where he specializes in ocean robotics technology and intelligent system. He received his B.Eng. in Medical Electronics & Instrumentation and PhD in Electronic Engineering from University of Liverpool, UK in 1994 and 1999, respectively. He completed his MSc. in Electronic Control Engineering from the University of Salford, UK in Dec 1995. He has supervised many postgraduate students and published extensively in local and international publications. He is a senior member of the IEEE, and was awarded IEEE OES Presidential Award in 2019.
Itzik Klein is an Assistant Professor, heading the Autonomous Navigation and Sensor Fusion Lab, at the Charney School of Marine Sciences, Hatter Department of Marine Technologies, University of Haifa. He is an IEEE Senior Member and a member of the IEEE Journal of Indoor and Seamless Positioning and Navigation (J-ISPIN) Editorial Board. Prior to joining the University of Haifa, he worked at leading companies in Israel on navigation topics for more than 15 years. He has a wide range of experience in navigation systems and sensor fusion from both industry and academic perspectives. His research interests lie in the intersection of artificial intelligence with inertial sensing, sensor fusion, and autonomous underwater vehicles.
John R. Potter (IEEE M’94, SM’02, F’18) graduated in the previous century with a joint honours Mathematics and Physics Degree from Bristol and a PhD. in Glaciology and Oceanography from Cambridge, UK studying Antarctic ice mass balance, where he spent four consecutive summers. This work helped underscore the non-linear fragility of polar ice to climate change and led to him receiving the Polar Medal from Queen Elizabeth II in 1988.
Nick is a Visiting Fellow at the UK National Oceanographic Center, Southampton His nomination was endorsed by the Underwater Acoustics Technology Committee. He had worked as a Research Associate and Lecturer at University of Birmingham and has been working as a Research Scientist at the Applied Research Laboratory, University of Texas, Austin. He has also served as a Program Officer at the Office of Naval Research Global. He is a senior member of IEEE (OES) and a Fellow of Acoustical Society of America (ASA). Nick has also been serving as Assoc. Editor for IEEE JoE and JASA. He is widely acknowledged for his expertise are seabed acoustics, parametric array modeling, sonar beamformer, underwater signal processing.
Maurizio Migliaccio (M’91-SM’00-F’17) is Full professor of Electromagnetics at Università di Napoli Parthenope (Italy) and was Affiliated Full Professor at NOVA Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL (USA). He has been teaching Microwave Remote Sensing since 1994. He was visiting scientist at Deutsche Forschungsanstalt fur Lüft und Raumfahrt (DLR), Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. He was member of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) scientific committee. He was member of the ASI CosmoSkyMed second generation panel. He was e-geos AdCom member. He was Italian delegate of the ESA PB-EO board. He was Member of South Africa Expert Review Panel for Space Exploration. He serves as reviewer for the UE, Italian Research Ministry (MIUR), NCST, Kazakhstan and Hong Kong Research board. He lectured in USA, Canada, Brazil, China, Hong Kong, Germany, Spain, Czech Republic, Switzerland and Italy. He was Italian delegate at UE COST SMOS Mode Action. He is listed in the Italian Top Scientists. He is an IEEE Trans. Geoscience and Remote Sensing AE, International Journal of Remote Sensing AE, and was IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering AE Special Issue on Radar for Marine and Maritime Remote Sensing, IEEE JSTARS AE of the Special Issue on CosmoSKyMed, Member of the Indian Journal of Radio & Space Physics Editorial board. His main current scientific interests cover SAR sea oil slick and man-made target monitoring, remote sensing for marine and coastal applications, remote sensing for agriculture monitoring, polarimetry, inverse problems for resolution enhancement, reverberating chambers. He published about 160 peer-reviewed journal papers on remote sensing and applied electromagnetics.
He has developed various types of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and related application technologies including navigation methods, a new sensing method using a chemical sensor, precise seafloor mapping methods, a precise seabed positioning system with a resolution of a few centimeters, a new sensing system of the thickness of cobalt-rich crust; and more. He has shown, by using these technologies that AUVs are practicable and valuable tools for deep-sea exploration.
Donna Kocak has had an outstanding career in defense and scientific projects developing and applying solutions in subsea optics, imaging and robotics. She graduated with an M.Sc in Computer Science in 1997 from the University of Central Florida; an MBA in 2008 from the University of Florida; and M.Sc in Industrial Engineering in 2011 from the University of Central Florida. She is currently a Senior Scientist, Advanced Concepts Engineering, and Fellow at the Harris Corporation in Melbourne, Florida, where she has developed novel optical imaging and communication solutions for under-sea defense and scientific projects. Prior to 2008 Donna Kocak was Founder and President of Green Sky Imaging, LLC (GSI) who developed laser/video photogrammetry software for underwater inspection and survey. Her earlier career positions were with Naval Training Systems Center, Florida; Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Florida; eMerge Interactive; and the Advanced Technologies Group in Florida.
John Potter has a Joint Honours degree in Mathematics and Physics from Bristol University in the UK and a PhD in Glaciology and Oceanography from the University of Cambridge on research in the Antarctic, for which he was awarded the Polar Medal in 1988. John has worked on polar oceanography, underwater acoustics, ambient noise (including imaging), marine mammals, communications, IoUT, autonomous vehicles and strategic development. He has 40 years’ international experience working at the British Antarctic Survey in the UK, NATO in Italy, SIO in California, NUS in Singapore and most recently at NTNU in Norway. John is a Fellow of the IEEE and MTS, an Associate Editor for the IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, IEEE OES Distinguished Lecturer, PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer & an International Fellow of the Explorer’s Club.
Dr. James V. Candy is the Chief Scientist for Engineering and former Director of the Center for Advanced Signal & Image Sciences at the University of California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Dr. Candy received a commission in the USAF in 1967 and was a Systems Engineer/Test Director from 1967 to 1971. He has been a Researcher at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory since 1976 holding various positions including that of Project Engineer for Signal Processing and Thrust Area Leader for Signal and Control Engineering. Educationally, he received his B.S.E.E. degree from the University of Cincinnati and his M.S.E. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Florida, Gainesville. He is a registered Control System Engineer in the state of California. He has been an Adjunct Professor at San Francisco State University, University of Santa Clara, and UC Berkeley, Extension teaching graduate courses in signal and image processing. He is an Adjunct Full-Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Candy is a Fellow of the IEEE and a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) and elected as a Life Member (Fellow) at the University of Cambridge (Clare Hall College). He is a member of Eta Kappa Nu and Phi Kappa Phi honorary societies. He was elected as a Distinguished Alumnus by the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Candy received the IEEE Distinguished Technical Achievement Award for the “development of model-based signal processing in ocean acoustics.” Dr. Candy was selected as a IEEE Distinguished Lecturer for oceanic signal processing as well as presenting an IEEE tutorial on advanced signal processing available through their video website courses. He was nominated for the prestigious Edward Teller Fellowship at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Dr. Candy was awarded the Interdisciplinary Helmholtz-Rayleigh Silver Medal in Signal Processing/Underwater Acoustics by the Acoustical Society of America for his technical contributions. He has published over 225 journal articles, book chapters, and technical reports as well as written three texts in signal processing, “Signal Processing: the Model-Based Approach,” (McGraw-Hill, 1986), “Signal Processing: the Modern Approach,” (McGraw-Hill, 1988), “Model-Based Signal Processing,” (Wiley/IEEE Press, 2006) and “Bayesian Signal Processing: Classical, Modern and Particle Filtering” (Wiley/IEEE Press, 2009). He was the General Chairman of the inaugural 2006 IEEE Nonlinear Statistical Signal Processing Workshop held at the Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge. He has presented a variety of short courses and tutorials sponsored by the IEEE and ASA in Applied Signal Processing, Spectral Estimation, Advanced Digital Signal Processing, Applied Model-Based Signal Processing, Applied Acoustical Signal Processing, Model-Based Ocean Acoustic Signal Processing and Bayesian Signal Processing for IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society/ASA. He has also presented short courses in Applied Model-Based Signal Processing for the SPIE Optical Society. He is currently the IEEE Chair of the Technical Committee on “Sonar Signal and Image Processing” and was the Chair of the ASA Technical Committee on “Signal Processing in Acoustics” as well as being an Associate Editor for Signal Processing of ASA (on-line JASAXL). He was recently nominated for the Vice Presidency of the ASA and elected as a member of the Administrative Committee of IEEE OES. His research interests include Bayesian estimation, identification, spatial estimation, signal and image processing, array signal processing, nonlinear signal processing, tomography, sonar/radar processing and biomedical applications.
Kenneth Foote is a Senior Scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from The George Washington University in 1968, and a Ph.D. in Physics from Brown University in 1973. He was an engineer at Raytheon Company, 1968-1974; postdoctoral scholar at Loughborough University of Technology, 1974-1975; research fellow and substitute lecturer at the University of Bergen, 1975-1981. He began working at the Institute of Marine Research, Bergen, in 1979; joined the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in 1999. His general area of expertise is in underwater sound scattering, with applications to the quantification of fish, other aquatic organisms, and physical scatterers in the water column and on the seafloor. In developing and transitioning acoustic methods and instruments to operations at sea, he has worked from 77°N to 55°S.
René Garello, professor at Télécom Bretagne, Fellow IEEE, co-leader of the TOMS (Traitements, Observations et Méthodes Statistiques) research team, in Pôle CID of the UMR CNRS 3192 Lab-STICC.
Professor Mal Heron is Adjunct Professor in the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia, and is CEO of Portmap Remote Ocean Sensing Pty Ltd. His PhD work in Auckland, New Zealand, was on radio-wave probing of the ionosphere, and that is reflected in his early ionospheric papers. He changed research fields to the scattering of HF radio waves from the ocean surface during the 1980s. Through the 1990s his research has broadened into oceanographic phenomena which can be studied by remote sensing, including HF radar and salinity mapping from airborne microwave radiometers . Throughout, there have been one-off papers where he has been involved in solving a problem in a cognate area like medical physics, and paleobiogeography. Occasionally, he has diverted into side-tracks like a burst of papers on the effect of bushfires on radio communications. His present project of the Australian Coastal Ocean Radar Network (ACORN) is about the development of new processing methods and applications of HF radar data to address oceanography problems. He is currently promoting the use of high resolution VHF ocean radars, based on the PortMap high resolution radar.
Hanu Singh graduated B.S. ECE and Computer Science (1989) from George Mason University and Ph.D. (1995) from MIT/Woods Hole.He led the development and commercialization of the Seabed AUV, nine of which are in operation at other universities and government laboratories around the world. He was technical lead for development and operations for Polar AUVs (Jaguar and Puma) and towed vehicles(Camper and Seasled), and the development and commercialization of the Jetyak ASVs, 18 of which are currently in use. He was involved in the development of UAS for polar and oceanographic applications, and high resolution multi-sensor acoustic and optical mapping with underwater vehicles on over 55 oceanographic cruises in support of physical oceanography, marine archaeology, biology, fisheries, coral reef studies, geology and geophysics and sea-ice studies. He is an accomplished Research Student advisor and has made strong collaborations across the US (including at MIT, SIO, Stanford, Columbia LDEO) and internationally including in the UK, Australia, Canada, Korea, Taiwan, China, Japan, India, Sweden and Norway. Hanu Singh is currently Chair of the IEEE Ocean Engineering Technology Committee on Autonomous Marine Systems with responsibilities that include organizing the biennial IEEE AUV Conference, 2008 onwards. Associate Editor, IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, 2007-2011. Associate editor, Journal of Field Robotics 2012 onwards.
Milica Stojanovic graduated from the University of Belgrade, Serbia, in 1988, and received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Northeastern University in Boston, in 1991 and 1993. She was a Principal Scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and in 2008 joined Northeastern University, where she is currently a Professor of electrical and computer engineering. She is also a Guest Investigator at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Milica’s research interests include digital communications theory, statistical signal processing and wireless networks, and their applications to underwater acoustic systems. She has made pioneering contributions to underwater acoustic communications, and her work has been widely cited. She is a Fellow of the IEEE, and serves as an Associate Editor for its Journal of Oceanic Engineering (and in the past for Transactions on Signal Processing and Transactions on Vehicular Technology). She also serves on the Advisory Board of the IEEE Communication Letters, and chairs the IEEE Ocean Engineering Society’s Technical Committee for Underwater Communication, Navigation and Positioning. Milica is the recipient of the 2015 IEEE/OES Distinguished Technical Achievement Award.
Dr. Paul C. Hines was born and raised in Glace Bay, Cape Breton. From 1977-1981 he attended Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, graduating with a B.Sc. (Hon) in Engineering-Physics.