Venugopalan Pallayil, General Co-Chair of OCEANS 2024 Singapore
Singapore hosted its second in-person OCEANS conference successfully during 15 to 18 April 2024. The conference was held at the Sands Expo Convention Centre, Marina Bay Sands, one of the top conference centers in Singapore.
Two ‘satellite events’ namely the Singapore AUV Challenge (SAUVC) and the Summer School added more vibrancy to the overall conference programme, which was stretched over two weeks. These two events provided an opportunity for some of the students to participate in all the actions leading to the conference and was an enriching experience for them as well as for the organizers. Separate reports on these two activities have been covered elsewhere in this Newsletter. One unique feature of OCEANS 2024 Singapore was that all the conference events were held at the same venue and spread around the same floor so that the delegates could move between technical sessions, poster sessions, plenaries, panel discussions and the exhibition freely and easily.
The Guest of honor for the conference was Mr. Desmond Lee, the Minister for National Development, Singapore. He spoke high about the need for organizing conferences like OCEANS in Singapore and the need of the hour is to understand how climate change and related issues will impact small islands like Singapore. The minister also formally opened the exhibition after his inaugural address. The opening speech by the Minister can be accessed here: https://www.mnd.gov.sg/newsroom/speeches/view/speech-by-minister-desmond-lee-at-the-oceans-2024-conference
Mr. Lee also posted his comments on the conference on his social media outlets and following are the links to the same.
https://www.instagram.com/desmond.lee/p/C6D2YCePQv5/?img_index=1
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-7188119362917040128-838N/
Local Organising Committee
| General Co-Chair | Venugopalan Pallayil |
| General Co-Chair | Chia Chin Swee |
| Technical Chair | Mandar Chitre |
| Finance Chair | Koay Teong Beng |
| Exhibit Chair | Bharath Kalyan |
| Tutorial Chair | Hari Vishnu |
| Student Poster Competition Chair | Too Yuen Min |
| Local Arrangement Chair | Luyuan Peng |
| Exhibit Co-Chair | Phillip Thomas |
| Promotional Chair | Manu Ignatius |
| Webmaster Chair | Rajat Mishra |
Zdenka Willis from Marine Technology Society and Ken Tekagi from IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society served as liaisons.
Participation
It is estimated that there were close to 950 attendees of which over 300 were trade visitors. The actual numbers are not available at the time of preparation of this article. There was representation from 44 countries among registered delegates. There were 45 paid exhibitor booths and complimentary booths of one each was provided to the two sponsoring societies and two future OCEANS organisers (Brest 2025 and Sanya 2026) respectively.
Technical Programme
The technical programme had all the usual OCEANS’ flavours covering general topics of interest as well as topics that were of local interest. The programme was built around the conference theme “Climate resilience, coastal protection and a sustainable Ocean.” There were plenaries, panel discussions, student poster competition and general posters as well as tutorials organised as part of the technical programme. About 325 technical papers were presented over three days.
Tutorials
The tutorials were offered at a nominal cost to participants with full registration and with an extra cost to others. There were three tutorials held and all were reasonably well attended. Below table shows the tutorial topics and number of attendees.
| Title of Tutorial and duration | Number of attendees |
| Detection of Underwater Acoustic Signals: Theory and Techniques (full day) | 31 |
| AUV Technologies and Application Basics (half day) | 21 |
| Data meets Model Predictive Control: from Classical MPC to an online adaptive direct data-driven navigation and control of autonomous vessels (half day) | 25 |
Attendees were offered IEEE Continuing Education Units or CEU credits if they wish to.
Plenaries
OCEANS 2024 Singapore showcased two plenaries immediately after the conference and exhibition opening. The first plenary on “Facing Climate Change” was delivered by Dr. Rick Spinrad, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere & NOAA Administrator. The second plenary titled “The Big Ocean and Atmosphere Meet Up” was presented by Dr. Meghan Cronin, Oceanographer, NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory Co-Chair, Observing Air-Sea Interactions Strategy (OASIS). During a short break between the two plenaries, Prof. Rene Garello, General Chair for OCEANS 2025 Brest, presented a promotional video on Brest OCEANS. There was no overlap between the technical sessions and the plenaries to ensure maximum attendance.
Panel Discussions
In line with the conference theme, three panels were held under the IEEE OES Ocean Decade Initiative. All the panels were well attended and there was engaging discussions among the panelists and attendees, which went beyond the scheduled time. One of the panel discussions was on “Ocean Observing Platforms and Technologies for Ocean Decade: Perspectives and Prospects” where the panelists discussed some of emerging ocean observing autonomous platforms and technologies relevant to the UN Ocean Decade theme ‘the science we need for the oceans we want.’
Another panel titled “UN Ocean Decade: Shifting Mindsets, Overcoming Barriers” identified and discussed the barriers that impede progress toward the UN Ocean Decade goals and to explore strategies for fostering a shift in mindset among professionals working in ocean-related fields. You can read the report on the panel in this issue too. The third panel discussion was on the theme “The integration of Marine Science and Oceanic Engineering Communities in South-East Asia.” This session was aimed at bringing together marine scientists, policy makers and ocean engineers based in South-East Asia (SEA) to join hands to discuss what would be appropriate research collaboration platforms that can spur better collaboration in the region. IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society supported the last two of the three panel discussions through its Ocean Decade Initiative Programme.
Student Poster Competition (SPC) and General Posters (GP)
Over 70 submissions were received under the SPC category with 40 odd General Poster submissions. After a two-stage review, 17 papers were selected for SPC and 16 of them turned up. The SPC was supported by Office of Naval Research Global who provided a grant to cover both the travel and registration fee for the participating students. Schmidt Ocean Institute sponsored the prize money for the winners. Details of SPC is provided in a separate report in this newsletter.
Social Events
Welcome Reception
Over 400 delegates attended the welcome reception held at the foyer of Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre on 15 April 2024. It was a free and easy event with ample food and beverages served. Bhangra, a type of traditional folk dance of Punjab area of the Indian subcontinent was the highlight of the event, which got the participants excited and engaged.
Exhibitor Reception
The exhibitor reception was held on 16 April at the exhibit hall with sumptuous food and beverages. This event was attended by over 450 delegates.
Delegates at the Exhibitor Reception
Gala Dinner
The Gala dinner was held on 17 April at the venue Orchid ball room and over 500 delegates attended the dinner. The sit-in dinner was more convenient when compared to a buffet type where delegates have to queue for a long time before they can get food for themselves. The sit-in style also promoted more interactions with the delegates from different parts of the world. The dinner featured local 5-course Chinese culinary. There was a simple cultural programme featuring Chinese orchestra. Unlike in other OCEANS, the SPC award ceremony was also held during the Gala Dinner and this ensured the students got the attention they needed at such ceremonies.
Dr. Victor Dyomin, the First Vice-Rector, National Research Tomsk State University, sent us the following compliment:
“Dear Venu, it was my pleasure to participate in the OCEANS-2024 and to see you again. Everything was excellent! I know it was a hard job so now you have time to relax.”
Exhibition
The Guest of Honour, Minister Desmond Lee, opened the exhibition with a ribbon cutting ceremony. He took a tour of the various exhibits and held brief discussions with some of the exhibitors. There were 45 companies showcasing their products during the conference. Both Japan and Canada had setup their respective country pavilions. EvoLogics Pte Ltd was our silver sponsor while Kongsberg Discovery Pte Ltd was the bronze sponsor. Dr. Martin Gutowski, Vice-President of Sales and Marketing of Kongsberg Discovery, has this to say,
“Hi Venu, thanks to you and your team for putting up such a good event. It was very well organised and gave us the opportunity to catch-up with stakeholders in the community. I got a lot of positive feedback. I believe you resented Singapore and the local industry and maritime community well.”
Ancillary events
Like in any other OCEANS, OCEANS 2024 Singapore also hosted many ancillary events. These events showcased the conference commitment to engage different communities that are central to both societies. The events facilitate networking and panel discussions, opportunities on themes and topics of interest to different groups representing students, Young Professionals and Women in Engineering. Details of some of these events are covered in separate reports elsewhere in this newsletter by the persons in charge of organizing the event.
The Student Mixer was jointly organized by IEEE OES and MTS. Over 50 students attended the event. Food and non-alcoholic beverages were served. This event was held immediately after the Welcome Reception and also at the venue hotel. The Women in Engineering (WIE) Breakfast Panel was organized by the IEEE OES on 16 April and the Young Professional (YP) panel was held over lunch jointly by the two Societies. IEEE OES also organized ‘Member’s Meet,’ a very interactive fun-filled networking event for its members. Participants opined that this was one of the best networking events they have attended.
Technical Tours
Technical tours were organized as part of the conference to visit three local scientific establishments of interest.
- Technology Centre for Offshore and Marine, Singapore (TCOMS) is a world class next generation Deepwater Ocean Basin research facility, which is equipped with advanced wave and current generation systems to simulate challenging ocean environments that marine platforms and ships operate in. To learn more about the $107m giant pool – Singapore’s first Deep Sea Ocean visit https://www.tcoms.sg
- Johns Island National Marine Laboratory (SJINML) is Singapore’s only offshore marine research facility managed by the National University of Singapore (NUS). Strategically located near to the Sister’s Island Marine Park, the first designated Marine Park in Singapore, the facility is built as a National Research Infrastructure. 30min by boat from the mainland, this facility hosts marine research labs, an aquaria and other supporting facilities including a small research vessel. Read more on this facility here: https://sjinml.nus.edu.sg
Visit to the SJINML Research Facility
- Singapore New Water Plants (SNWP) produces 12% of Singapore’s current water needs. Integrated with Changi water Reclamation Plant, the Sembcorp NEWater Plant is one of the only large-scale water recycling plants in the world to be housed on top of a water reclamation plant. You can find details of this facility
On the last day of the conference, IEEE OES Singapore Chapter organized a barbeque networking event sponsored by Subnero Pte Ltd., Singapore. The event took place at the premises of Acoustic Research Laboratory, National University of Singapore. This fun filled evening provided much needed unwinding for the LOC as well.
Overall, the OCEANS 2024 Singapore was a well-attended and well-organised conference. The feedback received from both attendees and exhibitors has so far been very positive. Before I close this report, on behalf of the LOC, I would like to thank all the participants, exhibitors, and patrons for supporting OCEANS 2024 Singapore. Special thanks to our patron, Singapore Tourism Board (STB), who has been with us in this journey since the conference bidding process began. It is now time to look forward to our next big event OCEANS 2024 Halifax. See you all there.
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.