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Hong Kong Chapter
Hong Kong IEEE CE/OES Joint Chapter holds the YE20 Conference for students
Reported by Paul Hodgson (MIEE) and Robin Bradbeer (Life SMIEE)
On the 13th September 2020, the Hong Kong IEEE CT/OES Joint Chapter held the first IEEE Young Engineers 2020 Conference (YE-20) to showcase suitable project work of secondary school and undergraduate university students. A total of 16 student papers were accepted for presentation to let the chapter know what they were doing. The on-line event was coordinated from the Cyberport facility in Hong Kong. The COVID-19 situation made the event an on-line conference with help and support from the Hong Kong CityU OES Student Chapter on the day.
Projects covered a diverse range of topics and all had the added theme that there should be a potential consumer product, the project data was collected by consumer electronics or that there was a marine engineering aspect to it. Macau, a partner region to the Hong Kong (SAR), also participated. All students exhibited a very high standard of work. Details of all of the projects presented can be found on https://hkye2019.com.
Topics as diverse as particulate monitoring, marine surveys, area soundscaping, wildlife camera trap surveys, mud collection by ROV, were complemented by technical posters on coatings for nanowires, CAN Bus for ROV and ROV simulation using specialized software. Projects involving micro plastic in marine areas and recyclable bicycle helmets were also on display. The conference requires all presenters to produce a project poster, present the project and produce a student paper.
One highlight of the event was that all of the student posters were printed and displayed. Even though only the video conference organizers were there to fully appreciate this, it allowed photographs and video to be sent to the presenters and conference attendees to help show the full impact of the student’s work. It looked very impressive.
This was the first time the HK CT/OES has run a virtual conference. Apart from some hiccups at the start, things smoothed out and became more predictable after the early morning session. Let’s say it was a fast learning curve. Are we still on line? And is the sound working? Were probably the two most asked questions of the day.
The conference opened with a talk from Dr. Ray Cheung, the Secretary of the HK IEEE Section, talking about paths for young engineers to proceed. This was followed by a talk from Dr. K. F. Tsang, the Chairman of the HK CT/OES Joint Chapter. His talk was about the objectives of the conference. After the lunch break, Prof. Robin Bradbeer shared her experiences and recommendations concerning STEM and teaching STEM in schools. All talks were well received.
Given the current COVID-19 issues and the pressure placed on the education system as it adapts to these difficult times, it is important not to forget the problems students are having coping with this situation. Quite apart from the social isolation expected of them now, currently it is exceptionally difficult for students to highlight their abilities for selection into the system of further education. IEEE events like these can help students meet new people and peers as well as show what they can do.
The overwhelming support for this conference was very much appreciated. Cyberport Hong Kong went out of their way to provide and sponsor the venue. The CityU students gave up a weekend to help get things running smoothly before and during the great day.
The organizers would like to thank the generous support given by Cyberport for the venue and internet service. MATE II was the technical sponsor with Oceanway Corporation Limited and Oceanway Labs helping make the day special for everyone who participated. Special thanks to the CityU OES Student Chapter for their help on the day. We could not have done this without you all.
The CityU team of Helpers. Photo at rest (left) and at panic stations (right).
The Command Center. (Oh…Yes…We are still on-line….Good!)
We even distributed conference souvenirs.
The result of the poster judging:
Providence Chapter
Reported by David Leslie, Providence Chapter Secretary
On October 20, 2020, the Providence Section, OE22 Chapter hosted its third Technical Talk of the year. Due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic and local guidelines for public gatherings, this talk was conducted remotely using Zoom. Three speakers from the MIT-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program came together virtually to talk to us about their research and their participation in the ICEX 2020 Exercise, which is part of the U.S. Navy Submarine Arctic Warfare Program. All three speakers are graduate students in the Laboratory for Autonomous Marine Sensing Systems (LAMSS) led by Professor Henrik Schmidt at MIT.
Bradli Howard, EeShan Bhatt and Rui Chen spoke about their research involved in the multinational exercise organized by the United States Navy in the Arctic Beaufort Sea region carried out in March of 2020. During ICEX, LAMSS deployed four acoustic communications buoys to link with the Autonomous Undersea Vehicle Macrura under sea ice.
LT Bradli Howard is a Submarine Officer and Master of Engineering student in Applied Ocean Science & Engineering (WHOI-AOPE) and Mechanical Engineering (MIT-ME) focusing on novel underwater acoustic communication performance metrics.
EeShan Bhatt is a PhD Candidate in AOPE/ME. His research focus is on anticipating the physically driven and stochastic uncertainty behind vertical sound speed structure that predicates autonomous underwater vehicle communication, navigation and sampling. Part of his thesis work has involved the design of tools and interactive data visualizations to share this uncertainty.
Rui Chen is a PhD Candidate in AOPE/ME. His thesis work focuses on applying acoustical modeling, signal processing and machine learning techniques to characterize changes in Arctic Ocean underwater ambient noise that may be attributed to the region’s changing environment. In particular, he has been interested in the effect of the Beaufort Sea sound speed profile on noise, as well as the spectral and temporal features of ice-generated transients.
The purpose of ICEX2020 was to demonstrate submarine operations under the ice in the Arctic region for national defense, but the associated operations also supported a lot of science. Camp Sea Dragon was established on the sea-ice, with logistical support provided by the Royal Canadian Airforce. Climate change is drastically impacting how the Navy sees and operates in the arctic. The “Beaufort warm lens” comes from warm water upwelling out of the Pacific. This leads to a deep acoustical shadow zone within operational depths and ranges during AUV deployments. This shadow zone affects digital communication and passive sensing.
Rui Chen examined the environmental effects on ambient noise using data collected in the previous ICEX16 experiment. In that experiment a vertical array of 32 elements collected data at various array-center depths between 38-238 m. Beamformed data was used to determine noise vertical directionality. Environmentally induced changes were two-fold – those associated with sound speed profile (SSP), and those associated with noise generation in the ice cover. Noise generation was modelled using a uniformly distributed source model and combined with ray-tracing to demonstrate the effect of SSP and ice cover on noise distribution in the ocean volume. The effect of the Beaufort Lens on noise level vs depth is clearly visible. The SSP was responsible for notches in the sound profile near horizontal propagation at some depths. Previously, noise generation had been more uniform at the surface. Now, younger, thinner ice cover is generating noise along discrete ice ridges. The Beaufort SSP combined with discrete surface noise sources along ridges better explains the observed peak noise depths and elevation angles.
EeShan Bhatt explained aspects of the “human-in-the-loop” (user-informed) environmental updates provided for A/V Macrura, and the active acoustics governing the modem setup and vehicle communications. The “Virtual Ocean Framework” anticipates variability in the vertical structure for a given spatial-temporal area using Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOF) with global and local updates. A tuned EOF dataset was chosen for the 2020 experiment. Cost functions were based on depth dependent errors from CTD casts and EOF estimates. Transmission loss and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) were used as performance metrics.
Bradli Howard concluded the presentations by looking beyond the traditional use of SNR alone as a performance metric. MPP, “multi-path penalty,” has been proposed as a new metric to complement signal level. Multipath propagation can lead to echo problems for communication with modems, and it is useful to penalize certain operational depths because of the potential for multipath interference. Calculations of SNR and MPP were made both top side and on the vehicle. Simulations were performed using NetSim (Schneider, Toby and Henrik Schmidt, “NETSIM: A Realtime Virtual Ocean Hardware-in-the-loop Acoustic Modem Network Simulator.” Fourth Underwater Communications and Networking Conference, August 2018, Lerici, Italy, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, October 2018.)
The technical content of these presentations along with the stunning video and audio files, which accompanied the talks, provided our Chapter with a glimpse of the excellent and exciting scientific work being performed by the Navy and its academic collaborators in one of the harshest environments on earth.
Malaysia Chapter
The 12th National Technical Seminar on Unmanned System Technology 2020 (NUSYS’20)
Reported by Khalid Isa & Herdawatie Abdul Kadir
On 24-25 November 2020, the IEEE Ocean Engineering Society (OES) Malaysia Chapter organized The 12th National Technical Seminar on Unmanned System Technology 2020 (NUSYS’20) via virtual platform. The goal of the conference was to present current research being carried out in the area described. This seminar aims to present ongoing research activities to scientists, academics, engineers, and students from universities in Malaysia and industry, thus fostering research links between universities and industries. The seminar offers delegates the opportunity to share new ideas and implementation experiences, develop business or research partnerships, and find global partners for future collaboration. The seminar offers a number of invited lectures from renowned speakers all over the country. NUSYS’20 is the premier interdisciplinary platform for presenting new advances and research results in the fields of Unmanned System Technology. The seminar will bring together leading scientists, researchers, engineers, scholars, and students in the domain of interest worldwide.
Talk on Negative Pressure Effect Plate (NPEP) And Haptic Shared Control (HSC) For Underwater Vehicles
Reported by Khalid Isa & Herdawatie Abdul Kadir
Prof. Dr. Norimitsu Sakagami is with the Department of Navigation and Ocean Engineering, Tokai University, Japan. In 2003, he received the Ph.D. degree from Ritsumeikan University, specializing in motion analysis and underwater robotic manipulators’ control. His current research interests are in the design and control of underwater robots, robotic handling systems, and autonomous surface vehicles. In 2014-2015, he was a visiting researcher at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He is a visiting researcher at Ritsumeikan University, Japan.
Talk by Norimitsu Sakagami
Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Technology In Gallops
Reported by Herdawatie Abdul Kadir & Khalid Isa
Dr. Ouzani Bachir is a geoscientist and has obtained his first degree in geology from the USTHB University of Algiers, MSc and Ph.D. in petroleum geology from the University of Malaya, Malaysia. He has worked for the past 20 years in the oil and gas industry services and grown from a senior geophysicist at Thales Geosolutions to project manager and Chief Operating Officer leading geophysical and geotechnical divisions of Java Offshore. As a senior geophysicist, he was in charge of seismic data quality control, interpretation, reporting, and geohazards assessments for drilling locations, pipeline installations, platform construction, and anchor planning and handling. Dr. Ouzani Bachir has experienced working onshore/offshore on seismic survey projects in many parts of the world, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Myanmar, the Caspian Sea, Qatar, Oman, India, and Sakhalin (Russia).
Talk by Ouzani Bachir
Talk On Model Order Reduction Techniques
Reported by Herdawatie Abdul Kadir & Khalid Isa
Rosmiwati Mohd-Mokhtar is an Associate Professor and a Mechatronic Program Chairman at the School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, USM. She is also a Chartered Engineer (C.Eng.) of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), Professional Engineer (Ir.) of the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM), a Senior Member to the Institution of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and a Member to Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM). Her research interests include system identification, advanced control system design, process modeling, process optimization, mechatronics applications, and underwater system applications. Rosmiwati is an IEEE member for 17 years. This talk discussed an approach to a stable and unstable dynamical system from basic to applications. This talk was attended by 65 attendees, which include academicians, students, and industrial people.
Talk by Rosmiwati Mohd-Mokhtar
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.