Colonel Norman D Miller, 1926–2015
Coauthored by Jim Collins and Brad Boyd
Those of us who produce the OES Beacon strive to recognize the leaders and members of OES. Norm’s smiling face has appeared many times in past issues and it is with sadness that this article has to document his passing. And, the fact that this is one of the largest articles ever produced about one of our members provides the proof of his impact on OES and especially the lives of over 700 former students. Norm was an icon in our society and he will be missed by all, but his legacy, the student poster competition, will live on under his name. Robert Wernli, Beacon Co-EIC.
Norman D. Miller, age 89, soldier, engineer, organist, and staunch promoter of student oceanic engineering and science passed away peacefully in his Seattle home on Friday, July 3rd, 2015. He was born on Decoration Day, May 30, 1926 in Spragueville, Iowa to Lyle and Sophia (Beyer) Miller and grew up in nearby Epworth, Iowa. In 1943, he enlisted in the Army Specialized Training Reserve Program and received training as an engineer. Following his discharge after the war, he completed his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Iowa State College. He reenlisted in the Army Reserve, retiring as a full Colonel. One of his student oriented tasks at that time was interviewing prospective candidates for West Point US Military Academy and making recommendations to the Academy and the appropriate Congressman.
Norman moved to Seattle in 1961 and was employed by the Honeywell Corp. until 1988. One of responsibilities was as the engineer in charge of the design and implementation of the one meter accurate dynamic positioning system for the Glomar Explorer. Later with West Sound Associates he provided support systems for an offshore acoustic test facility.
He was very active in the Oceanic Engineering Society (OES) of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and in 1989 he became a Vice President of the OES, a position he would retain for fourteen years. Norman organized the first student poster session at the OCEANS’89 Conference in Seattle. When he completed his term as a Vice President in 2003, his successor asked what he would like to do, Norman answered “students”. This was an activity he would continue to lead for the next 12 years until the OCEANS’14 Conference in St. John’s, CANADA. Approximately 700 students participated in the poster program over the period, 1989–2015. He also enthusiastically supported the Oceans Science Bowl high school competition and awarded the fifth to eight prize on behalf of the OES each year. Because of his long commitment to the students, the first prize at the biannual OCEANS poster competition is named in his honor. The US Office of Naval Research (ONR) has been very supportive of the student poster competition and it has been suggested that the OES supply a honorary plaque to be hung in a prominent spot at the ONR head office.
Norman was also active in the Seattle Valley of Scottish Rite, where he received the 33rd degree, and a member of the Walter F. Meier Lodge of Research #281. His love of playing the organ led to his playing for several lodges and membership in the Puget Sound Theatre Organ Society. Many well-known organists have visited his home to play his 7-rank pipe organ.
Shortly upon moving to Seattle Norman found his church home in University Temple United Methodist Church where his passion for liturgy led to his help in establishing special church services and an acolyte program. He produced a copyrighted procedure manual for the acolyte program.
Norman was a patron of the arts and loved to travel. His favorite trip was to Machu Picchu.
He is survived by his sisters Enid Miller and Carol Rock- well, his nephews Douglas and Stuart, his niece Sally, and countless others touched by his boundless generosity.
Jim Collins and his wife, Faith, attended Norman’s funeral in Seattle on behalf of the OES on July 18th. OES provided a bouquet. The ceremony was attended by about 120 people. Norman designed the event to the last detail. With the booming organ music played one could not but help but feel Norm’s presence. After the service there was a reception where Jim met Brad Boyd who had been assisting Norman with his affairs for the last couple of years. He said that one of Norman’s regrets was that he would not be able to be with us at OCEANS’15 in October. Jim had a chance to discuss Norman’s contribution to the OES and our student program with some of his former engineering colleagues who were impressed with what he had achieved and at the same time recounted some of the details discussed above of his engineering achievements in Seattle.
Memorial Emailed Tributes to Norman
Tribute from OES President René Garello is in the “From the President” (see page 3). Many tributes to Norman came in by email and follow below in surname alphabetical order. Many respondents agreed with Bill Kirkwood’s suggestions given below but for brevity sake these comments are omitted and following these suggestions OES and MTS will have a special ceremony during the plenary session at Oceans 15 Washington DC.
From Gerardo Acosta, Argentina Chapter Chair for IEEE OES I did not have the pleasure to meet Norman personally, but
I know about his great task for the society. Always this kind of people are missed in any group, and surely we will do. RIP Norman Miller.
From Bob Bannon, AdCom Member of the IEEE OES
Sadly, we have all lost a dear friend, a true gentleman, and lifetime officer. Norm always gave a 110% to all endeavors and he will be missed by all of us.
From Jim Barbera, Senior Past President of the IEEE OES
As with most of the Adcom/Excom our memories of Norm were centered around the efforts with the students that he handled over the years especially when I was President and we attended one of the first NOSB events that has become usual for the society. We, especially Peggy at the conferences, developed a friendship that included many side trips at the conferences. In Boston we all went whale watching. It was a chilly day but the whales are hams and they performed for the tour boat. In DC Peggy squired him around as we live nearby so she knew places to go for sightseeing and he was glad to go. On our visit to Monterey the trip included the WAVE bus tour and a stop at Bubba Gumps for lunch. Virginia Beach included a group trek with Norm, Pat and Jim Candy and us to an airplane museum that had a large number of old planes that were still flyable. We will miss Norm as he had become a buddy over the years.
From Jim Candy, AdCom Member of IEEE OES
Not only was Norm a kind human being a true gentleman and a fabulous contributor to IEEE OES, MTS & ONR … His legacy will clearly live on, but most important, he was a very strong and devout Christian and a true believer. It is appropriate to grieve and feel sadness for his passing, BUT as a Christian, it is time to rejoice because he has gone home to the Lord and is at eternal peace—so feel great comfort and celebrate that we were all fortunate enough to have had a great friend, colleague, and loving person in Norm Miller. God Bless him.
From Jerry Carroll, Junior Past President of the IEEE OES
I sent you a picture of Norm on the boat trip in St John’s which Norm enjoyed very much and so did I. I was very glad that I asked him to join me. We had a nice evening as well on our last day. Little did I know that would be the last time I would see him as he seemed in good health. He was always a friend and we enjoyed our visit to his home when we were in Seattle when he played the organ.
From Stan Chamberlain, Past President of IEEE OES
We certainly grieve and feel the loss of a great friend, both personally and to the IEEE OES, MTS & ONR community, and we also rejoice that, because of Norm’s faith in Jesus Christ, he is now in a much better place. Norm has contributed greatly to our profession and it was a joy to work with him. He deserves the recognition he has and will receive. And now he has gone on to even greater recognition and reward.
From Ross Chapman, Editor of the IEEE OES Journal of Oceanic Engineering
I’m very sad to hear about Norman’s death. The scope of his impact on the society and on research in the ocean was huge. I have very a very happy memory of breakfasts with him in St John’s last year, the last time he attended an Oceans conference.
From Philippe Courmontagne, AdCom Member Elect of the IEEE OES
Really bad news … as the Student Poster Committee chair, at each OCEANS conference, I can measure all that he has realized for OES and in particular for the students. I do not know exactly what to write except that it was a real pleasure to work with Norman, as he knew how to perfectly respect the work of the students. He has contributed a lot in the society by the way of the student poster program, not only because he gave an opportunity to the students to have their work enhanced, but too because he has thought about a relief team (or troops, as the colonel he was). Norman is not anymore, but what he has done will be there for several years.
From Joe Czika, Past President of IEEE OES
It would be fitting to rename the OES scholarship fund as the Norman Miller Scholarship Fund, or something like that. The name would immortalize Norm’s most famous OES legacy. It would also be fitting to allow individual tax-deductible contributions to such a fund.
From Diane DiMassa, Past Treasurer of IEEE OES
A true pillar of the OES with a most honorable legacy. I am so happy that we named the student award for him while he was with us to appreciate it. He will be dearly missed.
From Ferial El Hawary, AdCom Member of the IEEE OES
So sorry to hear about the loss of our dear friend Norm, yes it’s really day of sadness that wasn’t expected. I worked with Norm on OES AdCom for more than three decades and the last seen him was at OCEANS’14 in St. Johns, he sent me an Email after he returned home from the conference to express his feeling as this is last OCEANS for him to attend ..which sounded like he was saying Good by to OCEANS… He will be really missed.
Extract from Eulogy by Rev. John B. Grabner, Personal friend of Norman’s for 52 years.
I will especially cherish the memories of traveling with Norman, my fellow worship nerd; they have enriched my life immeasurably – in sermon preparation, Bible study, and when watching British and French television or current developments in the Middle East: I will always be grateful for Norman’s loyal and generous friendship–and I’ll miss his caustic wit.
From Mal Heron, AdCom Member of IEEE OES
Norman was indeed a special person and his contribution was unique.
From Franz Hover, Winner of first Oceans Student Poster Competition, Seattle, 1989
Norm made me feel like a professional, way back at the first competition in Seattle 1989, and I appreciated that! He kept a real interest in my career afterward, and we exchanged hello’s every year or two. His dedication to the student posters – and the students – over all these years has been tremendous.
From Harumi Sugimatsu, Editor of IEEE OES Beacon Newsletter
I am very sad to hear that. I remember our visit to his home when he played the organ for us.
From Bill Kirkwood, Treasurer of IEEE OES
I propose that in DC… a very appropriate venue… we hold a special moment in his honor. I think we should have someone from ONR receive a memorial plaque (a really very nice one) in recognition of his efforts with starting the student poster competition and the link to ONR… the appropriate place for this plaque is at ONR I believe.
From Lian Lian, AdCom Member of IEEE OES
I am very sad to hear that.
From Marinna Martini, Secretary of IEEE OES
He leaves behind very large shoes to fill.
From Christophe Sintes, AdCom Member of IEEE OES
I am very sad as you to hear that. He has done a lot for students. After years he has become a friend. I will never forget his advice, and when sometimes he said “no”, as the colonel he was. He always enjoyed coming to the Conferences and discussions with young people: it is a loss.
I met Norm in 1999 in Seattle for the student poster competition, he was the boss! He was strict like a retired colonel and explained clearly the rules of the game. I was impressed and a bit intimidated by him. I always liked when he made introduction of the SPC to students. It was him and students appreciated his view of the SPC: “Do your best, try to meet people, explain your work and convince!” He also each time explained the origin of the SPC with help from ONR etc, and it was success story! Norm for me was the soul of the Oceans competition. I am very happy the first prize is now named after him. During the last years he has also involved more and more people around him to help to judge, to organise, because for him, youth was future and it was matter of legacy. It could be said more about him, his military adventures, his organ etc, but I simply say: Goodbye, my friend.
From Bob Spindel, Chair OCEANS ‘89, ‘99, 2010
Norm’s legacy lives on in the collective memory of those of us who have had the privilege of working with him, and especially in the lives of the hundreds of students he has championed in our (his, really!) Student Poster Sessions. I vividly remember how he pressed for the first Student Session in OCEANS 89, and how he sought and received a generous grant from ONR to fund student travel and hotel accommodations. It was a selfless, generous effort that he reprised every year thereafter until 2014. It is hard to imagine a more concrete contribution to our profession and our Society than encouraging young people in their early careers. We will miss him, but by continuing to hold Student Poster Sessions we can perpetuate a precedent he set that will be an ongoing honor to his memory.
From Ken Takagi, AdCom Member of IEEE OES
I am very sad to hear the death of Norman Miller. I was working with him to organize the student poster session of OCEANS 2004 as the session chair. That was a good memory.
From Ray Toll, President of MTS
We have indeed lost a special friend and colleague who impressed me most with his kind, gentle disposition and enthusiasm for our youth. I will remember him most for how he supported our OCEANS12 team as this link conveys.
RIP, Norm. We will commit to carrying on your legacy. You made a difference, sir.
From Joe Vadus, AdCom Member of IEEE OES
I am very saddened by the passing of Norm Miller. He was a distinguished asset of the IEEE OES, whom I admired very much for his warm, friendly personality, optimism, can do attitude, and great efforts in serving on ExCom and AdCom. He was a staunch member of MTS, and frequently interacted with ONR on the Student Program. He will be especially remembered for his guidance and the opportunities he provided for many students in organizing and managing the Student Program. Many will remember his invitation and the guidance and opportunities he provided to students from countries around the world. He was a good friend who will be greatly missed and remembered by many.
From John Watson, AdCom Member of the IEEE OES
He is a major loss to the Society. His legacy lives on in the Posters.
From Glen N Williams, Past President of IEEE OES
Truly an unsung hero of the OES. He will be missed.
Thank you, and Good-bye Norm. We shall never forget you.
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.