AUVfest 2008 Explorers
D.K. (Kathy) Abbass
Director and Founder
Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project
D.K. (Kathy) Abbass is the Director of the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project, which she founded in 1989. Abbass received her doctorate in anthropology at Southern Illinois University in 1979 and was a post-doctoral researcher in maritime history at Harvard University and University of California - Berkeley. She was a professor of anthropology and sociology for 10 years at Norfolk State University and ran away to sea to work on Tall Ships and to apprentice as a marine surveyer, becoming the first woman in the country to do so. From 1989-1990, Abbass was the director of the Museum of Yachting in Newport, RI and turned her maritime interests to underwater archaeology in 1991. She has worked around the world on different anthropology, archaeology and maritime history projects, from African topics to searching for Captain Cook’s ship, and has published widely.
Tom Austin
Principal Engineer
Applied Ocean Physics & Engineering, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Tom Austin works on underwater acoustics instrumentation design, electrical design for remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), analog and digital electronics, signal processing, and hydrophones. He received his master’s of science degree in electrical engineering from Northeastern University in 1987.
David Bellino
Project Manager
Undersea Enterprise (USE) Analysis Group NUWC Division Newport
David Bellino has an engineering background that has given him a unique perspective as a director, producer and technical lead. Professionally, he has focused on computer science, interactive media, and visualization. He has managed projects for high profile clients, such as the Rolling Stones, and has produced and directed entertainment content for Virgin Records, BMG Music, Sony Music, Hasbro Interactive, EMI/Capitol, MCA Records and Universal Pictures. His work has been recognized by Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, Billboard magazine and international film festival awards.
Frank Cantelas
Maritime Archaeology Program Officer
NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research
Frank Cantelas is the Maritime Archaeology Program Officer for NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research. He oversees maritime archaeology for the office, including a peer-review grant program that funds interdisciplinary voyages to shipwrecks and other submerged maritime heritage sites. Cantelas spent fourteen years teaching graduate students in maritime archaeology and research methods in the Maritime Studies Program at East Carolina University. He has directed and participated in shipwreck projects related to the American Civil War, including the USS Monitor and the Union transport ship Maple Leaf. Other research has taken him to Micronesia to study American whaling ships sunk by the Confederate commerce raider CSS Shenandoah, to Alaska to identify the Kad’yak, an historic Russian-American Company vessel, and to Cyprus to survey submerged Roman/Byzantine sites.
Tane Casserley
National Maritime Heritage Coordinator
NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries
Tane Casserley, the National Maritime Heritage Coordinator for NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, specializes in 19th-century warships and deep-water archaeology. Tane holds graduate degrees in maritime archaeology from both the University of Hawaii and East Carolina University. He has led NOAA archaeological expeditions in the Florida Keys, the Great Lakes, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Alaska, and to the USS Monitor; most recently, he dove with the National Park Service to a sunken B-29 in Lake Mead. Tane’s projects have used technical diving, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and manned submersibles. Tane is a dive instructor and certified trimix and closed-circuit rebreather diver with the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI).
Ted Clem
Senior Research Physicist
Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City
Ted Clem is a senior research physicist and the coordinator for electromagnetic sensor technology at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City with over 25 years of experience. He is currently directing a multi-facility project to develop and demonstrate autonomous underwater systems that identify buried sea mines through the fusion of acoustic and non-acoustic sensors. His expertise and research interests span include magnetic sensor technology, superconductivity, statistical mechanics, electromagnetic theory, functional analysis, signal processing, and advanced underwater system development. Clem received a Ph.D. from North Carolina State University in 1985.
Denise Crimmins
Researcher & Electrical Engineer
Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Newport RI
Denise Crimmins is a researcher and electrical engineer for the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, Rhode Island. Crimmins works to expand the use of autonomous underwater vehicles through strategic partnerships with scientists and other professionals around the world that have a mutual interest in protecting the marine environment. She is currently working with various state and federal agencies and academic institutes that are looking to upgrade their ocean technology infrastructure to include autonomous underwater vehicles. With a background in both technology development and environmental management, Denise is interested in exploring new methods for studying the ocean and its diverse, delicate and complicated ecosystems. Denise is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and a M.S. in Marine Affairs.
Chris Duarte
Computer Scientist
Naval Undersea Warfare Center
Chris Duarte is a computer scientist at the Naval Undersea Warfare center. Her research efforts have been focused in the area of autonomous control for single and multiple autonomous vehicles. She has participated in the design and development of command and control strategies for autonomous vehicles including surface, swimming and bottom crawling in both military and scientific applications. Her research includes behavior-based control strategies for group search operations, adaptive mapping algorithms and a common language for autonomous group cooperation. Chris is a graduate of the Brown University with a B.A. and a M.S. in Computer Science.
Jose E. Fernandez
Electrical Engineer
Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City
Jose E. Fernandez received a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Puerto Rico in 1984 and a master of science degree in electrical engineering from Florida State University in 1994. Since 1984, he has been working at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division, where he has been involved in the design, testing and data analysis of several sonar systems. Over the past eight years, most of his work activities have related to the development of synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) technology. He is currently working in the design, development and testing of high frequency and low frequency AUV-mounted SAS sensors for seafloor mapping and detection of submerged or buried objects.
Brendan Foley
Maritime Archaeologist
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Dr. Brendan Foley practices maritime archaeology at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and teaches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He specializes in advanced technologies for archaeology, including application of AUVs, ROVs, and Human Occupied Vehicles to precision shipwreck investigations. His fieldwork focuses on ancient shipwrecks in the deep Mediterranean Sea.
R. Grant Gilmore III
Director
St. Eustatius Center for Archaeological Research
R. Grant Gilmore III is the Director of the St. Eustatius Center for Archaeological Research. Gilmore earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees, concentrating in History and Historical Archaeology, respectively, from the College of William and Mary. He worked for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation for several years before earning his Ph.D. in Historical Archaeology from the Institute of Archaeology at the University College London. In 2004, he moved to St. Eustatius in the Caribbean and now manages both the terrestrial and submerged cultural resources on one of the richest archaeological areas in the Americas. Having grown up in Florida, he has been in and under the water since before he could walk and enjoys nothing better than being submerged beneath the waves.
Kelly Gleason
Maritime Archaeologist
Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument
Kelly Gleason is a maritime archaeologist with the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. Following an undergraduate degree at the University of Notre Dame, Kelly pursued a master’s in Nautical Archaeology at St. Andrews University in Scotland and a Doctorate at East Carolina University in North Carolina. In 2004, she began working for the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries in Honolulu, Hawaii as part of the Pacific Islands Region and became the maritime archaeologist for the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in the fall of 2007. In addition to her experience working on sites in the Main and Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, she has worked on shipwreck sites in Scotland, North Carolina, Northern California, the Great Lakes and the Caribbean.
Russ Green
Deputy Superintendent
NOAA's Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Alpena, MI
Russ Green is the Deputy Superintendent at NOAA's Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Alpena, Michigan. Trained as a maritime archaeologist, Russ has conducted fieldwork along the east coast and in the Great Lakes, as well as Bermuda and Micronesia. His current focus is on documentation and resource management strategies for shipwrecks beyond the recreational diving range. Trained in mixed gas and closed circuit rebreather diving, he has led several technical expeditions in the Great Lakes and assisted in archaeological investigations of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor and a World War II B-29 airplane in Lake Mead, Nevada.
Brian Houston
Research Physicist
Naval Research Laboratory
Brian Houston works with the Low Frequency Broadband Mine Identification (LFBB) autonomous underwater vehicle, which detects, classifies, and identifies sea mines. Houston’s specialty is Physical Acoustics and structural acoustic based mine classification approaches. He received his undergraduate, M.S., and Ph.D. in physics from American University, and has been working with the Naval Research Laboratory since 1984.
Robert Hughes
Transphibian AUV Project Lead
Nekton Research of Durham LLC
Robert Hughes is the vehicle lead for the Transphibian platform, an extremely maneuverable multi-role AUV. Since joining Nekton in 2004, Hughes has been key in the design of eight different platforms, and currently leads the Nekton-based vehicle development. Prior to Nekton, Hughes earned his bachelor of science and master of science degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics from North Carolina State University. Hughes enjoys driving innovative solutions from concept to in-the-field operation.
Matthew Lawrence
Maritime Archaeologist
NOAA's Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
Matthew Lawrence is a maritime archaeologist working with the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary in Scituate, Massachusetts. He received a Master of Arts in History from East Carolina University’s Program in Maritime Studies. His research interests include nineteenth-century American steam navigation and remote sensing survey. He is an avid diver and has participated in archaeological research projects throughout the United States and Caribbean.
Charles Loeffler
Senior Engineering Scientist
Applied Research Laboratories, University of Texas, Austin
Charles Loeffler is a Senior Engineering Scientist at the Applied Research Laboratories with The University of Texas at Austin. He received degrees in Electrical Engineering and Digital Signal Processing from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. and Rice University in Houston, Tx, respectively. After finishing graduate school he taught at Colorado State University and then joined the Applied Research Labs (ARL) in 1988. ARL introduced him to the world of underwater acoustics, where he has developed multi-ping processing schemes to build images of the seafloor from data of various sonar systems as well as high-speed array geometry-specific algorithms to process thousands of channels of data from these sonar systems. This research has taken him to experiments in the lab’s tanks, ARL’s Lake Travis Test Station, a small boat in the Chesapeake Bay, on large ships in the Pacific, and in a few submarines. He also enjoys building small boats.
Kerry Lynch
Archaeologist
Cultural Resource Management, University of Massachusetts
Kerry is a professional archaeologist working in Cultural Resource Management at the University of Massachusetts. She is also involved with the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project as its Field Director and current Vice President. Kerry’s involvement with northeast archaeology has spanned over a decade and includes directing academic field schools, all phases of contract archaeology and many hours logged underwater for RIMAP. Some of her current projects include site condition assessments and GPS monitoring of National Park Service properties in Boston Harbor, supervising an archaeological survey in Western Massachusetts, analysis of Native American artifacts from CRM excavations and, in her spare time, completing her doctoral dissertation on inundated, pre-contact archaeological sites under the waters of New England.
Rod Mather
Associate Professor of History
University of Rhode Island
Rod Mather is the Director of the Master’s of Arts in Archaeology and Anthropology Program at the University of Rhode Island, and the Advisor of the Underwater Archaeology undergraduate program. He received his bachelor of arts from Leeds University in 1986, his master of arts from East Carolina University in 1990, and his doctorate from New College in Oxford in 1996.
Ed Matson
Ranger AUV Project Lead
Nekton Research of Durham LLC
Ed Matson is the Nekton Ranger Project Lead, bringing over 10 years of prior experience in mechanical design and electronics packaging to his role at Nekton. Ed has worked on collaborative projects with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stevens Institute of Technology, SeeByte, and BlueView Technologies, and has logged over 500 hours of field operations with the Ranger AUV in support of Office of Naval Research projects.
Tony Matthews
Electrical Engineer
Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City
Tony Matthews is retired from the US Navy Reserve, Civil Engineer Corps as a Commander. He received the his master’s of science in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech and a bachelor’s of science in Electrical Engineering from University of South Florida. He is currently developing Synthetic Aperture Sonar, Remote Control for Mining Science and Technology, Autonomous vehicles for MCM, and Automatic Target Recognition systems for the Navy at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division.
William Schopfel
Demonstration Manager
Office of Naval Research
William Schopfel is a Demonstration Manager for the Office of Naval Research, working on fleet demonstrations and experiments in the field of undersea surveillance, mine countermeasures, and antisubmarine warfare technologies. He is a retired career military officer with more than 32 years of service. His military service included two combat tours in the Republic of Vietnam, one tour in Beirut, and one tour in Southwest Asia in Desert Shield and Desert Storm operations. He has a B.A. in mathematics from the University of Texas, an M.A. in management and supervision in business management from Central Michigan University, and an M.A. in national security and strategic studies from the Naval War College. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Army’s Field Artillery Officer’s Advance Course, the Marine Corps Amphibious Warfare School, and Command & Staff College.
Thomas Swean
Leader, Ocean Engineering and Marine Systems Team
Office of Naval Research
Thomas Swean is team leader of the ocean engineering and marine systems team at the Office of Naval Research (ONR), and the science and technology leader of the organic mine countermeasures Future Naval Capabilities program. He received his Ph.D in aerospace and ocean engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1976 and was research scientist for MHD Technology at STD Research Corporation from 1977 until 1981. In 1981, he joined the Naval Research Laboratory as a senior mechanical engineer and later became head of the Center for Hydrodynamic Systems Development. In 1993, he transferred to ONR as ocean technology program manager and assumed his current position in 1996. He is U.S. national leader to Technical Panel 13 (mine warfare) of the Maritime Systems Group of The Technical Cooperation Program, and U.S. delegate to NATO Maritime Capability Group Three (mines, mine countermeasures, and harbor protection). He is a senior member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.
Charlotte Taylor
Archaeologist
Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission
Charlotte Taylor is an archaeologist at the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission, the state agency responsible for the identification and management of historic sites. Her job responsibilities include overseeing the study of the state's shipwrecks. She works closely with the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP) on project such as RIMAP's ongoing study of the Revolutionary War fleet. She received her bachelor’s degree from Bryn Mawr and her master’s from the University of York, United Kingdom. Taylor is currently completing her Ph.D at Brown University.
Jerome Vaganay
Hovering Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Project Manager
Bluefin Robotics
Jerome Vaganay is the Hovering Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (HAUV) project manager for Bluefin Robotics and participates in the development of the vehicle, which focuses on ship hull inspection for Anti-Terrorism and Force Protection. Vaganay joined Bluefin Robotics in 2001 to develop navigation algorithms for Bluefin AUVs, including shallow-water, deep-water, multi-vehicle, and hull-relative applications. Vaganay had a two-year post-doctoral position at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sea Grant AUV lab and IFREMER (France), focused on AUV navigation, and worked for four years at the French National Center for Scientific Research where he led development of the AUV Taipan.
