Oceans 17 attracts hundreds of delegates from across the globe

Almost 800 delegates from over 25 countries attended the 60th OCEANS ’17 MTS/IEEE conference at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC) in Aberdeen last week.

Sponsored by the Marine Technology Society (MTS) and the IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society (OES), Oceans is the premier ocean engineering forum for the international marine community to meet and discuss topical issues.

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The four-day conference featured over 43 exhibitors from across Europe, Canada, the US, China, Japan and Singapore. The Gold Patron for Oceans 17 was industry body, Subsea UK.

Over 480 marine technology papers were presented on a range of topics including subsea engineering and operations, optical sensing, imaging and instrumentation, fisheries and aquaculture. The event also explored the latest marine and renewable technologies as well as unmanned underwater vehicles for defence applications.

“The overall conference was a great example of local Scottish marine technology, and, at the same time, it brought marine science and technology experts from around the globe to Aberdeen,” said Professor John Watson, Chair for OCEANS Aberdeen.

The plenary session featured distinguished speakers form the world of ocean science, technology and management, including Professor Anne Glover from the University of Aberdeen, Dr Stef Kapusniak of SMD, Dr. Gareth Davies of Aquatera, and Dr Eric Delory from Plocan.

Neil Gordon, chief executive of Subsea UK said: “There is no doubt that new technologies are opening up opportunities in deeper waters, but we need professionals from all disciplines in the marine community to establish relationships, share ideas and collaborate on a global scale to ensure sustainability. Our oceans are the largest ecosystems on Earth and we must protect them to survive and prosper.”

The event also received support from the University of Aberdeen, Robert Gordon University, Visit Scotland, AECC, Visit Aberdeenshire, Kongsberg, International Oceans Systems, ROV Planet, DECOM North Sea and Subsea and Offshore Service Magazine.

Donna Kocak, president of MTS, said: “We were delighted with the venue, conference, and the quality of the attendees. Oceans has an amazing 60-year history and an equally bright future.”

A student poster competition was also part of this year’s conference, sponsored by the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the two sponsoring societies, MTS and OES.

The winners of this year’s competition were Klemen Istenic from the University of Girona (first place), Bilal Wehbe from the DFKI Robotics Innovation Centre (second place), and Habib Mirhedayati Rouds from Dalhousie University (third place).

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