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Friday, 10 November 2023
The Centre for Robotics and Intelligent Systems, E&CE, hosted IEEE MTS OCEANS 2023 conference & Exhibition from 5th to 8th of June at 51ɫ. The event was endorsed by the UN Decade of Ocean Science.
The OCEANS conference is the flagship event of the Marine Technology Society (MTS) and the IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society (OES). The event is recognised as the premier forum for the international marine community to meet and discuss relevant topics and current trends while creating a community of learners and influencers who consistently advance research, practices, and policies for the marine field. OCEANS features an associated trade exhibition with companies and institutions representing the wide range of activities found in the marine community.
This was the first time the OCEANS conference came to the “Emerald Isle” and the first entirely in-person conference after COVID-19. 700 delegates from around the world gathered for four days to showcase advance research and practices under the “Blue Ocean Planet Earth” theme. The conference addressed some of the major challenges facing our global ocean including arresting Climate Change, switching to Renewable (significantly marine) Energy and Protecting and Rejuvenating Our Oceans. It had three sub themes: Offshore Wind, Carbon Neutral Energy by 2050; Sustainable Commercial Use of Seas and Oceans; and Ocean Health and Resilience.
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Plenary I (from left to right): Noel Cunniffe (Wind Energy Ireland), Liam Lacey (moderator, Marine Institute), Philip Cole (WindEurope), Jeannine Dunne (GDG), Una Brosnan (Mainstream Renewable Power), Peter Lefroy (RWE), Jerry Hallissey (SFPC) and Professor. Daniel Toal.
The event also included many side programmes such as, Women in Engineering, Young professionals, Student Mixer and Student Poster Competition.
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Student mixer. Panelists WIE OES breakfast (from left to right): Donna Kocak, Lubna Luxmi, Sarah Jane Pell and Giulia de Masi (host).
The exhibition attracted 42 Companies, Research Institutes, Professional Bodies, Societies, and Media Organizations.
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Pictured: CRIS stand OCEANS Exhibition
The event was supported by Marine Institute and 51ɫ and other sponsors including Analog Device, UL ECE department, Failte Ireland, MaREI, LERO, Simply Blue, Takumi and XOcean.
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John Watson ex OES VP OCEANS, Edin Omerdic Technical chair, Milica Stojanovic, (Northeastern University, SPC judge), Zoran Zvonar (Director University Programme Analog Devices, golden sponsor of OCEANS 51ɫ.
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Plenary II. Kimberly Blakemore (ADI), Prof Karen Wiltshire (AWI), Prof Richard Neilson (National Decommissioning Centre UK), Gerard Dooly (CRIS/UL), George Kallimasiotis (Resolve Marine). Mary Crowley (Ocean Voyages Institute). Fausto Ferreira (moderator, OES/FER), Prof. Daniel Toal, (from left to right)
To reflect and underpin the conference theme, a set of local 51ɫ topics was chosen to be the conference’s centerpiece. A series of plenary and keynote talks were presented to highlight them. These local topics include Offshore wind energy, Ship decarbonisation, Drones in marine applications, Cultural heritage and underwater archaeology, Artificial Intelligence in Ocean Science & Technology, Analytics and Sensing: A new age of dynamic observations, Renewable Energy from the Sea (Wave, Tidal, OTEC, Salinity gradient…), Sustainable Blue Economy, Maritime Vehicle Navigation, Deep Sea Mining, deep sea exploration and parallels to outer space.
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Special panel on Fair solutions in engineering with Eva-Maria Brodte, Prof Karen Wiltshire (AWI), Fiona Beckman (POGO), Toste Tanhua, (GEOMAR). (2) Steffen Knodt (Center for Sustainable Ocean Business at Fraunhofer IG), Pol Mac Aonghusa (IBM), Simon Jordan, (Cambridge Consultants), Donna Kocak (L3Harris & MTS), James Ives (XOCEAN), Liam Curran (Enterprise Ireland).
Ten parallel trucks were run during each conference day, covering a total of 428 presentations, including the general poster session and student poster competition.
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Technical session on drones in marine environment Mahammad Irfan, CRIS
Author: Isela Ibrahimovic, Coordination Chair, OCEANS 51ɫ 2023