President's Letter
Category: MTS News
Mar
23
Spring has officially begun, and it is time for you to Spring into Action! It is scholarship, awards and election season.
Scholarships
Deadlines coming up: MTS scholarship applications are due on April 15; ROV scholarships are due on April 17. Calling all college graduate, undergraduate, and senior high school students who have been accepted into full-time marine-related programs (with a focus on marine technology, marine engineering, or marine science) – MTS will award $17,000 in scholarships this year. Apply here.
Awards
Did you know that MTS has thirteen awards and a Fellows cadre? This is your opportunity to help outstanding engineers, scientists, and technologists receive recognition for their accomplishments, dedication, and contributions to the marine industries. The criteria for the awards vary, but in many cases the awardee does not need to be an MTS member. Award nominations are due on May 31, so let’s make it hard on our awards committees by submitting great candidates. Nomination forms can be found here.
Elections
We are always looking for folks to step up to a national role in MTS. This year we have two offices up for election. The first is the VP for Budget and Finance. Our current VP, Mike Pinto, is serving the final year of his second term and is not eligible to run again. The second position is our VP of Sections Affairs. Nominations are due on June 15.
Webinars
MTS has teamed up with The Ocean Exchange™ with a fabulous kick off to our Webinar Series - Engaging with the Blue Economy. The webinar series will focus on all facets of the Blue Economy with the goal of recognizing the importance of the Ocean to our lives every day. As one of our panelists put it – it promised on brain food and it delivered! If you missed the event, I encourage you to listen to the recording here.
Thank you for the positive post webinar emails both MTS and the Ocean Exchange received. Here is one we would like to share from Barb Ryan, World Geospatial Industry Council. "First and foremost, Congratulations to Ocean Exchange on its 10-year Anniversary and on its perseverance. Secondly, appreciation is extended to the Marine Technology Society (MTS) for the partnership with Ocean Exchange. Coordination between and among organizations working in the Ocean domain (as well as the Atmospheric and Terrestrial domains) is absolutely essential if we have any hope of addressing the major environmental issues facing us today. Issues like climate change, disaster resilience, energy transition, public health, etc., all encompassed under a banner of sustainable development can only be addressed with better public-private partnerships and the will/intent to work together. Thank you for including WGIC in this important debate."
Don’t miss the next in the series – April 7, 2021 –Mobile Power Generation – Yi Chao, Seatrec; Carrie Schmaus, Water Power Technologies Office; and Robert Cavagaro, Pacific Northwestern National Lab. Register here
As we remain hopeful that 2021 will allow us to get back to some semblance of normalcy, our thoughts are with all our society members who have suffered losses both personally and professionally during the pandemic. Our conference teams both OTC, and OCEANS2021 continue to work towards having both in person and virtual events. For the latest news continue to check the MTS website for the latest information. My heartfelt thanks to the local organizing committees and professional conference organizers who are putting in the extra hours of planning and re-planning due to the pandemic.
What does 675 mean to MTS? In 2020, we published 654 papers and held 21 webinars, & sessions with additional papers presented at Under Water Intervention. And we look forward to even more this year. Check out for the latest events and happenings.
We would like to welcome our new Corporate Members: NavSim Technology, Inc.; Pirie & Smith Limited; Seatrec, Inc.; and Saildrone, Inc. We look forward to working with you!
Best Regards,
Zdenka Willis
President, MTS