NEW ENGLAND SECTION

The MTS New England Section hosts events, workshops, and enables STEM initiatives across the community.

NEW ENGLAND SECTION LEADERSHIP

NICK ROTKER - CHAIR

Nick Rotker is MITRE's Chief BlueTech Strategist and leads the Underwater and Acoustic Systems department within MITRE Labs. He leads MITRE’s efforts to solve big challenges in the BlueTech space, including internal R&D, partnerships, and government work programs. He has experience developing and leading solutions in underwater acoustics, SONAR, signal processing, algorithm development, and distributed sensing systems. Nick facilitates maritime innovation-related collaboration across the government, industry, and academic stakeholders, and provides connection and mentorship to early-state entrepreneurs. Prior to MITRE, Nick worked as an Acoustic Research Scientist at Scientific Solutions, Inc. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Vermont and a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University.

DAN SHROPSHIRE - VICE CHAIR

Dan Shropshire is the Vice President of Teledyne Marine Vehicle Sales and Marketing in North Falmouth Massachusetts. In this role, Dan oversees Global Sales, Marketing and Product Line Management for a variety of Teledyne Webb Research, Teledyne Gavia, Teledyne SeaBotix, Teledyne OceanScience and Teledyne Benthos products which include: the Webb Slocum Glider, Webb APEX Profiling floats, Benthos Acoustic Systems, Benthos Towed Sonar Systems, Gavia AUVs, SeaBotix ROVs, OceanScience ASVs, and Teledyne TapTone. He holds a Bachelors and Masters degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Dan started his career as a systems engineer on commercial Geo Communications Satellites for Hughes Space and Communications and later worked for over ten years for Northrop Grumman at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics on NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory as a Flight Dynamics Engineer, Mission Planning Manager, Engineering Manager, and Program Manager. Dan came to work for Teledyne in 2013 and has held several different positions including Program Manager and Director of Product Line Management. While at Teledyne, Dan has managed several project lines and worked on several large programs including multiple vehicle design and development projects and low frequency acoustics for the Seismic Industry.

CHRIS ORDONEZ - SECRETARY

Chris has spent the last two decades working in Marine Technology and Ocean Science, spanning and interconnecting multiple sectors including: Offshore Construction, Hydrographic Survey, Oceanographic Research, and Marine Robotics. His work has involved installing subsea infrastructure, operating Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, developing new marine technology applications, managing offshore operations, and managing hydrographic, research, & engineering teams. As an active member of the Marine Technology Society since 2007, he has served as Vice Chair for the Puget Sound Section, Co-founder & Vice Chair of the Oregon Section, and regularly contributes papers & presentations to OCEANS conferences. He has worked on boats, large and small; lived on the three US coasts, the Caribbean and in SE Asia; and traveled widely for work. His Bachelor of Science is in Ocean Engineering from Texas A&M, and Master of Science is in Physical Oceanography from Oregon State. He currently lives in Boston MA and recently joined as Vice President of Program Management at Ocean Aero.

DAVID PEARSON - TREASURER

David is a Chartered Marine Technologist with MTS. As a shaper of marine robotics from the seafloor to the beach, David collaborates with diverse technical teams to develop practical solutions with cutting-edge technology. He is currently at Greensea Systems Inc and leads technology initiatives for programs tasked with advancing AI and perception systems within Greensea's Opensea GNC Team. Before Greensea, he was the Principal Engineer at Terradepth, developing technology and innovations for the Terradepth AxV and subsea survey data collecting technologies. David started his career as an Ocean Engineer at ASV, working as a technical/project lead to develop and field autonomous surface vehicles for Energy, Government, and Academia customers. He holds a Bachelors's and Master's degree in Mechanical and Ocean Engineering from Florida Atlantic University.

NEW ENGLAND SECTION