An overview of the applications of AUVs by Kevin Forshaw of the National Oceanography Centre, UK
Wednesday 20 September 2017: 15:00 – 16:00 hrs
Nelson Mandela University Business School Auditorium,
Port Elizabeth,
Republic of South Africa.
The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) in the UK has led pioneering developments in Marine Autonomous Systems (MAS) for deployment in the most hostile conditions within the world’s oceans over the last 20 years.
Recently, this knowledge and expertise has been increasingly transferred to companies looking to develop commercial Marine Autonomous platforms for emerging oil & gas, renewables and other offshore applications in what is a rapidly growing global market. Our support for innovative companies working in this sector was taken to a new level when the NOC opened its Marine Robotics Innovation Centre (MARSIC) late in 2015. This has attracted a community of over 25 organisations, both cutting edge developers and end-users of future developments, who are being supported by NOC expertise and access to specialist test facilities to enable the development of the Marine Autonomous Systems of tomorrow.
The presentation will cover the pioneering NOC Marine Autonomy developments to date, before giving an overview of the Innovation Centre and some of the projects already taking place within it. The projects detailed will be part of a current portfolio of collaborative developments with industry valued at in excess of £8m, all looking to apply the cost and safety advantages of Marine Robotics to commercial offshore inspection application.
Speaker: Kevin Forshaw, Associate Director Enterprise and Research Impact, at the NOC, has been engaged in supporting the Marine and Maritime sector for over 15 years, acting as the interface between universities, research organisations and industry. Kevin has established numerous collaborative research projects focused on vessel efficiency, and now increasingly Marine Autonomous Systems, that have attracted many millions of EC and UK public funding.