Inaugural Speakers
DR. SHAILESH NAYAK,
Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences
Chairman, Earth Commission, Government of India.
Dr. Shailesh Nayak is the Chair, Earth System Science Organization (ESSO) and Secretary to the Government of India for Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), since August 2008. He has been providing leadership for the programs related to science of climate change, weather services, polar science, ocean science and modeling, ocean survey, resources, and technology. He chaired an expert group and conceptualized to establish National GIS in the country.
Dr. Nayak obtained Ph. D. degree in Geology from the M.S University of Baroda in 1980. He joined the Space Applications Centre, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in 1978 as a scientist, and subsequently elevated as the Director of Marine and Water Resources. He was mainly responsible for conceptualizing, formulating and executing many national level projects related to application of satellite data on ocean colour, integrated coastal zone management, snow and glacier studies and water resources.
Dr. Nayak was appointed as the Director, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad, an autonomous institution under ESSO, in May 2006. At ESSO-INCOIS, he set up a state-of-the-art Early Warning System for Tsunami and Storm Surges in the Indian Ocean. He was responsible for the conceptualization and development of Marine GIS. He made outstanding contributions in improving advisory services related to potential fishing zones, ocean state forecast, and Indian Argo project.
Dr. Nayak is the Chairman of the Research Advisory Committee of the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, and Defence Terrain Research Laboratory, Delhi. He has been member of many national committees related to earth science, coastal protection, mangrove, coral reef, and coastal zone management.
Dr. Nayak is Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bengaluru, the International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS), the Indian Society of Remote Sensing (ISRS), and the Indian Meteorological Society. He has been awarded honorary degree of Doctor of Science by the Andhra University in 2011, and by the Assam University in 2013. Dr. Nayak is recipient of IGU - Hari Narain Lifetime Achievement Award in Geosciences-2013, the ISCA Vikram Sarabhai Memorial Award 2012, the Bhaskara Award for 2009, the Indian National Remote Sensing Award for 1994 by the Indian Society of Remote Sensing, Dehradun, and the National Mineral Award for the year 2005. He is recognized as a Ph.D. Guide by six Universities, and six students have obtained Ph. D. under his supervision. He was Member of the Editorial Board of the Indian Journal of Marine Science, Planet Earth, and Geospatial Today.
Dr. Nayak is currently the Chair, Regional Integrated Multi-hazard Early Warning System (RIMES), and the President, Indian Geophysical Union, Hyderabad. He was the Vice-Chair of the Inter-Governmental Coordinating Group on Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (ICG-IOTWS) (2007-2011); was the President of ISRS, Dehradun, Indian Meteorological Society (IMS), New Delhi, and the Indian Society of Geomatics (ISG), Ahmedabad; was the Chairman, Indian Ocean–Global Ocean Observing System (IO-GOOS) for the term 2006-10 and the Chairman, Indian Ocean Observing System Resources Forum (IRF) (2009-2013). Dr. Nayak was the President, ISPRS Technical Commission (TC) IV on ‘Geo-databases and Digital Mapping’ for the term 2004-08. He has represented Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in the International Ocean Colour Coordinating Group and International Global Observation Strategy-Coastal theme.
Dr. Nayak has published about 100 papers in International and National journals and atlases.
Susan K. Avery, PhD
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Susan K. Avery took office as president and director of WHOI on February 4, 2008. Avery is the ninth director in the institution’s 78-year history, and the first woman to hold the position.
As an oceanographic leader with a background in atmospheric research, Avery has used her unique position to underscore the importance of ocean-atmosphere interactions in understanding whole Earth systems. Since taking the helm at WHOI, Avery has delivered Congressional testimony and presentations at scientific conferences such as the American Meteorological Society, the IEEE International Geoscience & Remote Sensing Symposium, the American Geological Union, and the Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean (POGO), often directing her comments at the intersection of atmospheric, earth, and ocean science.
Avery has extensive experience as a leader within scientific institutions, She came to WHOI from the University of Colorado at Boulder (UCB), where she was a member of the faculty since 1982, and where she served in interim positions as vice chancellor for research and dean of the graduate school, as well as provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs. From 1994-2004, she served as director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), the first woman and first engineer to hold that position. There, she facilitated new interdisciplinary research efforts spanning the geosciences while bringing them together with social and biological sciences and helped establish a thriving K-12 outreach program and a Center for Science and Technology Policy Research.
Avery’s research includes studies of atmospheric circulation and precipitation, climate variability and water resources, and the development of new radar techniques and instruments for remote sensing. The author or co-author of more than 80 peer-reviewed articles, Avery helped form an integrated science and assessment program that examines the impacts of climate variability on water in the American West. She also worked with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Climate Change Science Program to help formulate a national strategic science plan for climate research
Avery is a fellow of both the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and of the American Meteorological Society, for which she also served as president. She is a member of the advisory board for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a past chair of the board of trustees of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. She has also served on numerous advisory panels, committees, and councils for the National Science Foundation, the National Research Council, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
Avery earned a bachelor's degree in physics from Michigan State University in 1972, a master's in physics from the University of Illinois in 1974, and a doctorate in atmospheric science from the University of Illinois in 1978.
Dr. Hitoshi Hotta,
Executive Director,
JAMSTEC(Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology ).
- Executive Director, JAMSTEC(Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology),(2010-Present)
- Operating Executive Director, JAMSTEC (2009–2010)
- Director-General, Marine Technology Center, JAMSTEC(2009–2010)
- Deputy Director, Center for Deep Earth Exploration, JAMSTEC(2004–2009)
- Director, Planning and Coordination Department, Center for Deep Earth Exploration, JAMSTEC(2004–2007)
- Director, Frontier Research Promotion Department, Yokohama Institute for Earth Sciences, JAMSTEC (Japan Marine Science and Technology Center)(2002-2004)
- Manager, Planning Division, Planning Department, JAMSTEC(1999-2002)
- Manager, Program Management Division, Planning Department, JAMSTEC(1996-1999)
- Associate Research Engineer, Marine Development Research Department, JAMSTEC(1994-1996)
- Deputy Manager, Planning Division, Planning Department, JAMSTEC(1992-1994)
- Assistant Senior Research Engineer, Marine Development Research Department, JAMSTEC(1991-1992)
- Assistant Researcher, Marine Development Research Department, JAMSTEC(1983-1991)
- D.Eng., Tokai University(1983)
- M.Eng., Tokai University(1977)
- B.Eng., Waseda Universit(1975)
Dr. Rene Garello,
IEEE Grades M’85; SM’96, F’06,
Biographical Sketch.
Rene Garello was born in 1953. He received the Ph.D. degree in Signal Processing at the Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble (INPG) in 1981. From 1982 to 1984 he worked as a Research Associate at Aeronomy Lab, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at Boulder, Colorado (USA). He joined the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Telecommunications de Bretagne (ENST Bretagne), Brest, France in 1985. In 1988 he became Professor in this engineering school in the field of signal processing and image processing and in 1995, Prof. Garello obtained his Habilitation (HDR; Habilitation to Supervise Research). He was elevated to the grade of Fellow of the IEEE, class of 2006, "for contributions to signal processing applied to remote sensing of the ocean".
His main research interests lie in Remote Sensing, 2D signal processing, statistical and spectral analysis applied to ocean surface features detection and characterization. Prof. Garello has authored or coauthored more than 40 papers, a hundred and thirty conference communications and three books. He had supervised more than 30 PhD students.
Prof. Garello has been actively involved with the IEEE OES (Oceanic Engineering Society) since 1993. He has started a French chapter of which he became chairman in 1995. He has been in the organizing committee of several international IEEE OCEANS conferences in different running aspects: Student Poster Competition (1994), Publicity, Publication, Technical Program (1998). Prof. Garello was an elected OES AdCom member from 1999 to 2001, from 2003 to 2005 and in 2005 for a new three-year term. Prof. Garello was the General Chairman of the first OCEANS of the new Two-Oceans-a-year concept: OCEANS’05 held in Bres, France in June 2005. In 2005, he was elected Vice-President Conference Operations and then re-elected in 2006 and 2008. He received the OES Service Awards in 2006 for developing and implementing the two OCEANS conference policy. In 2012, he was elected President of the OES and reelected in 2014.
Prof. Tamaki Ura
Tamaki Ura is the Professor emeritus of the University of Tokyo, Director, Distinguished Professor of Center for Socio-Robotic Synthesis, Kyushu Institute of Technology, and Director of Underwater Technology Center of National Maritime Research Institute, since his retirement of the University of Tokyo in 2013.
He works as one of the Top-leaders of development of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle in the world.
He has developed various types of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and related application technologies including navigation methods, a new sensing method using a chemical sensor, precise seafloor mapping methods, a precise seabed positioning system with a resolution of a few centimeters, a new sensing system of the thickness of cobalt-rich crust, etc. Finally, he exemplified using these technologies that AUVs are practicable and valuable tools for deep-sea exploration.
Dedicating himself to international societies’ activities, establishing IEEE/OES Japan Chapter, he served it as its first chair from 1995 to 2000. He organized international symposium on underwater technology: UT'98, UT2000, UT'02, UT’07, UT’11, UT’13 at Tokyo and UT'04 at Taipei, UT’09 at Wuxi and UT15 at Chennai with co-sponsor IEEE/OES and realized the international symposium on OCEANS/Techno-Ocean 2004, Kobe in November 2004, which is the first OCEANS conference held in Asia.
Not only for the academic fields but also for the public, he has been contributing to the Ocean related themes. He works as a cabinet consultant for ocean policy since 2007. He was a Commissioned Judge of the High Marine Accidents Inquiry Agency from 1984 to 2008, and he was the chairman of the Ocean Technology Committee of the Society of Naval Architects of Japan from 1998 to 2000 as well.
Based on these activities, he has received awards:
- 2013: Technical Achievement award (Robotics and Mechatronics Division) from the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
- 2012: AUV “TUNA SAND” was awarded the 5th Robot Award from METI (Japan)
- 2010: IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society Distinguished Technical Achievement Award (USA)
- 2007: Nominated as IEEE Fellow, for contributions to autonomous underwater vehicle technologies. (USA)
- 2006: Distinguished Service Award from IEEE Japan Chapter (Japan)
- 2000: Award from Agency for science and technology (Japan)
- 1999: Award from the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (Japan)
- 1998: Award from High Automation Technology Association (Japan)
- 1995 and 1997:Awards on Invention from the Society of Naval Architects of Japan (Japan)
- 1982: Houkou Award on the significant contributions to safety of moored ship (Japan)
- 1979: Award from the Society of Naval Architects of Japan (Japan)