Registration Open and Keynote Speakers Announced for MATS 2022

The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) has announced keynote speakers and the opening of registration for this year’s Marine and Autonomy Technology Showcase (MATS), taking place from 8–10 November 2022 at the NOC in Southampton.

MATS has grown over the last eight years to become a key event in the marine technology calendar, attracting delegates from around the world. The NOC will welcome guests and exhibitors for a packed three days of insightful presentations and networking opportunities, offering a unique and valuable opportunity to find out about the latest developments in marine autonomous technology and supporting applications and how this field has developed in the past year and is set to develop in the years to come.

Hosted in the NOC’s Southampton quayside marquee, the event also enables organisations to engage with the NOC to explore opportunities around funding, sharing ideas and getting those ideas in front of influential, high-profile users from the marine and maritime sector.

This year’s keynote speakers are the Honorable Tim Gallaudet, U.S. Navy & NOAA, Commander Caroline Tuckett, Royal Navy, and the NOC’s Professor Angela Hatton.

Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet, PhD, US Navy (ret) is the CEO of Ocean STL Consulting and host of The American Blue Economy Podcast. He serves on the Board of Directors for Force Blue and the Advisory Council for Project Recover, and is a strategic advisor for more than a dozen leading ocean, weather, and space technology start-ups.

A national authority on uncrewed maritime systems, Gallaudet served as the acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), where he led the development of the agency’s Uncrewed System Strategy and Strategic Plan, as well as the establishment of its Uncrewed Systems Program and Operations Center.

Commander Caroline Tuckett is the lead legal adviser in International and Operational Law within the Royal Navy. A current focus in her work is the applicability of international maritime law to the military operation of un-crewed vessels. She has recently completed a Masters by Research in International Law through the University of Exeter, exploring the legal issues of sub-threshold operations in the maritime environment.

Professor Angela Hatton is Director of Science and Technology at the NOC. She is currently the Principle Investigator for the UK Climate Linked Atlantic Sector Science (CLASS) Programme, which delivers the UK’s contribution to GOOS, through sustained ocean observations, modelling and technology development.

Angela is Chair of the UK Decade Working Group and a core member of the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship panels. She has been awarded two NERC Fellowships, a Challenger Fellowship and is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and an honorary Professor at the University of Southampton.

Huw Gullick, Associate Director of NOC Innovations said: “Building on the success of last year’s hybrid event, I am delighted that we are able to host MATS 2022 both at the NOC and digitally once again, making our exciting programme of keynote speakers, thought-provoking presentations and discussions accessible to attendees around the globe.”

“MATS continues to be a key event in the marine autonomy calendar with collaboration at its heart, sharing the incredible developments in technology and innovation from the last 12 months. In particular we are looking forward to sharing the success of our ALR technology, more commonly known as Boaty McBoatface, which completed over 2,000km trails in the summer and has been working in the North Sea surveying a number of decommissioned oil & gas sites. MATS 2022 will also look forward at how these technologies will to continue to progress, to tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time.”