AUVAC

The goal of AUVAC is to advance the development, utilization, and integration of AUV systems. AUVAC is an effort to share information and resources within the AUV community, both nationally and internationally. Its objective is to grow into a self-sustaining organization funded by its activities within the international ocean community. The goal of the AUVAC website is to provide an experience that adds value to our users at every opportunity. We compile and share information from several sources and present it in a clear, organized fashion. Our AUV database is unlike any other in existence online. It includes detailed platform information, vehicle specs, and manufacturer information with full search functionality.

In addition to our extensive vehicle database we provide a wide range of AUV community news – including information about upcoming industry events – and maintain an active archive of informational pages for over 350 institutions, organizations, and manufacturers within the AUV community. AUVAC also houses a “Job Opportunities” section in which our users can readily access numerous industry-related job postings from around the world. As a result of our commitment to providing value to our users at every turn, we have built, and continue to build, a loyal, focused user base that values AUVAC as the go-to resource for all of their AUV needs.

Over 100 Years of Experience in the undersea world between our three founders

D. Richard Blidberg

D. Richard Blidberg received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Hampshire (UNH) in 1972. He co-founded the Marine Systems Engineering Laboratory (MSEL) at UNH in 1976. In 1993 the laboratory moved from UNH to Northeastern University where he served as Director of MSEL. Since 1995 he has been Director of the Autonomous Undersea Systems Institute (AUSI) in Lee, NH, which he founded in 1993. He established AUV Associates, LLC in 2000 and continues to be the managing partner. He recently founded the AUV Applications center which he now directs. He has written several papers and reports on unmanned untethered submersible technology, as well as well as organized 17 international symposia on AUV technology. He has over 100 publications related to AUV technology and served on several science and engineering committees, consulted for a number of companies, and been involved a number of international collaborations. He was an associate editor for the IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering for underwater vehicle systems for 15 years.

Alan Beam

Captain Alan Beam is a 26-year veteran of the US Navy. A qualified Nuclear Submariner, he culminated is operational tours with the Command of the fast attack submarine USS Bremerton (SSN-698). As a Materiel Professional Captain Beam served as the DARPA Program Manager for Unmanned Underwater Vehicles UUV. As such, he was responsible for developing the entire breadth of UUV technologies, including multiple programs in Autonomy. The DARPA UUV program successfully transitioned to the Navy, which has evolved into the Unmanned Maritime Vehicles Program Office PMS 406. Since retirement from the Navy, Captain Beam has remained active in the unmanned vehicle community, including Technical Co Chair of an IEEE Oceans conference, and participation in the original ONR USV Study on Minewarfare. Capt Beam actively supervises all content on the AUVAC website. Captain Beam is a qualified Materiel Professional, attended the Defense Systems Management College, and holds a Masters Degree in Engineering Management from Catholic University.

Tim Janaitis

Timothy W. Janaitis has 45 years of experience as an ocean industry professional. Early in his career as an oceanographer he participated in manned submersible research projects, and designed and conducted spatial and temporal studies associated with oceanographic circulation patterns in the mid to deep ocean for the U.S. Navy. His experience as a consultant and in positions with private industry focused on the planning, management and conduct of siting investigations and environmental impact assessment for nuclear power, LNG, mining, and fisheries industries. More recently, he has managed the national and international marketing and sales functions for engineering organizations designing acoustic based sensors, ROVs, UUVs, and underwater tools, and for marine services companies providing expertise in underwater ship repairs, deep ocean search and recovery, and submarine rescue. He has authored over 20 technical reports, publications and general audience articles. Mr. Janaitis received his BS degree from Cornell University.