Our Chair

Mark Rognstad

 

Mark Rognstad is the current chair of the Ocean Engineering Chapter here in Hawaii.
He is a Specialist, HMRG Design Engineer on the faculty of UH-Manoa in the HIGP School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology.

Education:
S. B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1975

Contact Information:
Email:                mrognsta@hawaii.edu
Office:                POST 816B
Phone Number:  (808) 956-8712      
Fax Number:     (808) 956-6530

Address:
University of Hawai`i at Manoa
Hawai`i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology
1680 East-West Road, POST 602
Honolulu, HI 96822
USA


Research Interests:
Sonar design and development, Seafloor mapping, Acoustic and optical remote sensing, Digital signal processing

Projects:

        I'm working on the next generation of the HAWAII MR1 swath bathymetry/sidescan system, which will feature improved transducer arrays, greater dynamic range electronics, arbitrary transmit waveforms, and beam steering/shaping. Another project is the CEROS synthetic aperture sonar system, that adds the capability of detecting and imaging objects buried beneath the seafloor to the usual bathymetry and backscatter data. This system presently acquires 32 bit data from 32 channels at a 48 kHz rate per channel, for just over 6 Mbytes/sec. We plan to double that data rate in the future, and add the capability of higher frequency operation to the system. I've been involved in the SCAMP submarine-mounted swath bathymetry/sidescan system, and hope to upgrade its performance by utilizing all four transducer rows on each side. I'll also be involved in the acceptance testing and field trials of the multibeam sonar system to be delivered on board the University's new AGOR 26 research vessel. 

Our December Meeting

Underwater Robotics Tech-Talk 

                 Co-sponsored by IEEE Hawaii Section

Summary: Dr. Song K. Choi of UH-Manoa is our featured speaker. His talk will be on the subject of underwater robotics. Since we are limited to twenty people, please RSVP to john.camery@ieee.org, if you plan to attend. It is free for IEEE student members, only $5.00 for regular IEEE members, and $10.00 for nonmembers. The address is 909 Isenberg, St., Honolulu, HI 96826.

Location:

Building: Maple Garden Restaurant
909 Isenberg, St.

Honolulu,  Hawaii

United States 96826 

Click here for Map

Date: 03-December-2012
Time: 05:30PM to 09:45PM (4.25 hours) All times are: US/Hawaii

Email meeting contact... For further information or to reserve seating, contact John W. Camery, john.camery@ieee.org, or visit http://hawaii-ieee.blogspot.com/.

Speaker: Song K. Choi of UH-Manoa

S. Choi

Topic: Underwater Robotics

Dr. Choi will speak on the topic of underwater robotics.

Biography: Dr. Song K. Choi received his BS, MS, & PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, and University of Hawaii at Manoa, respectively. His specialization is in robotics with an emphasis in unmanned systems, automatic control systems, autonomous vehicle design, novel sensor systems, alternative/renewable power sources, and graphic monitoring systems for unmanned vehicles with emphasis on underwater technologies. He returned to Hawaii in 1991 and has been a professor in the Autonomous Systems Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, and has published multiple papers in his arenas of expertise. He has been the assistant dean for the College of Engineering since 2004 and has been working with various primary, middle, and high schools in the State in promoting STEM education through robotics. He is a co-founder and president of Marine Autonomous Systems Engineering, Inc., a Hawaii-based spin-off company specializing in autonomous marine technologies. He is an active member of several engineering and philanthropic societies and serves as a board member on several technology and education organizations.

Email: schoi@hawaii.edu

Address:
Autonomous Systems Laboratory
College of Engineering
University of Hawaii
2540 Dole Street, Holmes Hall #240
Honolulu, HI 96822, USA

Meeting Agenda:

1. Introductions by the Hawaii IEEE Section Chair.
2. Membership development incentives will be distributed. 
3. Dinner.
4. The technical presentation by Dr. Choi.

The Hawaii Underwater Robot Challenge

The Winning Team

MATE 2012 Hawaii Underwater Robot Challenge

                          Congratulations to the first place winners!

    The MATE-2012 Hawaii Underwater Robot Challenge was held Saturday, May 19th at Richardson pool, Pearl Harbor. At our last Hawaii Section EXCOM Meeting, Mark Rognstad asked for other IEEE members volunteer to act as judges. IEEE members, Song Choi, Al Toda and David Morse volunteered to act as judges. The first place team will be invited to Orlando, Florida.  David Morse supplied the photographs above of the winning team.