Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] UI 2011

[Jon Wallace <jonw@psubs.org>]

Some more info about MTS and UI.

MTS (Marine Technology Society) and the MUV (Manned Underwater Vehicles) 
sub-committee is primarily targeted to the commercial market, in large 
part specific to high end private manned vehicles for super-yachts and 
research purposes.  MTSMUV, which you will often see as an acronym, 
refers to the manned underwater vehicle sub-committee of the Marined 
Technology Society.

The Underwater Intervention sponsored by MTS is primarily targeted to 
high end applications and clients with deep pockets.  In the exhibition 
hall for example, you'll be hard pressed to find a supplier of 
underwater lights that has a product for less than $6,000 each, or a 
supplier of thrusters that has a product for less than $10,000 each.  In 
other words, Minn-Kota type solutions are not found at Underwater 
Intervention.  Attendance to Underwater Intervention can be expensive.  
I believe you can get into the exhibition hall for $50/day (and you 
probably only need one day) but to get access to the presentations I 
believe incurs a $500 fee.  Speakers receive free access, so frankly if 
I was not invited to speak I could not afford to attend.  Luckily for 
me, they are pretty good about accepting speakers for a variety of topics.

I also think I speak accurately suggesting that until the last couple of 
years, the MTS organization overall had much more interest in ROV and 
AUV technologies than manned vehicles.  Will Kohnen who heads the MUV 
subcommittee essentially coordinated the manned vehicle program by 
himself without any budget from the MTS organization.  There does appear 
to be an increased interest in the manned arena lately which MTS now 
recognizes and as such have pledged to provide financial support for the 
MUV subcommittee at future MTS UI conventions.

MTS is a large organization with a long history (incorporated in 1963) 
and with members from a large cross section of the industry.  As such 
they are able to use their "clout" to attract many speakers and 
exhibitors that PSUBS simply cannot attract at this point in time.  So 
from the perspective of submarines and technology it is a great place to 
hear leaders in the industry like Phil Nuytten discuss their latest 
technological achievements and activities, or learn directly from Analox 
engineers about their latest O2/CO2 sensor and be able to question them 
about it.  MTS also attracts ABS and military representatives.

From an organization standpoint, MTSMUV and PSUBS have very different 
membership demographics and yet at the same time we have some common 
interests primarily centered around standards and regulations.  Will 
Kohnen and I both recognize that each group can affect the other both 
positively and negatively, and for that reason it makes sense for us to 
participate and communicate with each other.  From that perspective I 
encourage membership in MTS and also welcome their members to join 
PSUBS.  However, simply be aware that while MTS has much to offer, they 
do not cater to the home-built community and you should expect a much 
different experience from your membership there.

Jon





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