Tell us about your background

My background is in engineering hardware for human space flight and deep-water robotically installed connectors for oil and gas infrastructure.

For me, there are parallels between what we are doing at DEEP and space flight – it’s just in the opposite direction! Both space and the ocean need rigour, diligence, and safety. We’re just putting humans at depth instead of in orbit, so I joined DEEP to approach the engineering process similarly.

What’s your role at DEEP?

I oversee and organize a team to design, build, and test our subsea human habitats. We ask ourselves what do our customers want and what are their needs for safe operation. From there, we produce a set of requirements and embark on an engineering journey to fulfil those needs.

My biggest focus is on engineering rigour and working with a classification society to operate and maintain what we engineer safely.

What's your favourite thing about working at DEEP?

I’m inspired by DEEP’s mission. The ocean is largely unexplored and ignored, but we are changing that. It feels like we are returning to a realm that we once knew through Jacques Cousteau, one of my childhood heroes, but that hasn’t been built upon since his groundbreaking projects.

There is so much more to be done and it’s a privilege to be building on previous technology and nurturing a new generation of engineering to make humans aquatic.