60th Marine Measurement Forum – Announcement and Call for Speakers

The 60th Marine Measurement Forum (MMF60), hosted by iXBlue, will take place at the Land Rover BAR Team HQ in Portsmouth on Tuesday 31st October 2017. Welcome coffees and teas on the BAR Flight deck will be followed by an all-day programme of presentations, networking and tours of the facility.

The Marine Measurement Forum is a series of one-day, non-profit making events that provides opportunities for the informal exchange of ideas, knowledge, techniques, and developments across an extensive range of marine scientific measurement activities.

Expressions of interest are now being sought from those wishing to give a 15-20 minute presentation at MMF60.

MMF Steering Group bids fond farewell to Astrid Powell

At the recent 59^th Marine Measurement Forum (MMF), attendees witnessed the retirement of longstanding Steering Group member Astrid Powell who was presented with a bouquet of flowers to mark the occasion. Astrid was one of the four founder members of the MMF Steering Group which was formed in 2005 to oversee and guide the fortunes of the series. Having retired recently from her role as publisher at Underwater World Publications Ltd (publications include International Ocean Systems and Underwater Contractor international), Astrid felt that the time was right for her to make way for new blood within the Steering Group.

The MMF Steering Group is delighted to announce that Astrid’s place has been taken by Helen Atkinson who is quaintly described as Operations and Publications Manager at The Hydrographic Society UK but is known and respected by members and non-members alike as the person who makes sure all the Society’s many activities run smoothly.

The other Steering Group members, Andy Smerdon, Aidan Thorn and Roger Scrivens, wish Astrid a well-earned, happy retirement and offer a hearty welcome to Helen.

Full House at MMF59

Our 59^th meeting took place on Friday 7^th July at the BP Upstream Learning Centre in Sunbury-on-Thames and was hosted by The Hydrographic Society UK (THS UK).

Amongst the eleven presentations topics included Crowdsourced Bathymetry, Safe Fishing in UK Waters, the use of Marine Mammals as Observation Platforms and a look at a completely new Biofouling Technique for the Marine Environment. A full report on the day's proceedings along with presentation downloads (as available) will be published here in due course and announced via the normal media outlets.

All present agreed that the sell-out event was a great success combining a diverse programme of presentations with an excellent venue. Congratulations are offered to the organisers, The Hydrographic Society UK.

MMF Overview

The Marine Measurement Forum (MMF) is a series of one-day, non-profit making events that provides opportunities for the informal exchange of ideas, knowledge, techniques and developments across an extensive range of marine scientific measurement activities.  Attendees typically include scientists, surveyors, engineers and business people from a variety of organisations including research centres, academia, manufacturers, survey companies, consultants, monitoring authorities, dredging companies, port authorities, oil companies, societies, etc. Each MMF is normally hosted within southern England with occasional excursions to other parts of the UK.

Marine Measurement Forum Hosts for 2017 onwards

The Steering Group always welcomes enquiries regarding the hosting of a future event. Presently, hosts have been confirmed for MMF60 through to MMF63 as scheduled below:

MMF60 - iXblue. Date 31st October 2017. Venue: Land Rover BAR, Portsmouth.
MMF61 - National Physical Laboratory. Date: Spring 2018. Venue: Teddington.
MMF62 - Fugro. Date: Autumn 2018. Venue: Wallingford. 
MMF63 - ecoSUB Robotics. Date: Spring 2019. Venue: TBA.

The schedule will be updated with confirmed dates and host contact details at regular intervals. Event notices will be issued via the MMF mailing list, International Ocean Systems journal, OceanBuzz newsletter and other media portals.