Associate Engineer (AUV Operations) Job Responsibilities

Nature and Scope: 

The Associate Engineer reports directly to the Dorado AUV Project Manager and is responsible for the safe and effective operation and testing of MBARI’s developmental autonomous underwater vehicle.  The associate engineer is a member of the team developing and building a class of autonomous underwater vehicles which will serve the science needs of the institute. 

Specific Responsibilities

Within the Engineering Department:

1.  Contribute towards productive collaborations between the AUV development team and other AUV stakeholders.  
2.  Contribute to departmental goals as outlined in the engineering plan
3.  Mentorship of others reporting directly to me.
4. Dissemination of technology to other organizations through interactions and representation of the department.
4.  Serve as a member of the AUV Users Committee.
5.  Participate in departmental meetings and other functions.

Within the Dorado Project:

1.	Coordinate testing at sea.
2.	Coordinate logistics for remote operations.
3.	Develop AUV operational procedures.
4.	Design of assigned AUV elements.
5.	Work as a team member with other AUV personnel.
6.	Contribute or author publications on the AUV and its operation. 

Use of Contingency Time

The Dorado AUV project is in the process of making a transition from that of a team developing a prototype vehicle to that of a team producing a set of vehicles that are designed to go to sea on a regular basis.   One area in which there is room for contribution is the development of utility AUV support applications.  These simple applications (some examples of which are listed below) may well serve as the basis for an integrated mission planning, execution, and logging utility.

1.	Inventory of Dorado parts and purchases.
2.	Database of AUV missions and outcomes.
3.	Vehicle weight and balance planning.
4.	Database of cruise events.
5.	Mission waypoint planning utility.
6.	Vehicle status display.

 As a member of the AUV development team I am in a position to be a contributor in the development of these applications.  I can enhance my role as a domain expert by increasing my software application development abilities.  I have identified formal training in an object oriented programming environment as an area in which I can enhance my utility to the Dorado program, and intend to spend the majority of my contingency time this year to that end.

Another area in which I would like to spend contingency time this year is in increasing my knowledge of the operational procedures of other AUV groups.  I have identified the participation in an AUV related conference as one method of doing so.