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Sea Tech Week® 2024: Brest is open for business
From the 15th to the 17th of October 2024 over 1,200 participants from within France and beyond its borders will come to Brest for the 14th Sea Tech Week®. This time the focus will be on Maritime Safety and Security and, as ever, seas and oceans will be at the heart of the event, bringing together researchers, businesses and projects from all over the world. Hosted by Campus Mondial de la Mer, the event has an international profile.
Brest: a place of welcome for research
When looking for a place in which to develop his research career Marc-André Gutscher chose Plouzané, near Brest. Born in New York from a French mother and German father, he studied in the United States (MSc in Geology), Germany (PhD in Geophysics) and France (post-doc research, University of Montpellier). “I wanted to live in France with my wife, who’s also a researcher, and so I joined the CNRS in Brest in 2000.”
Marc-André Gutscher is director of the Geo-Ocean Laboratory (affiliated to the CNRS, UBO, Ifremer and UBS) and specialises in research on earthquakes, tsunamis and undersea faults. “For six years I’ve been working on fibre optic analysis in the marine environment: with laser reflectometry you can detect seismic and acoustic waves and cable deformation on the seabed.” After being awarded an ERC Advanced Grant of €3.5 million, Marc-André Gutscher is leading a project on fibre-optic cable use for seafloor studies of earthquake hazard and deformation (FOCUS).
At Sea Tech Week® he’ll be giving an international workshop on sharing data from undersea cables. “There have been lots of developments: a Portuguese researcher will present his project on smart cables, which are undersea optical cables equipped with intelligent sensors that can be used for the continuous measuring of shocks, pressure and temperature on the seabed”. Marc-André Gutscher’s work has also attracted interest from industry and he is working with both SMEs and large corporations. “Research on these cables is relevant in all sorts of fields, including defence, law, industry and geology.”
Land of innovation
Exail was established in 2022 with the merger of Ixblue, recognised worldwide for its hi-tech solutions in the marine sector, photonics and maritime autonomy, and the ECA Group, an international expert in robotics and aeronautics. A rich source of technology expertise, Exail employs over 1,700 people and is a major global player in the robotics, maritime, navigation, photonics and aerospace fields. “International business accounts for 80% of our turnover”, explains Sébastien Tauvry, director of Exail’s Brest site. “Our products are developed in France but the commercial support is global”. The site in Brest concentrates on the maritime sector, specialising in undersea positioning and navigation. “We have 80 people working here on products such as navigation systems for undersea robots which help them to position themselves without GPS and to communicate with each other.”
Exail Brest also has applications in defence both in France and internationally, with a particular focus on mine action and deep-sea exploration. “We’re also developing an innovative software suite to manage the various complex missions undertaken by a heterogenous drone system.” Exail is part of Campus Mondial de la Mer and will be holding a workshop for Sea Tech Week® on autonomous environmental monitoring from the surface to the seabed. The company will also have a stand at this “important industry event that puts Brest on the world map”.-----
Technopôle Brest-Iroise organises Sea Tech Week® in its role as part of Campus Mondial de la Mer. Located at the tip of Brittany, the Campus is France’s premier community of experts studying and working with the ocean. This event is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Regional Council of Brittany and Brest Métropole. It is also officially recognised as part of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.
Research and development are thriving in Finistère, with the involvement of university laboratories, top-ranking higher education institutions, university innovation clusters, marine stations, competitiveness hubs, the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), the French National Institute for Ocean Science (Ifremer), the Naval Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service (SHOM) and businesses, including start-ups and SMEs. This is fertile ground for cooperation on maritime-related projects from marine biology to defence, renewable energy to fisheries. Finistère stimulates and facilitates a whole range of companies, large corporations and SMEs, industries and services working in maritime innovation. The shared local expertise opens up international opportunities.
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PRESS CONTACT
Sea Tech Week 2024
Marie Boutron - m.boutron@rivacom.fr
06 20 95 33 42Article illustration credit ©Defense Visual Information Distribution Service
