Pia Ankerstjerne – Gatehouse – Vice President
Pia Ankerstjerne has an Electrical Engineering degree, specialized in Software development, combined with a Master Degree in Marketing from the University Of Southern Denmark. Her international experience is gained working in companies like Danfoss and Ericsson with development of communications products, product management and sales. Pia Ankerstjerne is working for Gatehouse out of their Maryland office.

Jorge Arroyo, USCG Commandant – Office of Navigational Systems
Jorge Arroyo is a Program Analyst in Office of Navigation Systems, United States Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C. He is a twenty year plus veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard with over 13 years of military service which duties in recreational boating safety, search & rescue, polar icebreaking, ship and shore, side operations, and, has been project officer in over two dozen regulatory projects including the 1986 Summer Olympic yachting trials and events. He has sailed the seven seas and made land, fall on every continent. He received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois, and, Juris Doctor from DePaul Law School in Chicago, IL. He is also a U.S. delegate to the navigation committees of International Maritime Organization (IMO), and, the International Association of Marine Services and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA), as well as member of various working groups of the International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC), and, is the Coast Guard’s Regulatory Project Officer for the Automatic Identification System (AIS).

Bill Cairns - Principal Navigation Engineer - Office of Navigatin Systems Waterways Management Directorate - USCG Headquarters
Bill Cairns is Principal Navigation Engineer in the Office of Navigation Systems, Waterways Management Directorate at U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters after serving 20 years as a Commissioned Officer in the Coast Guard and 5 years in the private sector. He is Chairman of the IALA E-Navigation Committee and serves on U.S. delegations to the IMO Maritime Safety Committee and NAV and COMSAR Sub-Committees. He was coordinator of the COMSAR Correspondence Group on LRIT and is a member of the MSC Ad Hoc Working Group of Engineering Aspects of LRIT. He is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation and a member of the Society of White House Military Aids.

Sean Connaughton – U.S. Maritime Administrator
Sean Connaughton was nominated by President Bush to be the Maritime Administrator on June 27, 2006, and was confirmed by the Senate on August 3, 2006. He was sworn in and took the oath of office by Acting Secretary Maria Cino on September 6, 2006.
Sean graduated from the United States Merchant Marine Academy in 1983 with a Bachelor of Science degree, a Third Mates (Unlimited Tonnage) Merchant Marine license, and a commission in the United States Coast Guard. He served on active duty in the United States Coast Guard from 1983 to 1986. 
Sean embarked on a career as a lawyer, after attending George Mason University School of Law, in private practice specializing in maritime and international law. He and a colleague appeared before the United States Supreme Court in 1999 to argue a case involving the constitutionality of laws imposed on the marine transportation industry. They won that case in a unanimous decision. Sean has published many articles on marine transportation and environmental issues as well as spoken at numerous conferences and seminars on these topics. He joined the law firm of Troutman Sanders LLP at the end of 2000. He is a member of the Virginia Bar Association, the District of Columbia Bar Association, the Maritime Law Association, and the Veterans Pro Bono Consortium.
He was elected Chairman At, large of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors in November 1999. He was re, elected to a second four, year term, beginning January 1, 2004. He is: on the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments; the chief elected official of the Northern Virginia Workforce Investment Board; a member of the Board of Directors of the Skillsource Group, Inc. of the Northern Virginia Workforce Investment Board, and a member of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority. Sean is on the Steering Committee of the Large Urban County Caucus of the National Association of Counties, and also was the recipient of the 2004 Distinguished Service Award for County Elected Officials by the National Association of Counties. He is a member of the Prince William County Advisory Board of George Mason University, the Woodbridge Campus Advisory Board of Northern Virginia Community College, and a member of the Committee for the Performing Arts Center at George Mason University. He is also Chairman of the 9/11 Memorial Fund, and the Potomac Hospital Capital Campaign. Sean also serves on the Board of Directors of the Homeland Protection Institute, Ltd, the Northern Virginia Science Center at Belmont Bay and the Conservation Leaders Network. Sean was a fellow of at the Sorensen Institute of Political Leadership in 1995, and now is a member of its Northern Virginia Regional Board. Sean was a member on the Northern Virginia Base Realignment and Closure Working Group. He was recently appointed to the United States Merchant Marine Academy Advisory Board.
Sean has remained a member of the United States Armed Forces. After serving on active duty in the United States Coast Guard, he joined the United States Naval Reserve as a selected reserve in 1987. Serving in both operational and staff billets, he currently is a Commander and eligible for retirement. Sean graduated (with honors) from the U.S. Naval War College in 1998.

Dave Enabnit, Technical Direct, Office of Coast Survey, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Mr. Enabnit is the Technical Director, Office of Coast Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States. NOAA is the national hydrographic office for the U.S. and produces the national suite of nautical charts.
Mr. Enabnit has been involved in electronic charting since 1991 when he started and led NOAA’s successful raster nautical chart program. He participated extensively in the writing and adoption of IMO standards for ECDIS and its raster chart display systems mode. He worked on writing the IHO standard for Electronic Navigational Charts (ENCs) and Raster Navigational Charts (RNCs). Further, he helped initiate several of NOAA’s attempts to produce Electronic Navigational Charts (ENCs) for ECDIS and was the originator of NOAA’s “dual fuel” approach to providing electronic charts to mariners.
In other activities, Mr. Enabnit initiated and led NOAA’s successful Print, On, Demand and electronic commerce project which won 4 national awards for innovation, technology, and electronic government, plus an industry award as “Product of the Year.” He has led a series of new product developments, such as the PocketChart and the On, Line Chart Viewer, which put charting information in the hands of mariners.
Mr. Enabnit has a Bachelor’s and a Master’s Degree in Physics from The Ohio State University, a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University and a Master’s Degree in Business, also from Johns Hopkins University.

Irene Gonin – Project Manager – USCG Research and Development Center
Ms. Irene M. Gonin is a Physical Scientist and Project Manager at the United States Coast Guard Research and Development Center.  She has a MS in Computer Science from the University of New Haven and a B.E. in Electrical Engineering and a Third Mates License from the State University of New York Maritime College.  She worked in the area of Integrated Navigation Systems for 15 years.  Her expertise is in the area of test and evaluation of marine navigation systems, in particular Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS).  Over the last eight years she has focused her talents in the area of surveillance technologies for Coast Guard Law Enforcement Missions. In particular, she worked on developing a wide field of view night vision device for use by Coast Guard Coxswains of small boats. She also worked with the Navy on the Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) to develop a means to track fishing vessels drift net fishing illegally on the high seas of the North Pacific.  Most recently she has returned to Integrated Navigation research as project manager of the USCG AIS Transmit Capability effort.

Commander Keith Ingalsbe, Project Manager, USCG Nationwide Automatic
Identification System
Commander Keith Ingalsbe is currently serving as the Project Manager for the U.S. Coast Guard's Nationwide Automatic Identification System project, a Department of Homeland Security Level I investment. He was appointed as the Project Manager this July, having been the Deputy Project Manager for the past two years. Previous assignments within the Coast Guard have been as a Program Reviewer within the Coast Guard Headquarters Office of Budget and Programs, Facilities Engineer at Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen in Puerto Rico, Project Engineer at the Coast Guard Civil Engineering Unit in Miami, Florida. He is a certified Professional Project Manager and licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Florida.

LCDR Jim Larson - Office of Navigation Systems, Navigation Standards Branch - USCG Headquarters
LCDR  Jim Larson is currently assigned to the Office of Navigation
Systems, Navigation Standards Branch at US Coast Guard Headquarters in
Washington, D.C.  LCDR Larson previously served as the Operations
Director at the Coast Guard Vessel Traffic Center in Valdez, Alaska.  Other
assignments have included the Project Lead for Vessel Traffic Services at
the Coast Guard Command and Control Engineering Center in Portsmouth
Virginia, Use of Force Subject Matter supervisor at the Coast Guard
Maritime Law Enforcement School in Yorktown, Virginia, and as a Deck Watch
Officer onboard the Coast Guard Cutter LEGARE, in Portsmouth, Virginia.
  LCDR Larson earned a B.S. in Government from the US Coast Guard
Academy, and and MBA from Old Dominion Univeristy.

Robert Lilley, Aviation Management Associates
Dr. Lilley works with Aviation Management Associates in Washington DC, supporting the FAA. He was Chief Engineer for Northrop Grumman Simulation Technologies and previously Vice President of Illgen Simulation Technologies, with responsibilities for navigation, related activities in Santa Barbara, CA, and Illgen's Washington, DC staff. Dr. Lilley earned his Ph.D. at Ohio University, is Director Emeritus of Ohio's Avionics Engineering Center, and is an instrument, rated commercial pilot. He was a co, recipient of the FAA's first Excellence in Aviation Award in 1997 in connection with his work as a Principal Investigator in the NASA/FAA Joint University Program in Aviation Systems. He is a 20, year Board member, Medal of Merit awarded and Past President of the International Loran Association.

Dr. Marvin McCallum, Manager and Research Leader
Dr. Marvin McCallum, Manager and Research Leader, has over 25 years of professional experience conducting applied research in a diverse range of technical areas, including accident investigation, user interface design, personnel training and testing, individual and team performance, organizational design, fatigue and alertness management, risk assessment and management, and system test and evaluation. His research has been conducted within the operational domains of maritime, highway, aviation, and pipeline transportation; and security, command and control, regulatory agency, and nuclear power operations. Dr. McCallum has formal training in human memory and cognition, human perception, human factors engineering, industrial psychology, research design and statistics, and software programming. He is certified as a Human Factors Professional by the Board of Certification in Professional Ergonomics. Dr. McCallum has published the results of his research in over 100 book chapters, journal articles, proceedings publications, and technical reports.

Captain Robert G. Moore, USCG (RET)
Robert G. Moore recently retired as President of Coastwatch, Inc., and a maritime consulting firm specializing in government and industry projects to improve safety and vessel operations as well as other coastal zone work. He has more than 40 years of experience in maritime and international affairs. He is a master mariner and a retired Coast Guard officer with special expertise in ship operations and marine navigation. Captain Moore served as military readiness/operations program manager in the Coast Guard, represented the United States at foreign conferences, managed multinational navigation systems, and was public safety advisor for the Agency for International Development to the Government of Somalia. His consulting assignments and publications cover subjects such as coastal defense and security, vessel traffic management, command and control systems, and surveillance. Captain Moore served as a member of the Marine Board Committee on Maritime Advanced Information Systems and the Transportation Research Board’s Committee for Evaluating Shipboard Display of Automatic Identification Systems. He has a B.S. in Engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and received continuing education at the U.S. Naval War College and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He is a Fellow of the Nautical Institute and an Associate Fellow of the British Royal Institute of Navigation.

Paul Mueller – Senior Engineer – Tideland Signal Corp
Paul F. Mueller is an engineer with a career specializing in data acquisition spanning thirty years. He has been with Tideland Signal for sixteen years, heading up the engineering efforts for Tideland's NavLink remote data acquisition system. He has also been intimately involved with the development of Tideland's racon. Paul sits on the IALA eNavigation Committee where he is the vice chair of the Technical Working Group.

Jan-Hendrik Oltmann, German Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration, Deputy Head of Traffic Technology and Telematics Division
Jan, Hendrik Oltmann is Deputy Head of the Traffic Technology and Telematics Division of the German Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration. He was born in 1965 in Frankfurt, Germany. In 1992, he received a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Darmstadt Technical University, Germany. In 1993, he joined the Aids, to, Navigation Research and Development Center of the administration in Koblenz. There he started work on radio navigation in general and the application of transponder technology to VTS. In 1999, Jan, Hendrik Oltmann moved to the Traffic Technology and Telematics Division, situated in Kiel and Aurich. Since 1994, Jan, Hendrik Oltmann has been involved in the development of the AIS. He has been managing several domestic and international projects, chairing several international groups, and he is particularly active in the technical definition of the AIS Service and the shore, based aspects of the e, Navigation concept within IALA's e, Navigation Committee.

David Patraiko – The Nautical Institute – Director of Projects
David Patraiko is the current Director of Projects for The Nautical Institute, and Secretary to its Papers and Technical Committee. He is responsible for developing and managing major Institute projects and he represents the professional interests of member’s in general shipping, training and technical forum. Much of this work is aimed at assisting members of the Institute with continuous professional development. He has lead research and produced many papers and articles on the use of CBT, Electronic Navigation, implementation of IT systems on board merchant vessels and the associated ‘Human Element’ effects created by technology. He is currently involved with the international debate on e, navigation and is Chairman of the IALA e, navigation working group for Strategy and Operations.
After a brief period as an independent consultant and surveyor, in 1997 he accepted the position as Project Manager for The Nautical Institute, and became Director of Projects in 2003. A graduate of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy (US), he sailed on a variety of international vessels in his twelve years in the Merchant Navy (1985 – 1997). He holds an Unlimited Master Mariners license, and was awarded an MBA degree from Henley Management College (UK).
The Nautical Institute is the recognized international professional body for qualified mariners and others with an interest in nautical science. Its purpose is to promote high standards of knowledge, qualifications and competence amongst those in control of sea, going craft, both afloat and ashore. 

RADM David Pekoske – Assistant Commandant for Operations – USCG
Rear Admiral David P. Pekoske was assigned as the Assistant Commandant for Operations in July 2006. His responsibilities include management oversight of a wide range of Coast Guard programs essential to maritime safety, security and stewardship.  These include:  Maritime Safety, Law Enforcement, Maritime Environmental Protection, Homeland Security, and National Defense.  The Maritime Safety program includes search and rescue, commercial vessel inspections and port operations.  Law Enforcement, Maritime Environmental Protection, and Homeland Security encompasses illegal drug and migrant smuggling, living marine resource protection, counter terrorism, and enforcement of all federal laws on U. S. navigable waters.  The National Defense mission requires orchestrating the activity of Coast Guard forces to support Department of Defense plans and goals by providing Coast Guard capabilities to Combatant Commanders.  He also directs the allocation and distribution of Coast Guard forces (aircraft, vessels, shore facilities and operational command infrastructure) for operational employment.
Prior to reporting as the Assistant Commandant for Operations, Rear Admiral Pekoske served as the Commander, First Coast Guard District and Commander, Maritime Defense Command One where he was responsible for all Coast Guard missions in the Northeast.
Rear Admiral Pekoske’s other career assignments include Executive Assistant to the Commandant, Deputy Chief, Office of Programs; Commander, Coast Guard Group/Marine Safety Office Long Island Sound, based in New Haven, CT; Commander, Coast Guard Group Shinnecock, based on Long Island in Hampton Bays, NY; Commander, Coast Guard Group Milwaukee; Program Reviewer in the Office of Programs; Planning Officer, Coast Guard 1984 Summer Olympics Task Force; Aide to the Commander of the Eleventh Coast Guard District; Commanding Officer, Coast Guard Cutter Point Evans; and Deck Watch Officer, Coast Guard Cutter Dependable.  Commissioned in 1977 following graduation from the Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT, Rear Admiral Pekoske holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Ocean Engineering.  He is a 1989 graduate of the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University with a Masters Degree in Public Administration.  Rear Admiral Pekoske graduated from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Master of Business Administration Degree in 1997.

Todd Robertson, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Program Manager
Todd Robertson has worked for Lockheed Martin Corporation for seven years. He currently is a Program Manager who supports the LMC MS2 Homeland Security Systems (HSS) Line of Business (LOB) in the Coastal and Border Surveillance (CBS) Business Area. Prior to his current position he was a Systems Engineer and Engineering Project Manager. Since 2002, he has supported the IALA E, Nav Committee, AIS Technical Working Group and IEC TC80 Working Group 14 with his expertise in Systems Integration aspects of AIS systems. Prior to LMC, Todd worked for Raytheon Missile System Company for almost four years as a systems and software engineer. Todd holds a Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ and a Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering from Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY.

Dean Rosenberg – CEO & Co, Fonder, PortVision
Dean Rosenberg has more than 20 years of strategic management and technical experience in leveraging the Internet to drive business and organizational improvement.  Rosenberg has spent most of his career delivering supply chain and transportation solutions that solve significant industry challenges.  Most recently he has piloted AIRSIS through its recent period of growth, with AIRSIS achieving a leadership position in the delivery of maritime information systems.  
Prior to AIRSIS, Rosenberg was the Executive Vice President of Abaris Technologies, LLC, a predecessor company to AIRSIS that delivered enterprise software for commercial and government clients. Rosenberg was also Co, founder and Chief Technology Officer of SupplyPro Inc., a company that provides Internet, based supply chain solutions to Fortune 100 companies.  
Rosenberg holds a Bachelors degree in Computer Science from the University of California, San Diego, and an MBA from San Diego State University.

Mike Sollosi, USCG Headquarters, Chief of Navigation Systems
Mike Sollosi has served in the United States Coast Guard since 1976 as a commissioned officer and as a civil servant. He is now Chief of the Navigation Systems Division in Coast Guard Headquarters. In this capacity, he has responsibility for short range aids to navigation, Electronic Navigation systems, navigation equipment standards and the Navigation Rules. He has served as Head of Delegation or as a delegate to the International Maritime Organization’s Safety of Navigation Subcommittee for several years, representing U.S. interests on a variety of subjects. Mr. Sollosi has more than 20 years experience in the operation, administration and management of Vessel Traffic Services, with service ranging from watchstander to program director. He is active in the work of International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities and presently serves as the Chairman of the association’s VTS Committee. In the beginning of his Coast Guard career, Mr. Sollosi worked in the aids to navigation field for seven years, including service on buoy tenders in the North Atlantic and Alaska.

Commander Brian Tetreault, USCG Headquarters, Chief of VTS
Commander Brian Tetreault is the Chief of the Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) Division at U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, DC. His Coast Guard career has included assignments aboard icebreakers in the North Atlantic and Great Lakes and a fisheries patrol cutter in Alaska. He has served as a watchstander, watch supervisor and Executive Officer at vessel traffic services in Seattle and San Francisco. In his current assignment he is responsible for developing requirements, acquiring and allocating resources and promulgating policy for 12 VTSs from Valdez, Alaska to Tampa, Florida. He is a representative to the IALS VTS committee and serves on several working groups on VTS and AIS matters. He graduated from the United States Coast Guard Academy in 1987 and holds an Unlimited 2nd Mate license and a 1600 Ton Master license.

Lt Commander Thomas Thomson, USCG Positioning, Navigation and Timing Liaison to Department of Defense, Homeland Security and Transportation
Lieutenant Commander Thomson is the Coast Guard's Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Liaison to the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Transportation.  Prior to his current assignment in the Electronic Navigation Branch at Coast Guard Headquarters, he served as the Response Chief at Coast Guard Sector Honolulu, HI where he oversaw enforcement and incident management operations as well as operational cutters and multi, mission stations. LCDR Thomson has served over 28 years on active, duty in enlisted and commissioned officer assignments.  He gained extensive Loran system expertise in duties ranging from junior technician to program manager.  He is a native of Spokane, WA.

Jason Tieman, PortVision, Director of Maritime Solutions
Jason Tieman, Director of Maritime Solutions for PortVision, has a diverse maritime background including operating harbor tugs along the Texas gulf coast to seven years of active duty in the Coast Guard marine safety field. Throughout his service at Marine Safety Unit Galveston and Port Arthur, Lieutenant Tieman held various leadership roles, including Chief of Port Safety and Security, Chief of Marine Environmental Protection, and Senior Investigating Officer. He was responsible for implementing enhanced security measures for the Galveston/Texas City corridor in response to 9/11, accountable for hundreds of maritime casualty investigations and oversaw the safety and security concerns for the proposed construction of three Liquid Natural Gas Terminals in the Sabine region. Lieutenant Tieman was also recognized for training numerous municipal fire departments on Marine Firefighting techniques, greatly improving the marine firefighting preparedness along the Texas Gulf Coast. During the Hurricane Rita aftermath, he acted as the Federal on Scene coordinator, overseeing the pollution response and salvage of over 100 vessels, expediting the reconstitution of the waterway. Tieman maintains an Unlimited Tonnage Third Mates License and earned a Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation from Texas A&M University Maritime Academy. He also earned a Master of Science in Quality Systems Management from The National Graduate School in Falmouth, Massachusetts. Tieman currently serves in the Coast Guard Reserves and was recently selected for promotion to Lieutenant Commander.

David Vacanti – Aerospace Fellow – RF Navigation Honeywell
David Vacanti graduated BSEE in 1974 from Colorado State University.  National IEEE Student Paper Contest Winner 1973, Electrostatic Fields Displays. 
21 Years as Radar and Satellite Phased Array Engineer at Boeing ,  Associate Technical Fellow, working on AWACS ,  E3A, Missile Seeker Simulation Systems, Millimeterwave Radar and Electronically Steered Satellite Phased Arrays for Communications & Television to Airline Transport Aircraft.
12 Years as Radar and Navigation Avionics Engineer at Honeywell ,  Aerospace Fellow ,  RF System designer for the RDR 4000 WXR, System designer for the RDR 4B Solid State Transmitter Upgrade, RF System Designer of the ALA 52B Digital RF Radar Altimeter for 787, Responsible for all 9 navigation radios and antennas on the 787, Developer of patent pending composite plastics for RF shielding, Overall System Designer for the ALA 60 Single Antenna Radar Altimeter for New Aircraft, Responsible for development of new Navigation Radio technologies for Commercial Airlines for Honeywell. 
Mr. Vacanti is a holder of 6 Patents with 9 Pending and 1 in development.
Created Vacanti Yacht Design LLC software development for boat, ship and yacht design and analysis in 1984, with several thousands of canoes, boats and ships, including commercial ferries built over 23 years, including multiple "Yacht of the Year", Multiple Winners of Sydney to Hobart Sailing Race, Multiple Americas Cup Challenges, Several Olympics Winners including 8 man rowing shells and Olympic Rodeo Kayaks. High Speed Catamarran Commercial Ferries designed with our software ply the waters of Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Japan
Married for 29 years with two children ages 21 and 25. Our family is a boating family having owned sailboats for 19 years and chartered Trawler Yachts for 2 years, looking to eventually have our own modest Trawler yacht some day.

Mike Vierow – Head of Bridge Systems – L, 3 Marine Systems UK
Graduating from the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 2001, Mike Vierow sub, specialized in Navigation and served the following six years in various navigation appointments.  These included live operations in Iraq during 2003 and culminated in an appointment in which he lead the first Royal Navy FF/DD through the changeover to 'digital' navigation and subsequent Operational Sea Training program in 2006; an achievement which was recognized with an Associate Fellowship from the Royal Institute of Navigation
On leaving the service, he took up his current position at L, 3 Marine Systems UK as Head of Bridge Systems and has been responsible for L, 3 UK's Bridge development program.  Alongside development, he has been involved with the design and integration of numerous Naval and Commercial Bridge systems, as well as chairing an L, 3 seminars on Future Bridge Systems and contributing to the Nautical Institute's work on the development of e, Navigation policy.  Mike is a resident of Bristol, United Kingdom.

Capt. Christian Volkle – Majestic American Line – VP Nautical Operations & Compliance
Capt. Volkle is a 1981 graduate of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and has been actively involved in all aspects of maritime training for the past 25 years. He is a USCG approved instructor and Assessor for numerous STCW courses and has trained thousands of mariners when he was the Lead Instructor for the Washington State Fire Academy. Chris has sailed in various capacities aboard tankers, freighters, commercial fishing vessels, research vessels and cruise ships and was also an enforcement and compliance officer for the Washington State Office of Marine Safety. He recently left Holland America Line where he was the Deputy Director of Fleet Training and is currently the Vice President of Nautical Operations & Compliance for Majestic America Line.

Mike Watson – President – American Pilots’ Association
Mike Watson is President of the American Pilots’ Association.  He is also president of the International Maritime Pilots’ Association.
Captain Watson graduated from the United States Merchant Marine Academy in 1965 with a B.S. degree in Marine Transportation.  From 1965 to 1970, he sailed deep sea, first with the US Military Sealift Command and then with Farrell Lines.  In 1970, he joined the Association of Maryland Pilots. While with the Association, he held the positions of marine superintendent, secretary, and eventually president for 17 years, from 1983 to 2000.
He was Vice President of the American Pilots’ Association for the Northeast Region from 1992 to 2000 and was elected APA President in 2000.  In 2004, he was reelected to another 4, year term as president.  In 2006, Captain Watson was elected to a four, year term as president of IMPA.  Prior to that, he had served as Vice President and Treasurer of the organization, which is headquartered in London.
Captain Watson has an unlimited ocean’s master license as well as pilot licenses for the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries issued the State of Maryland and by the United States Coast Guard.

Alan Weigel, Bank Rome LLP
Alan Weigel is an attorney with Blank Rome, LLP, who concentrates his practice in the area of commercial and insurance litigation and arbitration related to the maritime industry. Mr. Weigel represents clients in a wide variety of both domestic and international maritime, commercial, and insurance matters with particular emphasis on maritime casualties, including vessel collisions, groundings and oil spills, maritime limitation of liability actions and vessel arrests. He is routinely involved in cargo damage, vessel damage, collision, allusion, and grounding investigations and litigations. He recently represented a vessel owner in complex three vessel collision litigation and also represented a cargo vessel owner in a collision with U.S. Navy nuclear submarine. Mr. Weigel is a 1979 graduate of the United States Naval Academy and a 1987 distinguished graduate of the United States Naval Postgraduate School. During his twenty year career as a submarine officer in the United States Navy he developed expertise as both a deck officer and engineer, as well as in deep ocean search and salvage. He served as the Navigator of a Ballistic Missile Submarine. During his command of a Deep Submergence Vehicle he supervised the development of an integrated vehicle and support ship navigation and tracking system. He served ashore in a variety of staff positions, including a tour as director of Submarine On board Training where he implemented a new force wide comprehensive electronic navigation training program. Mr. Weigel recently served on the U.S. Maritime Law Association’s study group on the UNESCO Underwater Cultural Heritage Convention.

Cas Willems is as a project manager/senior consultant on Vessel Traffic Management working for the Transport Research Centre (AVV) in the Netherlands. The Transport Research Centre is a research institute of the Ministry of Transport in the Netherlands aiming at the improvement of their road, rail and waterborne transport networks. Cas Willems was consultant in many projects in the Netherlands dealing with Vessel Traffic Management; as such he was involved in the development and implementation of almost all VTS’s in the maritime environment and inland navigation in the Netherlands.
He was one of the initiators of the development of River Information Services (RIS) in Europe, River Information Services is a concept of harmonised information services to support traffic and transport management in inland navigation. He was project manager of several large Pan, European projects co, funded by the European Union dealing with the development of RIS, the standardisation of inland ECDIS, inland AIS and electronic reporting as essential services in RIS. He is still activily involved as project manager in the implementation of River Information Services across Europe.
Cas Willems is member of the RIS committee of the European Commission dealing with the implementation of the RIS directive in the European member states and the PIANC RIS working group dealing with RIS implementation guidelines
Cas Willems is since two year project manager of the Pan, European integrated research project MarNIS (Maritime Navigation and Information Services) focusing on the development of E, Maritime. MarNIS is co, funded by the European Commission.