Distinguished Technical Achievement Award

2021 Distinguished Technical Achievement Award

René Garello

Each year, the Distinguished Technical Achievement Award of the Oceanic Engineering Society honors one individual for an outstanding fundamental or applied technical contribution to oceanic engineering. The award recognizes a single major invention or scientific contribution, or a distinguished series of contributions over a long period of time.

On behalf of the Society it is an honor to present this year’s Distinguished Technical Achievement Award to René Garello for signal processing of remotely sensed measurements of the ocean and connecting to physical oceanography solutions.

René is recognized for his contributions to signal and image processing of remotely sensed measurements of the ocean. He took a leading role in analysis of speckle in SAR images to extract information on sea state when others were treating it as noise. He has shown the value of multidisciplinary approaches that combine signal and image processing techniques with geoscience knowledge using synergy between different sensors. Recently, René has turned to the problem of marine debris and plastics in the ocean, and is applying satellite observation techniques to several programs.

Prof René has recently retired from a full professorship at IMT Atlantique, Brest and has been appointed Emeritus Professor. He became a Fellow of IEEE in 2005 and has taken on many tasks within IEEE including President of OES, 2011-2014, and organizing workshops on ocean remote sensing. He was elevated Life Fellow of the IEEE in 2019. He participated in the creation of the satellite reception station VIGISAT in 2009 which allowed the formation of the scientific interest group BreTel, of which he is the Founding Director.

Past Recipients of the Distinguished Technical Achievement Award
2023 Gabrielle Ferri
2022
2021 René Garello
2020 Mandar A. Chitre
2019 William (Bill) Kirkwood
2018 Martin Klein
2017 Peter N. Mikhalevsky
2016 John E. Ehrenberg
2015 Milica Stojanovic
2014 Christian de Moustier
2013 Gwyn Griffiths
2012 Joseph Vadus
2011 Christopher von Alt
2010 Tamaki Ura
2009 Robert T. Bannon
2008 Thomas B. Sanford
2007 Donald E. Barrick
2006 Fred Noel Spiess
2005 Douglas C. Webb
2004 John P. Craven
2003 Georges Bienvenu
2002 James Candy
2001 Werner R. Alpers
2000 Albert J. Williams 3rd
1999 William M. Carey
1998 Burton G. Hurdle
1997 Newell Booth
1996 Frederick H. Fisher
1995 Mack O’Brien
1994 Edmund J. Sullivan
1993 William J. Plant
1992 Arthur B. Baggeroer
1991 Henry Cox
1990 Robert C. Spindel
1989 Victor C. Anderson
1988 Chester M. McKinney
1987 James R. McFarlane
1986 Robert J. Urick
1985 William N. Nierenberg
1984 John B. Hersey
1983 Alan Berman
1982 Ira Dyer
1981 No Award
1980 Neil Brown
1979 David W. Hyde
1978 Richard K. Moore
1977 Howard A. Wilcox
1976 Werner Kroebel
1975 Robert A. Frosh