The ROV Committee is led by a group of volunteers who are dedicated to the betterment of the field.

Bob Christ, Chair
Seatrepid International

Bob Christ is the CEO of Seatrepid International. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in both Aviation and Accounting from Louisiana Tech University. Bob is a FAA-licensed Airline Transport Pilot as well as a Certified Public Accountant (currently inactive). He is a co-founder of VideoRay, a micro-ROV manufacturer, and in 2003 co-founded SeaTrepid. Bob also co-authored “The ROV Manual” along with Bob Wernli (now in its second edition).

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Nancy Summers, Vice Chair
Oceaneering International, Inc.

Nancy Summers is a Field Engineer with Oceaneering Int. She began her subsea career in 1997 as a Tender and then a Diver in the Gulf of Mexico. She expanded into ROV’s and then AUV’s before a transfer to the East coast brought her back to Hyperbarics working with the Navy’s Submarine Rescue System.

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Susie Ward, Secretary/Treasurer
Oceanwide

Susie has been involved with the oil and gas industry for over 30 years. Her journey has taken her from a secretary to an international crewing manager and HR director. She has been involved with the MATE ROV program as a Runner and then Missions Judge.

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Chuck Richards, Past Chairman
CA Richards & Associates, Inc.

Chuck Richards is President of CA Richards & Associates, Inc., a Houston-based company serving the Marine, Offshore, and Subsea Industries that was started by his father, Charlie Richards, in 1971. CA Richards & Associates represents manufacturers of pioneering high technology products including ROV’s, Sonars, Underwater Television Systems, DP Systems, and other Underwater Instrumentation. Chuck was one of the founders of Hydro Vision Intl, a manufacturer of Underwater Television equipment which was later sold to Kongsberg.

Over the course of his 40 plus year career, Chuck has helped launch several new technologies into the underwater marketplace such as Laser Imaging Systems, Underwater RF Communications Systems, and several Imaging Sonar Systems.

Chuck is a Life Member of the Marine Technology Society and actively volunteers for MTS through the ROV Committee as well as the MTS Houston Section. Through his initiatives and management, the MTS Houston Section and ROV Committee provide scholarships and programs to encourage students to pursue engineering and technology degrees in ocean-related careers.

Chuck’s honors and awards include:

• 1991 Association of Diving Contractors Award of Excellence
• 1996 MTS Fellow
• 1998 MTS ROV Committee’s Chairman’s Award
• 2005 MTS DP Committee’s Distinguished Achievement Award
• 2006 ASME Ross Kastor Educators Award
• 2010 Lockheed Martin Ocean Science and Engineering Award
• 2012 Offshore Technology Conference Board of Directors

With 43 years of experience in technical and executive positions in the offshore diving and remotely operated vehicles industry, Drew Michel is considered one of the true pioneers in the technology of undersea ROVs. Among his accomplishments, he is an internationally recognized author, lecturer and authority on ROV technology, a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, fellow in the Marine Technology Society.

Robert L. Wernli, Sr. received the B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of California Santa Barbara in 1973 and the M.S. degree in engineering design from San Diego State University, San Diego, CA in 1985. His 40-year career has focused on the development of advanced undersea work systems, manipulators and tools for use to full ocean depths by both manned and unmanned vehicles.