Chuck Richards
Chairman
President, 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
Bob Christ
Vice 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).
Aimee Coates Monteverde
Secretary/Treasurer, Delta Subsea LLC
Aimee Coates has been the Secretary/Treasurer since 2004 and plays a key and active role in dispensing scholarship funds in a timely manner. Prior to 2010, Aimee was Treasurer for the Marine Technology Section Houston Section. She was Vice Chair in 2010 and Chair from 2011 to 2013, and assumed the position of Treasurer in mid-2013 after her term as Chair expired. Aimee has spent most of her career in the offshore oil and gas industry and has worked with a number of leading contractors, including Saipem, C.A. Richards & Associates, Canyon Offshore/Helix ESG, The EIC, and currently Delta Subsea LLC.
Drew Michel
Past Chair, ROV Technologies Inc.
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.
Past Chair, First Centurion Enterprises
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.