Page 45: of Marine Technology Magazine (April 2006)

www.seadiscovery.com Marine Technology Reporter 45

At the recent Oceanology International 2006 exhibition in London, Marine Technology Reporter's Maggie L.

Merrill had a chance to chat with William (Bill)

Kikendall and Harry Maxfield to discuss Teledyne's recent purchases of RD Instruments and Benthos.

MTR: Bill, can you tell us a little about Teledyne and how you fit into the ocean business?

Kikendall: The Teledyne Group of companies has been in the geophysical industry since 1960, when some of our earliest designs for streamer cables, energy sources, and recording systems were put to use aboard seismic research vessels around the world for use in offshore oil and gas exploration work. Geophysical Instruments, a business unit of Teledyne Instruments, which until recently I head- ed up, is the leading independent supplier of hydrophones and streamer cables for marine exploration. We have facil- ities in both the Houston, Texas, and Gloucester,

England. I have moved to San Diego to head up the

Teledyne RDI group.

MTR: Bill, what is your background and how did you end up running the RD Instruments business unit for

Teledyne?

Kikendall: My formal education includes a BSEE from

Iowa State University, as well as an MBA from the

University of Dallas. Being from Iowa, I was drawn to the ocean from a young age; and through a job fair I found myself in the offshore geophysical industry. I joined

Teledyne Geophysical in Houston as a design engineer back in 1983, and have been managing this business unit since 1999. I am really enjoying the focus of the RDI group and the wide-ranging customer base to whom we can offer customized services for a variety of applications.

Q&A: Bill Kikendall & Harry Maxfield q&a

Bill Kikendall (left) and Harry Maxfield (right) of RD Instruments display the new DVS, Doppler Volume Sampler, their new current profiler. This product was developed to support a multi-year contract from NOAA/PMEL for a next gener- ation moored current profiler The new low power DVS offers an advanced alternative to single point current meters. (Photo credit: Maggie L. Merrill)

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