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www.seadiscovery.com Marine Technology Reporter 31 quent patience of the customer, really enabled Bluefin to hit the next level," Abraham said. "Without this event,

Bluefin would still be like other AUV shops."

Markets

Today, international military business is the prime target for Bluefin Robotics, but when the company was created, it was built to focus on three main business areas: • Scientific research and technology development with advanced underwater platforms; Naval mine warfare and general clandestine battle- space preparation; Offshore oil field seafloor surveys, particularly for deep-water installations. "The infrastructure that was here (prior to the Battelle acquisition) was perfectly fine for the R&D, ONR and the Oil & Gas industry, but the business and manufactur- ing processes — from top to bottom — had to be over- hauled to support the military and our growth projec- tions," Abraham said.

While the military business currently accounts for a majority of Bluefin business, Abraham admits that he would like to eventually see a more even distribution of business between academic, military and the Oil & Gas business. "The military business is feast or famine … if you have the contract, a large percentage of your business is committed here," Abraham said. The military business is critical to the entire process however, as he said, in his experience, the Oil & Gas business, for example, have been very late adopters of AUV technology, as they gener- ally wait for the technology to be 'de-risked' before com- mitting resources. "The military contracts go a long way towards 'de-risking' the technology for other users,"

Abraham said.

All for One

High-tech companies such as Bluefin Robotics, that continually raise the hypothetical bar, are compelled to keep the bar high and invest in furthering its systems. To that end, Bluefin invests a hefty double digit percentage of its revenue back into the company to ensure its position in the market. The company's guiding principle is to couple its AUV design and operational experience with the best technology developed by Bluefin, MIT AUV Laboratory,

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