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is access to a physical station where you can connect sensors to a network, for example on a buoy or at a shore station, or perhaps if it’s a lit- tle bit earlier stage in a test tank or in a pressure test facility,” said Ruhl. Successful applicants will also have access to technicians and techni- cal support working in collaboration with ap- plicants and developers to get their technology integrated so that it can be evaluated.

It’s about helping companies and technolo- gists navigate the aforementioned long-run- ning challenge of emerging from the ‘valley of death’, moving promising technology from its infancy and adolescence to full maturity, where perhaps it can be deployed to help solve some of the more pressing challenges for scientists, legislators and corporations glob- ally. “The [subsea] community has faced this problem for many years,” said Ruhl. “There are other initiatives, but what we wanted to do is make that [process] a faster and more accessible. Instead of having to write a big proposal to NOAA, we can take an applica- tion and make as easy as possible.”

Ruhl stresses time and again the collabora- tive aspects of Synchro, as the communica- tion and technology ? ow is not a one-way street. “The application is really about start- ing a conversation with us; what you’d like to achieve, and does it match with what we

Photo copyright Jason Adelaars MBARI 2023 can accommodate in terms of testing facili- ties and expertise.”

So Synchro comes to the table not only with technical experts on the physical piece of equipment, but also scientists who work on the intellectual concepts, insights that might help to broaden the potential scope and use cases for a given technology to help ? ll broader ocean intelligence gathering gaps.

“Technologists are not always connected to their users and engineers and are not always marketers,” said West. “I think the valuable part of Synchro is that we’re working on that product market ? t, so someone is not working in a silo and that prototype stays a prototype.”

MARINE

Watch Marine

TECHNOLOGY

Technology TV’s full

TV video interview with

Synchro’s Henry Ruhl and Amy West here:

Or visit: oceansynchro.io

Photo copyright Thom Maughan MBARI 2023 www.marinetechnologynews.com 27

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