Highlights: Nortek events from the first half of 2024
- Company & product news
Nortek Days: bringing together the oceanographic community
Nortek Days have been a staple event of ours for years. These events aim to bring together the scientific community to discuss their latest research, share innovations in ADCP technology, and further develop the Nortek community in an area. Nortek holds these events annually and worldwide.
This year, we have held Nortek Days in the Netherlands, the US, Singapore, and Australia totaling hundreds of attendees.
Nortek Day Netherlands was the most recent of these events. Our Dutch colleagues and friends came together at the end of May in Rotterdam for discussions focused on topics of local importance; namely, sediment measurements and vessel-mounted ADCP systems.
“It was a very nice day where everyone participated and got a chance to ask their questions to Nortek specialists,” says Roos van Dorp, Marketing Manager at Nortek Netherlands. “The location was not too bad either, with a view of Rotterdam, de Maas and the Erasmusbrug.”
Earlier in May, Nortek held two events in the US: one in Miami and one in Seattle. These coast-to-coast events were assisted by partners at University of Washington and Florida International University. Presentations from several professors, academics and researchers brought valuable discussions to each event.
“The Nortek Day in Seattle was an excellent and unique opportunity to bring an impressive group of ADCP users and experts together for valuable discourse,” says Jeremiah Ness, Senior Sales Engineer at Nortek USA. “Thank you to our PNW user base—I can’t wait for the next time we can all meet!”
Multiple events in Australia and Singapore
Meanwhile, our Australian team has had their hands full holding events in Hobart, Tasmania as well as working on events with our representative team in Singapore. In the span of two months, they held Nortek Days in Australia and Singapore, as well as two additional collaborative events at the University of Tasmania focused on active acoustics data.
The first of the active acoustics events was a hackday-style workshop where participants could work with data in a collaborative environment. Nortek was joined by Echoview to work with active acoustics users in a hands-on setup.
“The Acoustics Hackday was a new, collaborative event format for Nortek,” says Yarran Crichton, Director of Nortek Australia. “This was a fantastic way for people to share their data, learn from each other and from Echoview and Nortek staff.
The other active acoustics event was focused on bringing together experienced ADCP and echosounder users for open discussions and collaboration. The Nortek Australia team worked with the University of Tasmania and Echoview to create an open environment for acousticians and biologists to share research and ideas.
Both Nortek Days (Australia and Singapore) were held in collaboration with our partners at Subnero and included demonstrations of Subnero’s modems used with Nortek ADCPs. Crichton emphasizes the importance of including hands-on demonstrations at these events in addition to presentations.
“I was happy with the program for both events being half demo-based,” he says. “Both events were well attended and successful days.”
Navigation Days: collaboration in subsea robotics
Following a hugely successful event last year, our Brazil team hosted another full-capacity Navigation Day in collaboration with our partners at Exail. Hosting the event with Exail enables discussions not only about the latest in DVL technology but in many facets of subsea navigation.
“The Brazilian subsea market is constantly growing, mainly in activities in the energy market, which is heavily dominated by big work-class ROVs,” explains Nortek Brazil Director Diego Bitencourt. “Our vision was to get together contractors who require subsea services, service providers who operate ROVs, and sensor manufacturers who will provide the equipment all in the same room to share experiences and visions for future operations.”
This year’s event in Brazil saw nearly 100 attendees.
Most recently, in mid-June, our team in Japan held a combination Nortek Day / Navigation Day for the first time. The event saw a fantastic turnout with over 150 attendees spread over a three-day program. Each day had a different focus: navigation for small subsea vehicles, navigation for large subsea vehicles, and a final day about wave measurements using ADCPs.
“We focused the days more on techniques rather than introducing our products,” explained Yusaku Kokubu, Director of Nortek Japan. “This seemed to be welcomed by the community, which turned out to be a good number of participants from a wide spectrum of industries.”
Kokubu says that by focusing each day on a different field and by keeping an emphasis on technique, attendees gained valuable knowledge from industry experts to mitigate common difficulties when using acoustic instrumentation.
Future Nortek Days and Navigation Days coming soon
Interested in joining us for a Nortek Day or Navigation Day? It’s not too late. These events will continue in the back half of the year, with three Navigation Days planned in Norway, France and Scotland in September and October. Details and registration will be updated on our Events page as they are released.
