Diver of the Year
Our 56th Annual Diver of the Year, awarded at our 57th Clinic (Ed. Note: the DOY award was started during the second Clinic), was presented to an outstanding engineer, inventor, and entrepreneur, Marty Klein. The fact that he was also a long time friend, supporter, and associate member, was overlooked by the nomination committee. Here’s the write up we had in the program guide last year from Marty, combined with a few pictures he shared with us.
2011 Diver of the Year Martin Klein
“Just Because Someone Gives You a Degree, That Doesn’t Mean You’re Done Learning”
There are only a few names in the diving, marine industry, and oceanographic community that people immediately associate with a product, a science, or a technology. When you hear Jacques Cousteau, you think of diving, and when you hear Marty Klein, you think of Side Scan Sonar, and a high degree of success in underwater search, discovery, & recovery. Within just six years of finishing college, Klein had founded Klein Associates, a company whose name quickly became synonymous with side scan sonar. He credits meeting Harold Edgerton with sending him in the direction that was to become his career. “When I was a senior at MIT in ‘62, I visited Doc Edgerton’s lab and asked if he had anything interesting to work on,” he recalls. “My life was never the same again.” Over the past fifty years, Marty has been at the forefront of the conception, design, improvement, and implementation of some of the most sophisticated and successful pieces of equipment ever developed to explore the ocean’s depths. His equipment has been used to find countless shipwrecks in all corners of the world, including some of the most historic, oldest, and richest wrecks ever lost by man over the past 4,000 years.
In 1967, Klein assisted pioneer underwater archaeologist George F. Bass in the discovery of a 2,000-year-old Roman shipwreck off southwest Turkey – the first ancient shipwreck found using remote sensing. In ‘73, Marty’s mentor, and former MIT thesis advisor Doc Edgerton used side scan sonar to discover the final resting spot of the USS Monitor, and 2 years later a Klein side scan sonar was used to locate the Hamilton and Scourge in Lake Ontario – the two most well preserved War of 1812 ships ever found. Klein sonars have been used to help find most of the famous shipwrecks that we are all familiar with – the Titanic, the Breadalbane, the Lusitania, the Atocha, Benedict Arnold’s gunboat in Lake Champlain and countless others. It was also used to find the remains of the Space Shuttle Challenger, downed aircraft including TWA Flt 800, Swiss Air Flt 111, John F. Kennedy Jr.’s plane off the coast of Mass, and Egypt Air 990, among countless others. The value of side scan sonar goes well beyond shipwrecks, and it has been the cornerstone piece of equipment for the offshore energy industry, as all ocean drilling and energy production requires detailed ocean bottom survey work. The vast global network of undersea telecommunications continues to expand, all of which requires precise surveys – work that would not be possible without the pioneering efforts of Marty, and his world-renowned company.
Despite the success that Martin Klein has experienced as a gifted engineer, entrepreneur and explorer, he still thinks of himself as a student. Marty’s quote at the top of this page, spoken decades after his formal education ended at MIT, epitomizes how he still continues to lead by example. He is an inspiration and ideal role model for the countless students and professionals that he comes in contact with through his tireless volunteering efforts to local, national, and international communities, donating his time and expertise to a myriad of projects and organizations. In 2006 Marty received one of the Marine Technology Society’s highest honors, the Compass Distinguished Achievement Award, presented for outstanding contributions to the advancement of marine science and technology. Now, in 2011, the Boston Sea Rovers are honored to present him with our highest award, the Walter Feinberg Memorial
Diver of the Year Award, complete with the following inscription:
ENGINEER – INVENTOR – EXPLORER
THE GODFATHER OF SIDE SCAN SONAR
FOR DEVELOPING THE TECHNOLOGY
THAT UNLOCKED THE SECRETS OF THE DEEP
