Welcome to Sea Grant Dr. Tom Consi

MIT Sea Grant is excited to announce our new Research Education Specialist, Tom Consi. Tom isn¡t actually new to Sea Grant, he worked in our MIT Sea Grant AUV lab for over eight years where he started as a Post-Doctoral Fellow in 1989 working to a research engineer position. Throughout his career Tom has been focused on mentoring and teaching students. Tom was an early adopter of the Sea Perch ROV as a vehicle to introduce students to the joys and challenges of Ocean Engineering. His worked formed the basis of Sea Grant¡s highly successful Sea Perch Program, now a nation-wide Ocean Engineering STEM program and underwater robotics competition. He continued working at MIT in the Ocean Engineering (OE) department for another seven years as a senior lecturer, where he developed the Discover Ocean Engineering Pre-Freshman Program using the Sea Perch as its focus. He also co-taught the senior design class and was the OE UROP Coordinator. For his work with the undergraduate program in the O.E. Department Tom was awarded the Spirit of Ocean Engineering Teaching Award,Œ in 2002. In 2004 he moved on to University of Wisconsin Milwaukee in Department of Mechanical Engineering and the UWM School of Freshwater Sciences. While at UWM he co-founded and co-directed the MATE Wisconsin Regional ROV Competition, and in 2014 he received UWM¡s Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award.His research focus has been marine robotics, primarily for environmental monitoring, as well as biomimetic marine robots. Dr Consi¡s team has developed LMAR, a stout ground robot designed to operate in the surf zone and, more recently, an airplane-style UAV for detecting and localizing radio-tagged fish. Tom is planning to take the Sea Perch program to the next level, improving sensors, incorporating new concepts into curriculum and developing new tools to teach students about ocean engineering. Tom has big plans for the education department of MIT Sea Grant and we¡re excited to see what¡s next!