Falko Kuester is a professor of structural engineering and computer science in UC San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering, and also directs the Cultural Heritage Engineering and Innovation Initiative (CHEI) and the Center of Interdisciplinary Science for Art, Architecture and Archaeology (CISA3) in the Qualcomm Institute. Professor Kuester also directs Calit2’s Center of Graphics, Visualization and Virtual Reality (GRAVITY). As Principal Investigator of an NSF IGERT-TEECH project in cultural heritage diagnostics engineering, Kuester and his team worked on methodologies and techniques for cultural heritage diagnostics and preservation, including diagnostic and analytical imaging as well as visual and cultural analytics in collaborative digital workspaces that provide engineers, scientists, art historians with a means to intuitively and interactively explore historic artifacts and sites. Ongoing research in this area through CHEI, CISA3 and the Bermuda 100 Challenge is expanding the role of engineering in cultural heritage conservation and providing a means for researchers and the public alike to study cultural heritage and facilitate its preservation.

Adrienne Bolli is Director of Development in the Jacobs School of Engineering and in that role, she engages alumni, parents and community partners on how they wish to see their passion for giving back directed to a specific purpose such as supporting graduate student involvement in the Bermuda 100 Challenge. Prior to her current position, Bolli was the Jacobs School's Director of Alumni Affairs, and before that Director of Development at The Ohio State University. She earned an MA in Higher Education Administration in 2005 from the University of Central Florida, where she also received a B.S. in Psychology.

Dominique Rissolo holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from UC Riverside, and did his undergraduate work at San Diego State University. He is a former Executive Director of the Waitt Institute, and co-directed of the National Geographic Society-Waitt Foundation Grants Program and the Rapid Ocean Conservation (ROC) Grants Program on behalf of the Waitt Foundation. The Waitt Institute funded a major expedition and exploration of the Mary Celestia shipwreck in Bermuda waters in 2011 (with Rissolo participating in that expedition). Rissolo subsequently joined the Qualcomm Institute at UC San Diego as Special Projects Coordinator for CHEI and CISA3, with a major focus on working with graduate and undergraduate students on cultural heritage-related projects. Rissolo has been involved in a number of marine archaeology projects including deep-water remote sensing surveys. As an archaeologist, Rissolo’s research interests include the development of ancient maritime trade networks along the Yucatan coast. His work on the Yucatan Peninsula also focused on ancient Maya and Paleoamerican cave and cenote use as well as coastal and near-coastal settlement patterns and ecosystems. Throughout his fieldwork, Rissolo has been active in local initiatives and the development of sustainable cultural heritage preservation strategies. Rissolo also serves on the NOAA Ocean Exploration Advisory Board.

Eric Lo received his M.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in 2016, after completing a B.S. in Computer Engineering from UC San Diego in 2014. Lo’s primary interests are in embedded systems and robotics applied to the exploration and study of cultural heritage sites. He played a leadership role in the UC San Diego Engineers for Exploration student program, and led the team developing a Stabilized Aerial Camera Platform as well as the Airborne Radio Collar Tracker. In his spare time, Lo enjoys reading about, building and tinkering with robots.

Chris McFarland is a software engineer in the Qualcomm Institute and he has worked on projects for CISA3, CHEI and other research centers in the institute. McFarland is a member of the Catalyst Project’s Library Digital Repository Project., and helped create the CAVEcam Virtual Reality Photography Collection of the Geisel Library in 2016.

UC San Diego alumnus Dominique Meyer (B.S. Physics ’16) is a Research Associate in CISA3, and he planned and executed successful expeditions in Mexico, Guatemala and Italy. He helped gather photographic data to create 3D reconstructions of Mayan sites and to find new ones. Meyer also developed an aerial LIDAR system for exploration and discovery of Mayan pyramids in the region of El Zotz. In Italy he used self-designed UAV systems to map the area surrounding the cave of paleo period. Meyer gained experience in analyzing large data sets and creating point clouds, and he worked with professors to manage the team consisting of seven undergraduate students during the school year to do research and publish papers about collected data. Meyer also designed and 3D-printed an autonomous flying paraglider to increase the flight times and maximize load capabilities. Meyer is also CEO and co-founder of Aeropix.ch, and he was awarded a National Geographic Young Explorers Grant.

Vid Petrovic is nearing completion of his Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering at UC San Diego. He received a BS in Computer Science and Engineering as well as a MS in Computer Graphics and Visualization from UC Irvine. Petrovic’s research focuses on developing a system that visualizes LIDAR data to create three-dimensional replicas of sites that CISA3/CHEI are working on, including the Bermuda 100 Challenge shipwreck sites. Petrovic collects data from a site, renders that data into a visual form on a computer, and then creates an image that can be observed from various angles, light levels, and distances from a separate location. The system that Petrovic is developing allows an objective record of the site to be preserved for future study.

Philippe Rouja has been Bermuda’s Custodian of Historic Wrecks since 2004. In that capacity, he is responsible for managing the island nation’s underwater cultural heritage. He is a cultural and medical anthropologist specializing in maritime communities, focusing on Polynesia, Australia, the Arctic and Bermuda. Since 2004, Rouja has also been Principal Scientist for Marine Heritage and Ocean Human Health in Bermuda, in which capacity he oversees public health studies related to the use of marine resources in Bermuda. He and a team from the Historic Wrecks Authority, with funding and personnel from the Waitt Foundation, undertook an expedition to uncover previously unknown artifacts in the shipwreck of the Mary-Celestia. The expedition was carried out in collaboration with local dive shops and Heritage NGO’s and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Rouja received his Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Durham in the UK in 1999, and before that did his undergraduate work at the University of Toronto. In 2001 he co-founded the Bermuda-based Ocean Human Health Research Programme.

Jean-Pierre Rouja has been the Director of LookBermuda and LookFilms since 2000, and more recently launched the Nonsuch Expeditions. The Expeditions are an ongoing project documenting and participating in the conservation, research and exploration of the Nonsuch Island Nature Reserve, using it as a lens through which to showcase Bermuda’s biodiversity. Rouja seeks to leverage technology and media to solve conservation challenges, including a collaboration with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for the award-winning CahowCam project and, most recently, co-conceiving the Bermuda 100 project with UC San Diego.

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