Marine Advanced Technology Education for Inspiration and Innovation’s (MATE II) vision is to inspire and challenge students to learn and creatively apply scientific, engineering, and technical skills to solve real-world problems and strengthen their critical thinking, collaboration, entrepreneurship, and innovation.
MATE II was founded to support ongoing student education activities initiated at the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center, a resource center funded by the National Science Foundation and headquartered at Monterey Peninsula College (MPC). Through a memorandum of understanding with MPC, MATE II assumed management of the MATE competition, the SeaMATE online store, and other related activities on January 1, 2021.
MATE II is a non-profit educational organization tax exempt under Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3). Incorporated in the state of California, MATE II is managed by an independent board of directors:
David Golden, Chairman
David A. Golden is the Allen & Ruth Harris Chair of Excellence in the College of Business & Technology at East Tennessee State University. David recently retired as Senior Vice President, Chief Legal & Sustainability Officer, and Corporate Secretary of Eastman Chemical Company–a multinational, materials innovation company headquartered in Kingsport, Tennessee and member of the Fortune 500. While at Eastman, Golden had overall responsibility for Eastman’s Legal, Corporate HSES, Product Safety & Regulatory Affairs, Sustainability, Government Relations, Aviation Services, Communications, Community Affairs, Public Policy, Privacy, Global Business Conduct, and International Trade Compliance functions, with personnel in the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Prior to joining Eastman in 1995, David was with the international law firm of Hunton & Williams (now Hunton Andrews Kurth) in their Atlanta office.
David holds a B.S. (Accounting) and a Juris Doctorate from Brigham Young University, graduating Magna Cum Laude and Order of the Coif and served on the management committee of the BYU Law Review. He is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School having completed Harvard’s Advanced Management Program in 2012. Golden’s other public service includes the Board of Directors of Ballad Health, the Tennessee State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE), the Niswonger Foundation, Music For All, the advisory board of Western Governor’s University-TN, the University of Tennessee’s Howard H. Baker Center for Public Policy. the Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments, the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance, and the Tennessee Business Court Rules Commission.
Jill M. Zande, President/Executive Director
Jill is the President/Executive Director of MATE Inspiration for Innovation and the Associate Director of the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center. Highlights of her 22 years with MATE include working with the Marine Technology Society (MTS) ROV Committee to establish the global student ROV competition and coordinating the development of MATE’s Underwater Robotics: Science, Design & Fabrication textbook. Both involved cultivating and maintaining partnerships with industry, professional societies, academic institutions, and STEM professionals.
Jill is an active member of the Marine Technology Society (MTS) and a Certified Marine Technologist (CMarTech). She served on the MTS Board as the Vice President of Education and Research for 6 years. She currently serves as the Underwater Intervention (UI) Technical Program Committee Marine Education Track Chair and is a member of the MTS ROV and Committees.
Jill is a 2020 recipient of an MTS Fellows Award, one of the society’s most distinguished achievements. In 2018, she was listed as one of the top ten “Ocean Influencers” by Marine Technology Reporter magazine.
Jill has a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Penn State University and a Master’s degree in Oceanography and Coastal Sciences from Louisiana State University (LSU). During her Master’s degree program at LSU, Jill participated in research cruises that investigated hydrocarbon seep communities in the Gulf of Mexico using the Johnson Sea-Link and Alvin submersibles, which gave her an appreciation of how underwater technologies can be used to support science and exploration.
Debra A. Kill, Treasurer/CFO
Debbi Kill is a CPA, CMA with 30+ years financial management experience. Her strengths in the areas of financial management, analysis, planning and reporting are combined with a solid background in computerized information systems and general accounting management. Her marine technology experience began in 2001 when she accepted the position of Controller at International Submarine Engineering Ltd. As Controller, Debbi provided financial leadership in the design and build of unmanned submersible technologies.
From 2009-2015, Debbi served on the board of the Marine Technology Society (MTS) as the Treasurer and VP Budget and Finance and as Financial Liaison on the MTS/IEEE Recon Committee and the Joint Oceans Administrative Board. She also served as MTS Liaison for OCEANS 2016 Monterey CA and Finance Chair for the OCEANS 2015 Washington DC and OCEANS 2007 Vancouver BC conferences.
Fredrick R. Stahr, Secretary
Dr. Frederick “Fritz” Stahr is the Chief Technology Officer of MRV Systems which builds autonomous underwater vehicles driven by buoyancy. He is also an Affiliate Professor in the University of Washington’s School of Oceanography where he teaches ocean technology. Prior to those positions, he managed the Seaglider Fabrication Center at UW making all three versions of UW glider AUVs from 2005 to 2018. His post-doctoral research was on seafloor hydrothermal vent heat-flux and he co-founded the Ocean Inquiry Project in 2000, a small non-profit organization dedicated to teaching marine science through on-the-water experience while conducting research in Puget Sound to the benefit of both communities.
Fritz holds a Ph.D. in Oceanography from the University of Washington and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University. In his spare time, he helps run the MATE Pacific Northwest Regional ROV Challenge, the regional National Ocean Science Bowl (“Orca Bowl”), and serves on the Executive Committee of the Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems (NANOOS).
Justin E. Manley, Member at Large
Justin Manley is an innovative technologist and executive with experience in startup, public corporation, academic, and public sectors. Mr. Manley has been working with marine technology and robotics since 1990 and is a recognized leader in unmanned systems development and operations. After professional roles at MIT, supporting NOAA and in the private sector Mr. Manley founded Just Innovation Inc. in 2015. He supports a variety of clients with a focus on uncrewed and undersea systems. He is an advisor to Terradepth, an ocean data services startup, and a co-founder of Seahawk Robotics which is commercializing drones that fly, float, deploy payloads and dive.
Mr. Manley is extensively involved in the marine technology profession through a variety of leadership roles. He is a Senior Member of IEEE, a Life Member the Marine Technology Society (MTS), a Fellow of the Institute for Marine Engineering Science and Technology (IMAREST) and a founding member of Marine Education for Inspiration and Innovation (MATEII). He is dedicated to innovation, serving as a mentor to many startup companies and a judge for the Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health and ANA AVATAR XPRIZEs. He holds two patents in unmanned systems oversight and security.