INTERVIEW
OTAQ GROUP’S OCEANSENSE ENSURES NO LEAKS
We have been hearing a lot about the expansion and growth of OTAQ Group recently. Initially, the company focused on technologies used in aquaculture. Then with the acquisition of Link Subsea Ltd – the manufacturer of wet mate connectors – and the acquisition of MarineSENSE Ltd – the manufacturers of the OceanSENSE leak detection systems – the company extended its portfolio of products and created its new Offshore division based in Aberdeen. Richie Enzmann talks to Harry Rotsch, Technical Director of OTAQ and inventor of the OceanSENSE System and Chris Hyde, CCO of OTAQ to hear about their very ambitious plans, building on Harry’s expertise and background in physics and engineering, and becoming a major player in both offshore energy and in aquaculture.
Harry Rotsch (Courtesy of OTAQ)
RICHIE ENZMANN: Harry, please tell us more about your background and expertise. How did you end up in Aberdeen and what are you bringing to the table for OTAQ? HARRY ROTSCH: I’m from Germany originally. I studied applied physics at the University of Zwickau in Germany and then upon the completion of my studies in 1999, I secured a PhD placement at the Robert Gordon University (RGU) in Aberdeen focusing on laser spectroscopy and underwater sensors. I have been working with that type of technology in fluorescence for about 25 years, so I have a good knowledge of the field and about all the different kinds of sensors available and the ways of measuring things. Eventually, I decided to stay, because I liked the underwater technology focus of Aberdeen and what it had to offer. Early on in my studies I was fascinated by the very interesting and difficult challenges of the offshore industry and underwater world! RE: Please tell us how the concept for OceanSENSE came about? HR: During my PhD I was working on underwater sensors. I was working on a whole range of different sensors and one of the main projects was environmental monitoring… that was partly for tracers and mostly for chlorophylls and algae in the water.
Courtesy of OTAQ
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