MIT, News, WHOI | April 3, 2017

Fidelity, Bright Horizons, WHOI Honored with 2017 AIM Vision Awards

By Lauren Hinkel

Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM), the largest employer association in the state, will present the 2017 Vision Awards to three organizations that have “transformed Massachusetts by carving out preeminent places in their disciplines – Fidelity Investments, Bright Horizons Family Solutions and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.” The awards, which recognize companies, organizations and individuals who have made unique contributions to the cause of economic opportunity in Massachusetts, will be presented at AIM’s Annual Meeting on May 5^th in Boston. “…Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution remains both a global leader in ocean science and a key driver of the economy on Cape Cod,” said AIM President and Chief Executive Officer Richard C. Lord in a press release.

Mark Abbott, Director and President of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, will accept the accolade on behalf of the his organization.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is the world’s largest, private non-profit oceanographic research institution and a global leader in the study and exploration of the ocean. An unmatched reputation for intellectual discovery under the water has allowed the organization to contribute to its economic surroundings out of the water as well.

Woods Hole scientists and engineers have played a part in discoveries that form the modern understanding of the ocean and how it interacts with other parts of the planet, including human society. WHOI professionals combine access to specialized tools, ships, labs, and underwater vehicles with knowledge of how to explore the ocean to create a detailed understanding of the global ocean system.

The institution, founded in 1930, employs more than 1,000 researchers, engineers, information technology specialists, and crews for ships and underwater vehicles like the Alvin that famously explored the wreck of the Titanic in 1986. A combination of government grants and contracts, foundation and private donations and industry contracts provide the organization with an annual operating budget of $215 million.

Increasingly WHOI is involved in projects that apply the knowledge gained from basic research to societal issues, providing high-quality data and analysis across a range of topics, from climate to biodiversity to resources to natural hazards mitigation. These efforts have given WHOI’s work reach into new and important arenas.

In 2010, the Institution rapidly mobilized researchers from several different disciplines to assist the Coast Guard and other responders during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. In response to the Fukushima disaster in March 2011, WHOI mounted another rapid response and mobilization to gather data and water samples quickly to determine the amount of radioactivity released into the ocean. That monitoring effort continues.

Engineers and scientists at WHOI worked for nearly two years to successfully locate, in May 2011, the deep-water wreckage of Air France flight 447, using the WHOI-designed and -built REMUS 6000 autonomous vehicle.

Read the full story on Associated Industries of Massachusetts blog.