Study Committee Biographical Information
Martha R. Grabowski, Chair, is Director of the Information Systems Program at Le Moyne College, as well as a Research Professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she earned a Ph.D. in management/information systems, an M.S. in industrial and management engineering, and an M.B.A. in management information systems. She earned a B.S. in nautical science and marine transportation from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point. She holds a U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Marine license (Second Mate, Unlimited Tonnage, Any Oceans, Radar Observer) and retired as a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve. Her teaching and research interests cover the design and development of advanced technology systems, particularly embedded intelligent real-time systems; human and organizational error; risk mitigation in safety-critical systems; and the impact of technology on people and organizations in large-scale systems. Dr. Grabowski teaches, lectures, and is widely published in these research areas in journals, conference proceedings, reports, working papers, and books. She is a member of the American Bureau of Shipping and a member of the Marine Board; she has served on various Marine Board committees. Dr. Grabowski is also a member of the National Research Council’s standing Committee on Human Factors.
Carl E. Bowler, a 1959 graduate of the California Maritime Academy, served as an unrestricted line officer aboard U.S. Navy vessels. After his military service, he returned to the merchant marine and sailed in all licensed deck officer capacities for United States–flag companies, ending his offshore seagoing career as Master for States Steamship Company. For more than 26 years, Captain Bowler has served as a California State Licensed Pilot for San Francisco Bay and tributaries, including the inland river ports of Sacramento and Stockton. In addition, he has acted as the San Francisco Bar Pilots’ liaison to the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Ocean Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and other state and local agencies dealing with navigation matters
in San Francisco Bay. He served for many years as Chair of both the Navigation and Technical Committee of the American Pilots Association, a professional association of state licensed marine pilots, and the San Francisco Bar Pilots Technology Committee. During his tenure, he was involved in the evaluation and implementation of emerging technologies useful to the practice of piloting. Captain Bowler is a member of a number of professional associations, including the American Pilots Association, the Council of American Master Mariners, and the Nautical Institute.
Elizabeth J. Gedney works for Victoria Express. She is a former Vice President of Marine Operations for Clipper Navigation, Inc., an operator of high-speed passenger ferries in Puget Sound with principal routes from Seattle to Victoria, British Columbia. She is a licensed deck officer and a graduate of the California Maritime Academy. She is a member of two Coast Guard/Department of Transportation advisory committees—Merchant Marine Personnel and Navigation Safety. She is an active member of the Passenger Vessel Association and serves on its regulatory issues committee. Captain Gedney has extensive experience as a licensed officer operating offshore towing and high-speed passenger vessels. She currently manages the operations of a growing fleet of passenger and specialty cargo vessels and is responsible for all operating personnel and their training. She has also served as deck officer aboard towing vessels and passenger ferries and was responsible for the safety of operations for these vessels.
Douglas J. Grubbs is a commissioned pilot with the Crescent River Port Pilots Association (with both a Master of Rivers and a First Class Pilot’s license) and serves as the congressional liaison for the association. An expert in navigation technology, Captain Grubbs was the principal architect of the New Orleans Vessel Traffic Safety System and Vessel Traffic Center. He chaired the VTS subcommittee of the Lower Mississippi River Safety Advisory Council and the American Pilots Association Gulf South Region Technical Committee for developing and evaluating pilots’ portable Differential Global Positioning System navigational equipment. He was the principal architect of the watershed Memorandum of Agreement between the United States Coast Guard and New Orleans pilots establishing the first public– private partnership between the two organizations. He is an active member
of the International Association of Lighthouse Authorities and the Radio Technical Committee for Maritime Services, and he is an active participant in automatic identification systems (AIS) technical training system development with the Lockheed-Martin AIS/VTS systems, SAAB Transponders, Ross Electronics AIS systems, Offshore ECDIS systems, and ICAN, Inc., software. Captain Grubbs has been awarded the Key to the City of New Orleans; the Board of Commissioners for the Port of New Orleans Award for Ship Handling; a Citation of Appreciation from the China Union Lines for heroism; the United States Department of Commerce Maritime Administration Meritorious Service Award for Heroism and Ship Handling; and, most recently, the United States Coast Guard Federal Gold Lifesaving Medal.
Don K. Kim, a registered professional engineer with AMSEC LLC, M. Rosenblatt & Son Group (MR&S), has more than 13 years of experience in the design, analysis, modification, installation, maintenance, and repair of shipboard mechanical systems, equipment, and components. He has M.E. and B.S. degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia. Mr. Kim has expertise in propulsion and auxiliary equipment, including steam, gas turbine, diesel, and electric propulsion systems; pumps; compressors; fans; valves; heat exchangers; and filters. He has conducted feasibility studies and engaged in preliminary, contract, and detailed ship design, including circular of requirements and specifications development. Mr. Kim has provided engineering technical support to NAVSEA 03 technical codes, the DDG 51 construction program, the AOE 10 contract design effort, the LPD 13 conversion program, the Program Executive Office for Aircraft Carriers, and is currently the MR&S Program Manager for the Uniform National Discharge Standards program. He also has an interest in total shipboard automation and human systems integration. Seven of the 13 years of experience that Mr. Kim has in the marine engineering industry have involved program management and project leadership.
John D. Lee is Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Iowa. He has a background in engineering and psychology, with a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana– Champaign. He has 10 years of research and consulting experience aimed at matching human capabilities to the demands of technologically intensive
systems. Before moving to the University of Iowa, Dr. Lee was a research scientist and deputy director at the Battelle Human Factors Transportation Center. His research interests include interface design, human adaptation to technological innovation, and human performance modeling. This research addresses human error and performance in a broad range of application domains, from process control and the maritime industry to driving. His current research projects address modeling driver behavior, understanding and mitigating the distraction potential of in-vehicle technology, and trust in automation. He is the author of approximately 100 journal articles, book chapters, conference papers, and technical reports.
Robert G. Moore is the President of Coastwatch, Inc., a maritime consulting firm specializing in government and industry projects to improve safety and vessel operations as well as other coastal zone work. He has more than 40 years of experience in maritime and international affairs. He is a master mariner and a retired Coast Guard officer with special expertise in ship operations and marine navigation. Captain Moore served as military readiness/ operations program manager in the Coast Guard, represented the United States at foreign conferences, managed multinational navigation systems, and was public safety advisor for the Agency for International Development to the Government of Somalia. His consulting assignments and publications cover subjects such as coastal defense missions of the Coast Guard, vessel traffic management, command and control systems, and surveillance. Captain Moore served as a member of the Marine Board Committee on Maritime Advanced Information Systems. He has a B.S. in Engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and received continuing education at the Naval War College and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.
Roy L. Murphy is the Director of Corporate Training for Kirby Corporation. Kirby Corporation operates the largest tank barge fleet in the world. He has more than 25 years of experience instructing and directing maritime training programs. Mr. Murphy is the former Director of Training at the National River Academy of the United States. He is certified to teach a number of nautical science courses, including Radar Observer (Unlimited), Tankerman PIC (Barge) Dangerous Liquid, Mate, Towing Vessel, Navigation and Piloting, and Fire Fighting (Barge). Mr. Murphy holds a U.S. Coast Guard Masters’
license, a Radar Observer (Unlimited) certification, and a Tankerman PIC (Barge) Dangerous Liquid endorsement. He has served as a member of numerous government and industry committees and subcommittees, including the Merchant Marine Personnel Advisory Committee and the Towing Safety Advisory Committee. Mr. Murphy earned a B.S. in education from Arkansas State University.
Nadine B. Sarter received her Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Ohio State University in 1994. From 1996 to 1999 she was an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Aviation at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, where she held coappointments with the Departments of Psychology, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, and the Beckman Institute. In 1999, she joined the faculty in the Department of Industrial, Welding, and Systems Engineering and the Institute for Ergonomics at the Ohio State University, where she also holds a joint appointment with the Department of Psychology. Her research interests include human– automation communication and coordination (primarily in high-risk, event-driven domains such as aviation), multimodal human–machine interfaces/ interaction, error prevention and management, and attention and interruption management.
