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Graham Hawkes - Engineer & Inventor (View PDF Version)
Graham Hawkes, an internationally renowned ocean engineer/inventor, has been responsible for the design of a significant percentage of all manned (and more than 300 remote) underwater vehicles built for research or industry worldwide, including the Wasp and Mantis Atmospheric Diving Suits, the Deep Rover research submersibles – which were recently featured in the James Cameron 3-D Imax film, “Aliens of the Deep,” and the Deep Flight series of winged submersibles. Mr. Hawkes currently holds the world record for the deepest solo dive (3,000 feet), which he achieved while test piloting his Deep Rover submersible.
Mr. Hawkes has successfully founded and managed six high technology companies, including, most recently Precision Remotes, Inc., which manufactures remote (land-based) systems for the military. Precision Remotes’ products were recently hailed by Time Magazine as one of the best inventions of 2004; and Hawkes Ocean Technologies (HOT), which designs and builds the Deep Flight winged submersibles and other state of the art vehicles for deep ocean exploration. HOT’s current projects include: the next generation of the Deep Flight winged submersibles; and the Spider Optic Vehicle, a highly advanced, new genre of Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) being developed for NASA and other private clients.
In the early 1990’s, Mr. Hawkes co-founded with Dr. Sylvia Earle Deep Ocean Engineering (DOE), which manufactures a significant portion of Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) now in use for military and civilian purposes worldwide. In the 1980’s, Mr. Hawkes designed and DOE manufactures Sensory Manipulator Systems used by the U.S. Navy, NASA and AT&T for various industrial underwater vehicles. In 1989, Mr. Hawkes founded Deep Sea Discoveries (DSD), a commercial marine archeology company which located over 350 shipwrecks.
In the late 1970’s, Mr. Hawkes co-founded Offshore Systems Engineering (OSEL) in England, where he designed and managed the manufacturing of the atmospheric diving systems, the Wasp and Mantis. Previously, Mr. Hawkes refined the design of the atmospheric diving system, the JIM suit, for operation in depths of 2,000 feet. Prior to that, Mr. Hawkes was an engineer at Plessey Underwater Weapons Unit (UK), and before that, he was an Engineer at the UK Atomic Energy Authority.
Graham Hawkes is widely considered to the leader in his field. In 1987, Mr. Hawkes was named an Associate Laureate for the Rolex Awards for Enterprise and in 1996 and 1997, he was nominated for Engineer of the Year by Design News. In 1997, Mr. Hawkes received Design News’ Special Achievement Award. In 1998, he was a finalist in the Discover Awards for Innovation; in 2000, Mr. Hawkes received the Computerworld Smithsonian Award (Science Category) which recognizes individuals and organizations who have demonstrated vision and leadership as they use information technology to benefit society; and Mr. Hawkes is the 2004 recipient of the Explorers Club William Beebe Quadrennial Award for Oceanography/Ocean Science.
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