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IEEE's Underwater Acoustics Workshop: Is it Just an Echo Chamber for the Military-Industrial Complex?
Okay, so the University of Rhode Island's been hosting this IEEE Underwater Acoustic Signal Processing Workshop since 1985. Every other year, apparently. Big deal. It's a collaboration with the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC)—formerly Naval Underwater Systems Center. Translation? Taxpayer money funneling into military research.
Sonar, Sonar, Everywhere...
They say underwater acoustics are used for "environmental conservation" and "mapping the seafloor." Sure, maybe a tiny bit. But let's be real: it's mostly about detecting, localizing, and classifying sounds for… wait for it… underwater defense. Because sound travels four times faster in water than air. I mean, come on. Who are they kidding?
Professor Richard Vaccaro, bless his heart, says they're "always trying to improve signal processing." He claims it benefits "many underwater applications." Like blowing things up? Is that what we're talking about here? And the Office of Naval Research Undersea Signal Processing Program is partly funding this? This is supposed to make me feel good?
Ocean noise, both natural and manmade, adds to noise pollution and can create inaccuracies in analyzing soundwaves.
Grad Students: Cannon Fodder or Future Leaders?
Oh, but it gets better. They "encourage participation from graduate students," even giving them "complimentary registration or subsidized travel expenses." So, basically, they're grooming the next generation of engineers to work on… you guessed it… underwater weaponry. It's like a farm system for the military-industrial complex.
Kaushallya Adhikari presented there as a PhD student in 2013 and is now chairing the workshop. Full circle, right? A feel-good story about someone who's now perpetuating the cycle. She says it's a "close-knit community." A community of people who are all working towards the same goal: making it easier to wage war underwater.
Adhikari says she was "honored to take on the role of chair this year and continue creating opportunities for others through the workshop.” Opportunities to do what, exactly? To develop better ways to track submarines? To create more effective underwater mines? Let's just be clear about what these "opportunities" entail.
The Illusion of Openness
They claim the event provides an "informal atmosphere for discussions of original research." The intent is to review theoretical and experimental research at an early stage of development between academia, industry and government entities. Sounds nice. But is anyone really going to challenge the underlying assumptions? Is anyone going to question the ethics of developing technology that could be used to kill people? Probably not.
The workshop has "grown to include more industry partners as well as academic partners and independent non-profit ocean conservation organizations." Oh, so they've got the "environmental conservation" box checked off. That makes it all okay, right?
Maybe I'm being too harsh. Maybe there are some genuinely good people working on genuinely good things at this workshop. But let's not pretend this isn't primarily about military applications. Let's not pretend this isn't about the continued development of technologies that can be used to wage war.
A Big Waste of Time and Money
This whole thing just feels like another example of how academia and the military are intertwined. It's a self-perpetuating cycle of research, development, and deployment that benefits no one but the defense contractors. And, frankly, it's depressing.
Maybe I'm just jaded. Maybe I'm too cynical. But I can't shake the feeling that this IEEE workshop is just an echo chamber for the military-industrial complex.
So, What's the Real Story?
It's the same old song and dance: "innovation" and "progress" masking the grim reality of war profiteering.