Dr. Yi Chao

 

Dr. Yi Chao is the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Seatrec, Inc.  He obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton University and B.S. degree from the University of Science and Technology of China.  During 1993-2011, Dr. Chao worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) on a variety of research projects ranging from oceanography, Earth science remote sensing, numerical modeling, and underwater technology development.  Dr. Chao was the Project Scientist during 2003-2011 for the Aquarius mission to launch the first satellite measuring ocean salinity from space.  His management experience at JPL includes group supervisor during 2005-2006 and section managers during 2007-2009.  Dr. Chao was recognized by NASA in 2011 with a Group Achievement Award for demonstrating the world’s first self-powered unmanned underwater vehicle, and in 2005 with the Exceptional Achievement Medal for around-the-clock forecasting the coastal ocean.  In 1996, he was recognized by JPL with the Lew Allen Award for Excellence during the early years of their professional career.  Dr. Chao left JPL in 2011 and established Seatrec in 2012 with a goal to commercialize the underwater robotic technology developed at JPL/Caltech.  Currently, Dr. Chao is also affiliated with UCLA as an Adjunct Professor, and with Remote Sensing Solutions, Inc. as a Principal Scientist.