What awaits us at Baltictech 2017? - Hyperbaric medicine, wreckers and filmmakers

The Baltictech 2017 conference is fast approaching and the excitement is growing. What exactly will be waiting for us at the thresholds of the Science and Technology Park in Gdynia on the weekend of 25-26 November? This question arises repeatedly, so we decided to prepare an answer to it. We hope that our mini-cycle presenting the invited speakers and the topics they discuss will help you plan your time at the conference better and more efficiently!

We don’t want to keep you in suspense any longer, so we are increasing the daily dose of information about speakers at Baltictech 2017. Today, specialists in technical and wreck diving, as well as doctors – experts in hyperbaric medicine – Barry McGill, Simon Mitchell, Adel Mohamad Taher and Jill Heinerth. Tomorrow, in turn, you can expect a review of Polish divers appearing at Baltictech. And the day after? The day before the conference and the day of the big meeting with DAN Europe. It will be happening…

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Barry McGill is an Irish technical diver, dive instructor and wreck photographer, with his main interest being the exploration of wrecks around the Irish coast.

He became interested in wreck diving after reading a book about the liner SS Laurentic, which rests on the bottom near his hometown – Donegal. Later explorations of vessels such as the R.M.S. Justicia and H.M.S. Audacious made documenting and photographing wrecks his passion.

His expeditions were repeatedly crowned with discovery successes – he managed to find the wreck of H.M.S. Curacao at a depth of 125 metres, as well as the liner White Star Liner Carinthia at 116 metres. He was the first to take pictures of H.M.S. Viknor and H.M.S. D6. He also participated in several expeditions to the famous wreck of the R.M.S. Lusitania.

In 2008 Barry founded Indepth Technical, a company offering professional training for technical divers.

Thanks to his discoveries he has also been recognised by the media – he has appeared in several historical documentaries, as well as in the Deep Wreck Mysteries series.

The theme of his talk is exploration and discovery in the North Atlantic – stories of liners and warships. The presentation will include many underwater photos and videos, including photographs taken using 3D photogrammetry.

Simon Mitchell is a medical anaesthetist and also an expert in diving medicine. He is head of the Department of Anaesthesiology at the University of Auckland.

He has been diving since the 1970s. Technical diver with a keen interest in wreck exploration. He uses rebreathers to participate in the examination of vessels resting at extreme depths. In 2004, he participated in the expedition “The Sydney Project”, which aimed to locate historically important wrecks, including the SS Cumberland. Together with Trevor Jackson, he also managed to explore the wreck of the SS Kyogle at a depth of 178 metres off the coast of Brisbane.

He wrote two chapters of the latest edition of the well-known publication on diving medicine – “Bennett and Elliott’s Physiology and Medicine of Diving”. He is also co-author of the textbook ‘Deeper into diving’.

Member of the prestigious Explorers Club of New York. Winner of the EUROTEK Discovery award and DAN Rolex Diver of the Year in 2015.

He will be speaking twice at the Baltictech 2017 conference. He will tell us about carbon dioxide and rebreathers, as well as temperature control in the context of the possibility of decompression sickness.

Dr Adel Mohamed Taher is considered one of the world’s leading experts in hyperbaric medicine.

In 1994 he became Medical Director of the Hyperbaric Medical Centre (HMC) in Sharm El Sheikh and Dahab. Since 1982 he has been a diving instructor and since 1994 – Medical Director at DAN Egypt. -Medical Director at DAN Egypt.

As the Egyptian representative of DAN, he leads the activities during diving emergencies in the Red Sea area and beyond. He participates in numerous medical projects and conferences. He advises both governmental and non-governmental agencies on the topic of safe diving.

At Baltictech 2017, he will tell us about the health problems associated with technical diving and rebreathers.

Jill Heinerth is a Canadian film director and photographer, but above all a technical and cave diver. Creator of documentary programmes, among others for BBC and National Geographic. She has devoted all her life to diving and sharing her knowledge about the underwater world.

Jill admits that her main inspiration as a child was Jacques Cousteau’s series. After studying at York University she opened a small graphic design studio and worked at a diving school in the evenings. In 1991 she left her city life behind and went to the Cayman Islands to work on her underwater photography skills. From there she moved to Florida, where she took up cave diving and filming under the tutelage of Wes Skiles.

In 1998, she participated in the first 3D cave mapping. Soon she was also penetrating ice caves in Antarctica and caves located inside glaciers.

She was nominated to the Women Divers Hall of Fame. In addition, she is a member of The Explorers Club. She has won numerous awards, both as a filmmaker and photographer and as a technical diver. She has become an inspiration for generations of people taking their first steps in diving.

Jill is also a popular speaker. She speaks at many meetings and conferences and has been published in well-known and widely read dive magazines around the world. She gives entertaining and motivational presentations to groups, clubs and organisations. Topics include exploring and managing risk, team leadership and motivation for action.

At Baltictech 2017, he will talk about cave diving and, in his second talk, about operational safety on expeditions, particularly in relation to rebreathers.

All information can also be found on the official conference website baltictech.com

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