Geoffrey Swain

Professor of Oceanography and Ocean Engineering at Florida Institute of Technology

Dr. Geoff Swain is Professor of Oceanography and Ocean Engineering and Director of the Center for Corrosion and Biofouling Control at the Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL.  He first became involved in biofouling control while studying for his PhD at Southampton University.  He was funded by the Royal Navy and the Department of Energy to research novel methods to control corrosion and biofouling.  The research was initially directed towards ships, but latterly to problems that were being experienced in the North Sea oil industry.  In the early 1980’s he moved to Aberdeen, Scotland where he joined the Offshore Marine Studies Unit conducting corrosion and biofouling surveys on offshore structures in the North Sea.  He joined FIT in 1984 and established CCBC. The Center is fully staffed, has a laboratory on campus, static and dynamic seawater test facilities, two research boats and has active research grants with the Office of Naval Research and Industry.  He designed the cathodic protection system for the Living Seas at Disney World and is active in dry dock and underwater inspections of ship hull coatings and cathodic protection systems.  He has published over 60 refereed articles on the subject.  He is a member of the Marine Biological Association of the U.K., the American Society for Testing and Materials, the National Association of Corrosion Engineers and the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.