UW: What career accomplishment are you most proud of?
TC: Early on, my work with the Starfix system was a great opportunity. The system was incredibly impressive. After starting C & C, we were awarded a contract with the Naval Research Lab. That was very exciting and eventually led to our success with AUVs. In 1996, I won the "Entrepreneur of the Year" award for the Gulf Coast Region in the Emerging Business Category by beating out 600 other nominated companies. The work of everyone at C & C allowed us to win. Being the first company in the world to offer commercial AUV survey services is truly exciting. Vendors such as Simrad, and clients such as BP, were critical to our success. Last year we did more than 10,000km of AUV surveys in depths approaching 10,000 feet (3,000m). Our people who work with the AUV are the best in the world.
However, my greatest career accomplishment has been the development of C & C Technologies. C & C now has a staff of about 180 fantastic people and we have worked in almost every offshore region of the world. We have eight survey divisions, including Marine Construction, Geophysical, Geotechnical, Geosciences, Cable, DGPS Services, Inland, and Government Services. This year, C & C Technologies celebrates its 10th anniversary. It is truly an honor for me to work with such a great group of people.

UW: C & C was the first to bring commercial AUV technology to the Gulf of Mexico with the Hugin. Where will AUVs be in five years?
TC: AUVs will certainly have more endurance and better sensors. I believe AUVs will become more robust, but positioning will probably still require acoustic ranging of some form. Practical hybrid ROV/AUVs will start to appear if battery technology continues to improve and propulsion becomes more efficient.

UW: What is the most common mistake AUV manufacturers and contractors make in today's market?
TC: For deepwater survey AUVs, I think the biggest mistake is overestimation of the market size. After the third capable AUV, the worldwide market for deepwater AUVs for commercial work will be saturated. Inadequate utilization and collapsing prices will cause a lot of problems. In shallow water, conventional survey techniques are relatively inexpensive and fast. It will be difficult for AUVs to compete in this area. The other common mistake is underestimating the cost and time required for AUV development.UW: If you could make an oil company understand one thing about AUV operations, what would it be?
TC: C & C had possession of their AUV for two years before it could work relatively free of significant downtime due to bugs. Everyone else who plans to offer AUV services will also have to go through this painful experience.

UW: What underwater vehicle has not been invented yet, but will revolutionize the industry when it is?
TC: The revolutionary AUV will be deployed from the dock or from an offshore structure and reliably return. It will be able to do the work of an ROV or survey AUV. It will be able to transit at high speed, have autonomous positioning, and provide two-week minimum endurance. It will communicate with the office at high speeds while deep underwater and will intelligently deal with acoustic interference.

UW: How can AUVs help in the war on terrorism?
TC: AUVs can be used in underwater mine countermeasures. This effort includes pre- and post-mine surveys for mine detection and mine destruction using a variety of techniques.

UW: What are your thoughts on the current state of Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production?
TC: Oil production has passed its peak. The big deepwater wells will help offset the production decline on the shelf. However, the industry should be around for several decades to come.

UW: Where did you grow up?
TC: I grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana and, other than my time at LSU and Purdue, I have always lived in Lafayette.

UW: Are you married, and if so, how long? Any kids?
TC: I have been happily married for 20 years. Lisa and I have five wonderful children: Erin, Emily, Elizabeth, Stuart, and Spencer. The oldest is 18 and the youngest is 7.

UW: What are your hobbies?
TC: A wife, five kids, and a company keep me pretty busy. I do like to fish and I have a woodworking workshop. Every Halloween I build a haunted house for the neighborhood kids. Last year, the haunted house had electric cars on a powered track for the kids to ride. In fact, everything is automated. I guess it is AUV technology spillover. Is there a conference session on Autonomous Haunted Houses?

UW: What is your favorite and why: movie? TV program? book? sport?
TC: As for movies, I like most comedies. I can't handle TV except for the Discovery and History channels. I just read The Five Temptations of a CEO, and found that I failed in four of the five areas, so I guess that's not my favorite book. I enjoy snow skiing and watching football.