OL Board of Trustees October 22, 2010
Ocean Observatories Initiative
OOI Program Update
Tim Cowles
OL Board of Trustees October 22, 2010
OOI overarching goals
OOI has two fundamental scientific and research
mandates that underpin its construction:
• Sustained delivery of high-quality data for two to three
decades;
• Maintenance of the expandability of the infrastructure
to support new capabilities.
OL Board of Trustees October 22, 2010
OOI overarching goals
We address those mandates by meeting the science
requirements during construction, and by building in the most
cost-effective approaches to operating the infrastructure.
The most cost-effective approaches include:
• A model for the lowest possible annual operating cost
• No compromises to science, safety, and data integrity
• Incorporation of established change control processes, risk
management process, policies for adding new science...
OL Board of Trustees October 22, 2010
Baseline Design
• 4 Global sites
• 3 Regional cabled sites in the NE Pacific
• 2 Coastal arrays: Mid-Atlantic Pioneer Array, PNW Endurance Array
• Each scale incorporates fixed and mobile assets
• Cyberinfrastructure: enables adaptive sampling, custom observatory views, collaborative analysis
• Interfaces for education users
OL Board of Trustees October 22, 2010 5
Coastal and Global Scale Nodes (CGSN)
Global
Pioneer
Endurance
OL Board of Trustees October 22, 2010
Regional Scale
OOI assets off PNW coast are unique
Cable provides high power and bandwidth to
- Instrumented nodes on Juan de Fuca plate
- full water column moorings at Axial Volcano and Hydrate Ridge
- 2 moorings of Endurance Array connected to the cable
OL Board of Trustees October 22, 2010
Creates an interactive ocean laboratory integrated by a leading-edge, multi-scalar software tools.
Creates an interactive ocean laboratory integrated by a leading-edge, multi-scalar software tools.
Cyberinfrastructure
open access...
fueling science, education, and policy
open access...
fueling science, education, and policy
OL Board of Trustees October 22, 2010
Construction Review - June 2010
Positives (quotes from the panel report)
• Significant progress has been realized over the first 9 months of
the project.
• The COL project team holds the project to high standards and
seems truly dedicated and concerned about project cost, schedule,
and performance
• The Panel is enormously impressed and encouraged by OOI’s
efforts over the past year
OL Board of Trustees October 22, 2010
Construction Review - June 2010
Areas needing improvement
•Scheduling
•Safety and quality assurance
•More efficient management structure
•More frequent engineering design reviews
•Contingency plans for vessel use
OL Board of Trustees October 22, 2010
O&M Review - August 2010
Modest encouragement
“The panel is optimistic that OOI can achieve operational
success within the general budget and schedule framework
outlined by NSF. We anticipate that this will not come about
without some changes in staffing and structure, but based on
the information we have seen, we view the general plan as
viable, and the overall approach as appropriate.”
OL Board of Trustees October 22, 2010
O&M Review - August 2010
Areas needing improvement
• Experienced O&M staff at IOs
• More detailed budget / cost analysis
• Data management and planning (links to MREFC)
• Clearer description of the transition from construction to O&M
• Risk analysis - in several areas
OL Board of Trustees October 22, 2010
O&M
Important upcoming O&M deliverables
• Integrated O&M Plan by November 15
•Rigorous cost analysis of 2011 by November 15
•Data Management Plan by January 1
•Full analysis of steady-state O&M costs (2015 and
beyond) to be completed in 2011
OL Board of Trustees October 22, 2010
New
Organizational changes within OOI Project Office and OL
• New Senior Systems Engineer - Ed Chapman
• Eliminated Project Director position in late August
• Moved Schedule/EV under Project Manager in late August
• Science Communication Director (part-time OOI) moved to IODP
full-time in July. Advertising for full-time Communication Manager
• New OL financial administrator largely dedicated to OOI
• Preparing advertisement for O&M Manager - current manager
has accepted a senior management position in private industry
OL Board of Trustees October 22, 2010
New
International cooperation
• Europe: NSF and EU will be developing formal collaboration
between OOI and EMSO
• Argentina, Chile: working on logistical issues
• POGO meeting in Jan 2011 to further the international
understanding of the project
OL Board of Trustees October 22, 2010
Gaps
•Some high-value work elements are behind schedule
•Procurements have been a problem
•Still understaffed across the project even with
remarkable growth over past 12 months
•Under pressure to show improvements in progress over
the next few months
•Web site and external communications
OL Board of Trustees October 22, 2010
Progress based on Earned Value
Cumulative-to-Date Earned Value Schedule Variance: - $20.146 M ($48,739K – $68,885K)Cumulative-to-Date Earned Value Cost Variance: $ 5.91 M ($48,739K – $42,829K)Cumulative-to-Date Earned Schedule Variance: 3.20 Months
OL Board of Trustees October 22, 2010
Staffing ProgressC o n s t r u c t i o n S t a f f i n g - O O I
0
2 0
4 0
6 0
8 0
1 0 0
1 2 0
1 4 0
1 6 0
1 8 0
S e p 0 9 O c t 0 9 N o v 0 9 D e c 0 9 J a n 1 0 F e b 1 0 M a r 1 0 A p r 1 0 M a y 1 0 J u n 1 0 J u l 1 0 A u g 1 0 S e p 1 0 O c t 1 0 N o v 1 0 D e c 1 0
FTEs .
P l a n n e d
A c t u a l
A n t i c i p a t e d
The OOI project has implemented a 2.7 fold increase in staff over the past 12 months. Initial staff will triple by December 2010.
OL Board of Trustees October 22, 2010
Action Plan
Our adjustments as Year 2 begins
• Continued acceleration of staffing across the project
• Unfinished Year 1 work will be completed with ‘surged’ resources
• Some Year 2 work may be outsourced or reassigned
• Procurement process has had intense focus for past 2 months -
major procurements will occur by end of 2010
• ‘replan’ of the project schedule will be conducted over the next four
months
OL Board of Trustees October 22, 2010
Education and Public Engagement
•RFP issued in July
•Responses received by August 23
•Source selection panel convened Sept 8-9
•Clarification questions posed to responders with late Oct
deadline for submission
•Expect final selection within next two weeks, award to
follow as quickly as contracting process permits
OL Board of Trustees October 22, 2010
Advisory actions
OOI PAC providing excellent feedback
New UNOLS committee just formed - Ocean Observing
Science Committee (OOSC) - with a charge that goes
beyond OOI
PAC and OOSC will have ex-officio representation at
each other’s meetings
OL Board of Trustees October 22, 2010
Workshops
“External” - NSF supported
Subject to proposal pressure and funding availability -
one has been funded with FY10 $$ - Shelf-Slope
processes
Need pressure from outside OOI to convince OCE and
GEO to issue ‘Dear Colleague’ letters
Internal - OOI supported
Focus on sampling, data, and science scenarios
OL Board of Trustees October 22, 2010
Construction Challenges
Transition from planning to building
•Must have systems engineering practices in place
•Make sure business processes can accommodate 5
to 10-fold increase - contracts, funding, personnel
Preparing for the pace of construction
•Sufficient numbers of skilled staff
•Vetted schedules
Planning team may not be the building team