CMU professor who dove down in the Titan submersible for research remembers friends lost in implosion

A professor from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh dove down to view the Titanic wreckage a year ago.Onboard the Titan submersible with him was Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, someone who Dr. Alex Waibel calls a friend. Rush was one of the five who died when the sub imploded last week.Waibel spent half a year preparing to do experiments on the Titan. His goal was to make communication easier and more effective using artificial intelligence and voice recognition instead of text messages."It's a horrible scenario to think about," Waibel said. "I was of course heartbroken, given that I had kind of a bad suspicion, a bad feeling about this and watched this, of course, with great anxiety. Because it could have been me, and it's my friends there, after all." Waibel lost two friends when the sub imploded. He says scientists continue to explore the wreckage of the Titanic. He counts himself as fortunate to have been able to do his work at the ocean floor.A current sensor was placed near the Titanic as part of someone else's scientific research, which Waibel said serves "to measure the current at that depth. And part of the motivation for something like that is to observe the Gulf Stream. Because for global warming, people want to know, 'Is the Gulf Stream intact?'" Waibel agrees there are new regulations that companies like OceanGate can set to make these expeditions safer. "On one hand, you have people who are, in some sense, innocent bystanders who are not experts," he said. "At the very least, you need to be clearly informed, which I believe I was. "What one could do better in the future is to do more testing. Carbon fiber as a material for submarines hasn't been studied as much," Waibel said.He said, "I think exploration must go on and despite tragedy. Whether OceanGate or other companies can do it will remain to be seen. It would be a tragedy if no one dared to do it anymore."Waibel says he's been receiving text messages from friends and loved ones since the Titan tragedy. He says he understood the risks when he went on the undersea voyage on the Titan last year.

PITTSBURGH —

A professor from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh dove down to view the Titanic wreckage a year ago.

Onboard the Titan submersible with him was Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, someone who Dr. Alex Waibel calls a friend. Rush was one of the five who died when the sub imploded last week.

Waibel spent half a year preparing to do experiments on the Titan. His goal was to make communication easier and more effective using artificial intelligence and voice recognition instead of text messages.

"It's a horrible scenario to think about," Waibel said. "I was of course heartbroken, given that I had kind of a bad suspicion, a bad feeling about this and watched this, of course, with great anxiety. Because it could have been me, and it's my friends there, after all."

Waibel lost two friends when the sub imploded. He says scientists continue to explore the wreckage of the Titanic. He counts himself as fortunate to have been able to do his work at the ocean floor.

A current sensor was placed near the Titanic as part of someone else's scientific research, which Waibel said serves "to measure the current at that depth. And part of the motivation for something like that is to observe the Gulf Stream. Because for global warming, people want to know, 'Is the Gulf Stream intact?'"

Waibel agrees there are new regulations that companies like OceanGate can set to make these expeditions safer. "On one hand, you have people who are, in some sense, innocent bystanders who are not experts," he said. "At the very least, you need to be clearly informed, which I believe I was.

"What one could do better in the future is to do more testing. Carbon fiber as a material for submarines hasn't been studied as much," Waibel said.

He said, "I think exploration must go on and despite tragedy. Whether OceanGate or other companies can do it will remain to be seen. It would be a tragedy if no one dared to do it anymore."

Waibel says he's been receiving text messages from friends and loved ones since the Titan tragedy. He says he understood the risks when he went on the undersea voyage on the Titan last year.

CMU professor who dove down in the Titan submersible for research remembers friends lost in implosion

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