Vincent RIGAUD, a researcher and robotic engineer joined Ifremer in 1990, where he founded in 1991 the « Underwater Robotics and Artificial Intelligence » laboratory, becaming in 1999 director of the « Underwater Systems » unit. He has conducted numerous projects for remotely operated and autonomous underwater drone systems, in particular for deep-sea applications, and is the author of more than 150 publications and 5 patents. Since the end of 2014 he has been director of the Ifremer center in the Mediterranean, covering the activity of the institute’s sites in the south of France and overseas departments.