Dr. Pestorius is currently employed as a Senior Research Engineer at ARL: UT. From January 2000 to January 2004, he served as the Technical Director of the Office of Naval Research International Field Office (now ONR Global) in London, UK. This office, with its subsidiary offices in Tokyo, Singapore, Melbourne, Australia and Santiago, Chile, is responsible for finding and evaluating international research collaboration opportunities for ONR and other US Navy R&D organizations. Previous to accepting this position, he served for twelve years as the Executive Director of the Applied Research Laboratories at the University of Texas at Austin (ARL:UT). ARL: UT is a Navy designated University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) and is one of five such university laboratories officially associated with the US Navy's science and technology program. Dr. Pestorius is a retired U. S. Navy Captain. He served on active duty for close to 27 years, primarily in the submarine force. Highlights of his career include command of the USS Mariano G. Vallejo, SSBN-657, and command of SPAWAR Systems Center (then Naval Ocean Systems Center) in San Diego and serving on the Chief of Naval Operation's Strategic Studies Group. He is a graduate of the US Naval Academy and holds graduate degrees from Harvard University and the University of Texas at Austin. His research areas include underwater acoustics, signal processing, and satellite geodesy and information technology. He is a fellow of the Acoustical Society of America and serves as an officer of the Naval Submarine League.

A compelling narrative to precede this boring bio might be: Retired US Navy Captain and Submarine Commander Dr. F Micheal Pestorious is a US Naval Academy and Harvard University graduate. He served as the Executive Director of the UT Applied Research Lab for many years working on large DOD Naval Contracts. Dr. Pestorious will share with s some of his submarine command experiences and the direction of underwater research today.