ADEX provides a neutral space for practitioners, technology experts, major industry players, traders and distributors in the diving industry to meet, collaborate and create partnerships, thereby making ADEX the gateway to the industry. ADEX has become an instrumental platform in growing and supporting the dive industry.
Clement Lee
Malaysia
Member of the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame
Conservation Speaker (2015)
Clement Lee started his diving career in 1983 and was one of the pioneers who introduced PADI professional certification in Sabah, Malaysia. He retired in 2012 and was appointed as the Malaysia Diving Advisor the following year. He served for two years before being reappointed as the Malaysia Dive Ambassador, which he still is today. In 2016, Clement, who was one of the first Malaysian PADI Course Directors in 1991, was appointed by PADI as PADI Dive AmbassaDiver
Richard Meng
China
Photography Speaker (2015)
Member of Chinese Photographers Association; member of Chinese Art Photography Society; member of China International Marine Photography Association; Director of Beijing Photographic Art Association. Olympus and Sony (China) Certified Underwater Photographer. Invited as the general advisor and judge for “China Underwater Photography Competition” for many times; invited as the judge of “Underwater Photo Challenge UWPC” for many times.
He graduated from Peking University and has studied in Japan and the United States. He has worked for world-class advertising companies for many years and serves world-renowned brands. He has been engaged in diving and underwater photography activities for nearly 20 years, and has traveled all over the world and won many awards in international underwater photography competitions. His works have been included in the “Chinese Yearbook of Photography Art 2012”, “Ultimate Beauty – China National Geographic Books” and other albums. He is the author of “The Elves of the Sea” (Published by Electronic Industry Press, 2015), and won the First Prize for Excellent Science Works of the Chinese Science Writers Association.
In 2015, he was selected as one of the “102 most enlightening underwater photographers worth knowing in the world” by the famous diving magazine “ScubaDiver”.
Edward Lai
Hong Kong
Photography Speaker (2015)
Edward was the chairman of the Hong Kong Mould and Die Council from 1993 until 2003. Edward started diving in 1997. He is passionate about the underwater world and marine conservation. He founded Nauticam with the mission of providing the most ergonomic and robust underwater imaging equipment. He personally tested the different ranges of camera housing.
Cipto Adi Gunawan
Indonesia
Photography Speaker (2015)
Cipto Aji Gunawan was the first Indonesian PADI Course Director and is now the Board of Director of SSI Indonesia. His career range from diving professional, pro UW Photographer to Marine Ecotourism Consultant for the Indonesia Ministry of Tourism. He shot for BBC, CCTV 9 and CNN, just to name a few, wrote two of the Indonesian goverenment’s Scuba Diving regulations, produced the most complete Indonesia Dive Guide book and certified SSI Professionals.
Thomas Dederichs
Germany
Tekdive Speaker (2016)
Thomas Dederichs is the President of OMS, and CEO and founder of BtS EUROPA AG. He has over 10 years’ experience as a TDI Inspiration instructor and TDI advanced Trimix instructor trainer. He is also qualified as a GUE Fundamentals instructor, GUE cave II diver, as well as PADI OWSI.
Lynn Wu
Taiwan
Photography Speaker (2016)
Lynn Wu discovered her passion for the underwater world during a trip to Palau. She likes taking macro images, and her work has been featured in various international publications. She has won several awards, including the Compact Camera Photo of the Year for Deepblu ADEX Voice of the Ocean 2016.
Scott Tuason
PHILIPPINES
Photography Speaker (2016)
Scott was first handed his underwater camera at the age of 16. Decades later, his passion for photography has brought him on amazing journeys. From throwing himself into a feeding frenzy to dangling off a line in open water at night, his photography has been recognised by the Palme D’or at Antibes festival for his book Anilao, which he co-authored in 2000. His latest books, Blackwater and Open Blue, have won awards and are sold out worldwide.
Yoshi Hirata
Japan
Photography Speaker (2016)
A marine biologist and accomplished underwater photographer, Yoshi Hirata began his passion for diving when he was researching the rich marine resources of Sipadan and Mabul back in 1993 as a marine consultant. During the course of his work, he expressed his love for the sea by featuring thousands of amazing photos of Mabul in various magazine titles. He is also the author of three books namely Oraga-Umi, With My Expression of Love for the Sea, and Art of the Sea.
Todd Essick
USA
Photography Speaker (2016)
Todd is an award-winning underwater fine art photographer and photojournalist. He has appeared on several television programmes in Germany, including Germany’s Next Top Model with Heidi Klum. Todd has a diving career spanning over 30 years, and has been named one of the top 10 underwater photographers in the world.
Chen Yuping
China
Underwater Photographer
Photography Speaker (2016)
YUPING CHEN was a speaker of ADEX BEIJING in 2015,2016,2017 and 2018. Before becoming a diver and underwater photographer, Yuping Chen has worked for years as an attorney and senior partner at a large law firm in Beijing. She was a very typical “office lady” back then. In 2012, She started to learn underwater photography. Through her lens, a lot of unique moments were successfully captured and photographed. As a female underwater photographer, she is very good at photographing some ordinary marine creatures, and captures their unique charm. From the perspective of woman’s sensibility, she shows the delicate vitality of the sea and the beauty of nature.
Jim Chen
Taiwan
Photography Speaker (2016)
Jim Chen loves extreme sports and underwater photography combines both adventure and art creation perfectly. In 2007, he was certified as an open water diver and in 2008, his underwater photography journey began. He also received exclusive interviews from British Daily Mail. Apple Daily. TVBS and other media.
You can see how this popup was set up in our step-by-step guide: https://wppopupmaker.com/guides/auto-opening-announcement-popups/
You can see how this popup was set up in our step-by-step guide: https://wppopupmaker.com/guides/auto-opening-announcement-popups/
You can see how this popup was set up in our step-by-step guide: https://wppopupmaker.com/guides/auto-opening-announcement-popups/
You can see how this popup was set up in our step-by-step guide: https://wppopupmaker.com/guides/auto-opening-announcement-popups/
Tobias Friedrich
Germany
Photography Speaker (2017)
Tobias Friedrich is based in Germany, and started taking pictures with a DSLR underwater camera in 2007. As a child, Tobias loved to watch the adventures of the Calypso with Jacques-Yves Cousteau, marvelling at the beauty of the world below the ocean’s surface. He still finds diving to be a somewhat overwhelming experience, given the contrast between the chaos of terrestial life, and the calm of the big blue below. He is passionate about taking on new challenges and is always up for new, creative ways to take underwater pictures.
Vladimir Mladenovic
Russia
Photography Speaker (2017)
Vladimir Mladenovic is a professional underwater photographer and videographer and also a general manager of Subal underwater camera housings company. He specialises in Split photography and is set to showcase his collection of underwater splits in his new book, SPLIT SESSION.
Jim Chen
Taiwan
Photography Speaker (2017)
Jim Chen loves extreme sports and underwater photography combines both adventure and art creation perfectly. In 2007, he was certified as an open water diver and in 2008, his underwater photography journey began. He also received exclusive interviews from British Daily Mail. Apple Daily. TVBS and other media.
Jonathan Lin
Singapore
Photography Speaker (2017)
Jonathan Lin took to scuba divng in 1996 and has over 2000 dives under his belt. But before picking up underwater photography in 2011 with his first compact camera and a borrowed housing, topside, Jonathan had always been taking photographs of little insects. This was where his love for macro photography began, and even after many years of diving and many encounters with large, majestic pelagics, he realised that his passion for the art of shooting tiny critters in the deep was an unwavering one. From macro photography to super macro photography, Jonathan wants to show you the wonderful world of nearly-microscopic beauty fascinating marine creatures which cannot be seen with the naked, untrained eye.
Kidd Fu
China
Photography Speaker (2017)
As an avid explorer, Fu Dingyan, otherwise known as Kidd, is always on the look out for the next adventure. He loves outdoor extreme sports, and with his unique and energetic approach to the world, he embraces life in an inspiring way. Kidd is a best-selling author and a co founder of Beijing Star Sea Culture Communication Co., Ltd. He is a member of the British Royal Photographic Society, a Nikon NPS photographer, and the Vice President of Chongqing Youth Photographers Association. As a professional photographer, Kidd is fascinated with astronomical stars, the great maritime times and the island culture.
Peter Stone
USA
Guest Speaker (2017)
Peter Stone, seafarer, boat captain, merchant engineer, avid scuba diver, global traveler (90+ countries), world renowned author, inspirational speaker, television personality, business coach, consultant, successful international business person, and Founder, CEO, Designer & Manufacturer of FIVE profitable sterling silver and gold jewelry brands. Peter’s Passion has always been the Sea! That Passion lives and grows still today ~DiveSilver: Peter’s vast, diverse and stunning sterling silver and gold jewelry lines, created exclusively for Dive, Nautical, Sea Life and Water Sport enthusiasts worldwide. Beautiful, Intricate and Stylish Profit Generating Jewelry – that Sells!
Sandy You
China
Photography Speaker (2017)
Sandy You is known as “Third Bro – San Di” in Greater China. She is the founder of 57 Diving club, who is also the key presentative in the Greater China for world’s major brands of underwater photographic equipment, namely, Austria Seacam and Switzerland Kandle etc. Being a passionate and seasoned photographer herself, Sandy recorded the beauty of the deeper blue to share with more divers. Sandy is known in the industry as someone with good professional reputation for enriching clients with different types of underwater photography workshops.
Zhang Fan
China
Photography Speaker (2017)
Zhang Fan, Underwater photographer, born in 1985, grew up in China’s hainan, since the childhood like diving, bubbles across the world. Graduated from central academy of fine arts, is now a member of hainan photographers’ association, Canon ten best photographer, the China national geographic special underwater photographer. For each big newspaper writing, his works have been included in the number of “extreme beauty” and so on this photo album, is the author of the deep sea exploration, (up, down), once editor “animal diversity”, “chordate” and so on, and many times had an interview with radio and television programs about underwater photography. Has for the first time invited by the Chinese academy of sciences institute of aquatic creatures underwater images captured the Yangtze finless porpoise. He hope that through their own lenses can let more people know and love this blue planet of the underwater world.
Andrew C. Couch
Hong Kong
Guest Speaker (2017)
Born in Hong Kong, Andrew learnt to dive at the age of 10 and studied as an Oceanographer, gaining a Bachelor in Ocean Science. In addition to his studies, Andrew enhanced his passion for diving by completing the HSE Professional SCUBA Divers certification. Now, Andrew is a full-time Instructor in Hong Kong and one of the managing partners of Mandarin Divers, Hong Kong.
Ann Liu
China
Mermaid Speaker (2017)
Ann liu is an AIDA free diving coach. In 2010, she became a mermaid coach with over 200 students who have graduated from her classes. Ann aims to help mermaid lovers achieve their dreams. She has designed and produced numerous mermaid tails, including the world’s first luminous underwater mermaid tail.
Calsun Wang
China
Music Festival Speaker (2017)
Calsun Wang is a K.Art Art Center Junior Artist. A direct protégé under the famous art educators – Wu Xiaoyan President of Xiaoyan Academy and Zhang Jinjun, he has strong artistic talent in the fine arts. His works have been exhibited in Paris, China, and he went to Poland to play Tchaikovsky’s “Piano Concerto” with the Polish orchestra in 2015.
DJ Ashley Cai
Hong Kong
Music Festival Speaker (2017)
Ashley is not only a PADI scuba diving and PADI free diving instructor, but also a professional DJ. She and her partners founded DKH CLUB in Hong Kong, which has become one of the largest community for “Hong Kong Drifters”. Being a woman of many talents, she also participates in many other activities such as surfing, rock climbing, and pole dancing.
DJ Jojo Li
China
Music Festival Speaker (2017)
Jojo is currently one of Hong Kong’s most popular female DJ, also known as DJ Barbie. Previously a model, she ventured into a career as a singer and is currently the team captain of the dance group Mascara.
Eric Goh
Malaysia
Photography Speaker (2017)
Eric is an entrepreneur and a photographer. His underwater images have graced numerous international magazines and even a features in a themed hotel room featuring all the top artists in the country. His work has been commissioned by major tourism campaigns and features prominently on graphic walls in city walkways and national billboards.
Joyce Ng
Hong Kong
Mermaid Speaker (2017)
Joyce’s diving journey started in 2011, and now she is a PADI dive master and Hong Kong’s first real mermaid. Passionate for underwater photography, Joyce garnered awards for international underwater photo contests and have been published in various magazines. She hopes that her photos will let evertone see the beauty of the ocean and motivate them to realize that we need to protect it. Joyce has taken her ideas of conservation and human connection to another level. She has also put her camera down, and swims into other photographers’ frames as an underwater model and mermaid as she endeavors to make the ocean-human connection more tangible.
Kaiser Waldon
China
Music Festival Speaker (2017)
Kaiser Waldon has established himself as one of Australia’s biggest up-and-coming talents with flawless productions climbing their way to the top of the ARIA charts. His differing solo style is a smooth brand of bassline driven sound that covers the field somewhere between house and techno. Kaiser’s debut ep ‘Nobody Else’ released in late April peaked at no.38 in the Aria Club Charts, and got him noticed from the likes of Claptone who supported his track ‘Jharon Shones’ a tribute to Sharon Jones in their clap cast #99. Kaiser currently resides in Bali locked down in the studio and also running his Sunday weekly event at Jenja called escape.
Kala Sharpless
China
Guest Speaker (2017)
An athlete, adventurer and water baby, Kala and her charismatic personality has taken here all over the planet. Following her family’s footsteps in sports and adventure, she has climbed, skied, canoed and travelled the world, over mountains and beneath the oceans. With experience behind and in front of the camera as a model and talent in a number of photography and film shoots, Kala is a natural communicator whose aim is to explore the world and share her zest for life with others.
Kay Burn Lim
Australia
Photography Speaker (2017)
Australian underwater cinematographer and award winning photographer Kay Burn Lim has been creating underwater images since 2007. He currently owns and runs Iconic Images which offers professional videography services. Previous projects includes work on nature documentaries aired on channels such as Smithsonian Earth, National Geographic, BBC Canada, StarhubTV and Love Nature . When not on assignment, he still leads groups on expeditions to exotic dive locations and occasionally judges underwater photography competitions.
Potti Lau
China
Freediving Speaker (2017)
Potti Lau took 6 days to dive down to 38m on his first free dive. He fell in love with freediving from then on and went further to do competitive freediving, breaking the National China’s freediving record 8 times. He also does underwater photo and video production and has over 30 million fans on the Meipai Short Movie app.
Li Jin Guang
China
Water Sport Speaker (2017)
One of the pioneers of Chinese Kite Surfing, Li Jin Guang at the age of 30 is currently one of the top Chinese kite surfers. Sponsored by BEST International Asia, he came into contact with kite surfing in 2006, when Kite Surfing was still in its development stage. In 2014, Jin Guang was signed by REnextop, when he set the Asian Kite Surfing Men High Jump Record at 16.2m!
Li Qing Hua
China
Guest Speaker (2017)
Li Qing Hua is a national artist, master tutor of Art College of Jinan University and director of Guangdong International Cultural Exchange Center. He devoted himself to the research and creation of flower and bird painting, his works have distinct personality and strong national culture.
Lion Shi En
China
Guest Speaker (2017)
She is a psychological consultant, hypnotherapist and crisis interventionist. During the period of clinical psychology master degree study, she became both scuba instructor and freediver instructor. As it is found that diving can have a positive effect on people’s psychological activities, she decided to do research in the cross-field of diving and psychology. In 2017, she created The Deep Therapy Studio to study how to get emotional healing through diving. Now she has created a training system to relaxing people by underwater meditation.
Monica Guo
China
Water Sport Speaker (2017)
Shujuan Guo, also known as Monica or Aubergine in Chinese by her friends, was born in Guilin Yangshuo and is currently living in Sanya. Before becoming a Chinese female longboard surfing champion, Monica was once a former white-collar worker in a real estate company. She is now a member of the national surfing team. Monica believes that surfing makes her a better and braver person.
Paupau Zhou Fang
China
Photography Speaker (2017)
Zhou Fang (PAUPAU) obtained her Ph.D. in management from United States. She is one of the first batch of graduates from Banff China majoring in outdoor documentary director course. Zhou Fang is also a Diving Instructor with International Diving Instructor Association (NAUI); Executive Director of China Diving Photography Professional Committee; Vice President and Secretary General of China Taiping’s Film and Television Branch. She is a Shark Conservation Ambassador for “Dive the World”, and also it’s underwater documentary founder and director. Zhou Fang also directed documentary film “Underwater China”.
Raphael Marti
France
Music Speaker (2017)
Born in 1986, Marseille, France. Raff has always been interested in Electronic Music rhythm, and fascinated by the endless possibilities of harmonies. Raised by the underground Berlin minimalist and the French Techno scene, Raff is deeply touched by the beauty of melodies within the power of techno, and sounds that impacts your thoughts and gestures around music. He is currently a resident DJ at the two most notorious clubs of the country, the real underground club KOH and the famous JENJA, and is one of the Top DJs in Bali.
Ruoxu Liu
China
Mermaid Speaker (2017)
Mermaid Course Director Ruoxu Liu is a AIDA and PADI freediving instructor. She discovered her love for freediving in 2015. Driven by the passion, she quickly become the first Chinese female instructor in Hong Kong. She aims to spread the culture of mermaids to a higher level.
Oli Christen
Switzerland
Freediving Speaker (2017)
Oli Christen is known in the world of freediving as the author of the current AIDA Education materials and is a versatile speaker and freedive evangelist. He has been awarded 2015 by PADI for his outstanding contribution as a member of the PADI Freediver Advisory Group.
Sun Ping
China
Photography Speaker (2017)
Sun Ping’s portfolio includes celebrities such as Chen Weiting, Chen Xiao, Lily Yu and Zhang Xinyu, and have even shot for fashion magazines “BAZAAR” and “VOGUE”. She ventured into underwater creative photography to spread her love of the ocean.
Stuart Sharpless
Hong Kong
Guest Speaker (2017)
Explorer, Adventure athlete, Film maker, Entrepreneur. Spanning the globe with expeditions for Adults and students a like. Experiential based educator with the experience to take you somewhere new.
Wang Ao Lin
China
Freediving Speaker (2017)
Wang Ao Lin is a freediving athlete. In 2015, he founded “Jie Ta Freediving School”. Ao Lin is also the president of China’s AIDA International Freediving Association. He represented his country in the AIDA Individual Apnea Depth World Championship in the same year and set National records in 3 different categories.
Wang Xiao Qi
China
Mermaid Speaker (2017)
Wang Xiaoqi is one of the founders of Wuhan free diving club. She is also a PADI scuba diving and AIDA freediving coach. She is currently focused on the study of mermaid courses and the new version of the Mermaid Course technology which will be integrated into the professional flower tourism technology.
郑茹月
China
Mermaid Speaker (2017)
At 16 years of age, Zheng Ru Yue won the Chinese Diving Championship and retired in 2008 to become a Diving Team Coach in Guangdong. She has over 8 years of experience as a coach, with 3 of her students eventually representing the World Diving Championships and 6 of them reaching national levels. She became a mermaid coach in 2016, creating specific mermaid training courses. She is currently the director of MissVsea Studio Mermaid Project and hopes to inspire and expand the mermaid network.
Jill Heinerth
Canada
Tekdiving Speaker (2018)
One of the world’s most accomplished and celebrated cave divers and underwater explorers, Jill Heinerth is a Pioneering technical diver and Award-winning filmmaker whose has been privileged to travel deep into the most exquisite and untouched corners of the earth on a life-long journey of discovery and adventure.
A role model whose achievements, writings and images have encouraged thousands to step out of their comfort zone, Jill Heinerth’s many accolades and Awards include induction into The Explorer’s Club of New York and the inaugural class of the Women Diver’s Hall of Fame; and being awarded the inaugural, Sir Christopher Ondaatje Medal for Exploration by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, who later made her their First Explorer-in-Residence.
Jean-Claude Monachon
Switzerland
Tekdiving Speaker (2018)
Jean-Claude Monachon from Switzerland started diving at the age of 14. While starting in a cold and dark lake in Switzerland, he was diving without any certification until he discovered the Maldives in 1986. He then moved to the Maldives and stayed for several years working as a diving instructor and dive center manager. The Maldives can be considered as a second home for him.
Sharks are definitely one of his passion and he has travelled several places in the World for it.
Monachon’s passion is also related to scuba diving education and is always open to new water related adventures. Working for more than 22 years for PADI Europe as a Training Manager and then CEO, he also was the multilingual and multicultural member of the Worldwide Group. International business development is one of his main achievement due to his “Swiss” approach. He speaks 5 languages and is able to understand the different cultural variances.
In 2014, he then joined SSI (Scuba Schools International) Worldwide as a Vice-President. The passion, the vision and the state-of-the-art program developments but also the quality of the training convinced JC that it was there that he would fit best. Where people and quality matters!
As an avid triathlete, runner and certified personal trainer, JC is also one of the driving force of the newly launched SSI Lifeguard program. The bio would not be complete if we would not talk about his dedication to the underwater environment and he has been involved in several programs to make the World a better place.
Edmund Yiu
China
Tekdiving Speaker (2017)
Born in Hong Kong, Edmund has over 17 years of recreational and technical diving experience with more than 3,000 logged dives conducted throughout various locations around the world. Edmund has achieved numerous Instructor / Instructor Trainer ratings from several dive training agencies and is currently certified as a RAID Open Circuit (OC) Instructor Trainer, RAID Deco 50 OC/CCR Instructor, RAID Sidemount Instructor, PADI Master Instructor, Emergency First Response Instructor Trainer, PADI Tec Trimix Instructor, PADI Tec Sidemount Instructor, PADI Tec CCR Instructor, and IANTD Normoxic Trimix Technical Instructor.
Andrew Lau
Hong Kong
Photography Speaker (2018)
Andrew Lau is a PADI dive instructor and he has been diving for over 10 years. Being an amateur underwater photographer with his passion about ocean, he earned awards from various international underwater photo contests. He wanted to enhance connection between ocean and human in his photos by shooting models underwater, which granted him winner of Voice of the Ocean – Fashion photo of the year f or 3 consecutive years (2016 – 2018).
Cipto Adi Gunawan
Indonesia
Tekdiving Speaker (2018)
Cipto Aji Gunawan was the first Indonesian PADI Course Director and is now the Board of Director of SSI Indonesia. His career range from diving professional, pro UW Photographer to Marine Ecotourism Consultant for the Indonesia Ministry of Tourism. He shot for BBC, CCTV 9 and CNN, just to name a few, wrote two of the Indonesian goverenment’s Scuba Diving regulations, produced the most complete Indonesia Dive Guide book and certified SSI Professionals.
Amos Nachoum
USA
Photography Speaker (2018)
From freediving with blue whales to scuba diving in the Okavango Delta with crocodiles, Amos Nachoum has explored every body of water from the North Pole to Antarctica. Amos’ vision is to raise awareness about our oceans’ giants in their habitats.
Ellen Cuylaerts
Belgium
ADEX SINGAPORE VOO JUDGE 2019
Ocean19 Speaker (2019)
Ellen Cuylaerts relocated from Belgium to the Cayman Islands in 2009. She studied history in Antwerp and Leuven and got her Master’s in Modern History and Education. She started diving and underwater photography in 2011. Rather than using images to document encounters, she tries to capture the emotions she experiences and hopes to touch hearts and get more people to care about our oceans.
Ellen Cuylaerts
Belgium
ADEX SINGAPORE VOO JUDGE 2019
Photography Speaker (2015)
Ellen Cuylaerts relocated from Belgium to the Cayman Islands in 2009. She studied history in Antwerp and Leuven and got her Master’s in Modern History and Education. She started diving and underwater photography in 2011. Rather than using images to document encounters, she tries to capture the emotions she experiences and hopes to touch hearts and get more people to care about our oceans.
Michael Thomas
United Kingdom
Tekdiving Speaker (2021)
Michael Thomas learnt to dive at the age of 14 on the island of Gozo, Malta thirty-five years ago. On returning to the UK he managed to Join Alton BSAC and became for a short time the youngest Dive Leader in the country. By 1993 he had started on the then-fledgling technical diving route. Became a member of the Cave Diving Group in the UK and in 1994 attended one of the first advanced Nitrox courses in the UK at Fort Bovisand In Devon.
Trimix diving followed in 1996 and several years of mid-channel wreck diving found him on several virgin wrecks. At the same time, multiple caving and cave diving expeditions and exploration happened from the UK to France and onto the Bahamas.
Michael started work within the dive industry in 1995 with Uwatec the Swiss dive computer company and was involved with the launch and training on the Drager Atlantis Semi-Closed Circuit Rebreather. Becoming a TDI instructor in 1996 training with Rob Palmer. He taught some of the first TDI SCR courses in the UK, Malta and Palau.
In 2000 Michael’s primary focus turned to cave exploration and cave diving with a few good wreck dives for good measure. Exploration in the Calaven de la Suobio in the Herault region of France found over 2km of the virgin cave and Palaeolithic human remains in the first diving section of the cave. Exploration in Greece found us diving into the unknown cave with a dive base at nearly 500m below the entrance of Peleta cave in the Peloponnese.
More Rebreather diving continued when he made the switch to CCR using a Classic Kiss, no courses were available at that time and the diver just got a box of parts that you built into a CCR and started teaching yourself. After ten years of diving a KISS, he made the transition in 2012 with a course this time to an AP inspiration. He continues to dive, explore and teach on these units today.
Michael is also an associate member of the Cave Rescue team in the UK and unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it has been involved in several large rescue operations in the UK. Plus training exercises both in Uk and in Greece. He is also a Fellow of the Royal geographic society.
In 2016 he set up his own technical diving training company and teaches mostly underground.
Daren Marshall
Canada
Tekdiving Speaker (2021)
Daren became a diver in the ’90s on vacation in Thailand. He returned to the UK and juggled business enterprise leadership with becoming a weekend part-time instructor. His passion for everything underwater eventually won out, and he exited his businesses in 2004 to focus on diving, leaving the UK for warmer waters.
An unfortunate childhood personal obsession with technology has fuelled his career as a technical rebreather instructor & industry professional.
Now with leading computer designer Shearwater Research, he currently lives in Thailand, where the adventure began, in his fantasy job combining electronics, diving, & business.
Paul Strike
United Kingdom
Tekdiving Speaker (2021)
Fourth Element began in 1999 with a conversation over a post-dive beer in Sharm -El-Sheikh, Egypt. With a mission to provide the most innovative garments to the dive community, Jim Standing and Paul Strike set out to design high quality clothing with a simple, diving orientated style. Over the span of 20 years, Fourth Element dedicates in improving divers’ thermal protection and apparel. In recent years, the company has undergone a shift to develop products with a greater focus on sustainability and environmental responsibility, beginning with the OceanPositive swimwear line, progressing to wetsuits made from plant based materials. The company actively supports conservation projects around the world, dedicated to sustainability and the preservation of the environment.
Jim Standing
United Kingdom
Fourth Element
Tekdiving Speaker (2021)
Jim Standing is the co-founder of fourth element, and along with Paul Strike, has spent the past 20 years building a company and brand dedicated to improving divers’ thermal protection and apparel. In recent years, the company has undergone a shift to develop products with a greater focus on sustainability and environmental responsibility, beginning with the OceanPositive swimwear line, progressing to wetsuits made from plant based materials. The company actively supports conservation projects around the world, dedicated to sustainability and the preservation of the environment.
Jared Hires
USA
Tekdiving Speaker (2021)
Jared has practically been diving his whole life. Starting with breathing off his father’s long hose, he had his own custom Transpac and double AL 13’s at age 7. Jared has continued to grow in his diving career. He was at one point the youngest certified rebreather diver at age 15 and has been cave diving for about as long. He is a technical, CCR, and cavern instructor through TDI/SDI.
Jared has been privileged to dive all around the world. Some places he has been include caves in Russia and Mexico, the fjords in Norway, and the Red Sea in Israel.
He has grown up in the company and has worked in many different areas including production, service and sales. After going off to college at the University of Florida, Jared came back to the company (though he never really left) to take over the marketing department as well acting in the capacity of general manager.
When not diving in the local north Florida caves or traveling, he enjoys riding motorcycles, being on the river, and of course University of Florida football.
Will Goodman
Indonesia
