Roee Diamant

Prof. Roee Diamant

עברית | English

About▼

Roee Diamant is an Associate Prof. at the Dept. of Marine Technologies, University of Haifa, and heads the underwater Acoustic and Navigation Laboratory (ANL). He received his PhD from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of British Columbia, in 2013, and his B.Sc. and the M.Sc. degrees from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, in 2002 and 2007, respectively. From 2001 to 2009, he worked in Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israel, as a project manager and systems engineer, where he developed a commercial underwater modem with network capabilities. In 2015 and 2016, he was a visiting Prof. at the University of Padova, Italy. In 2009, he received the Israel Excellent Worker First Place Award from the Israeli Presidential Institute. In 2010, he received the NSERC Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship. Prof. Diamant has received three Best Paper awards and serves as an associate editor for the IEEE Journal of Ocean Engineering. He was the coordinator of the EU H2020 project SYMBIOSIS (BG-14 track), and is the recipient of the EU ERA-Chair appointment to the University of Zagreb, Croatia. His research interests include underwater acoustic communication, underwater localization and navigation, object detection and classification, and sonar signal processing.

Publications▼

Education▼

10/1998-07/2002 Technion, Electrical Engineering Bachelor of Science 10/2002-07/2007 Technion, Electrical Engineering Master of Science 05/2006-06/2006 Penn State University, Department of Acoustics Diploma 10/2006-07/2008 University of Haifa, Department of Philosophy Studies towards Master in Philosophy 09/2009-08/2013 University of British Columbia, Electrical and Computer Engineering PhD

Academic Background▼

  • 01/2016-08/2016 University of Padova, Information Engineering Visiting Professor
  • 08/2016-10/2021 University of Haifa, Marine Technologies Assistant Professor
  • 10/2021- (*) University of Haifa, Marine Technologies Associate Professor (Tenured)
  • 01/2023-(*) University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical and Computing Engineering Adjacent Professor

Research Areas▼

• Development of Underwater Acoustic Signal Processing Algorithms: I have advanced underwater acoustics by developing algorithms to encode and decode information, scheduling that enhance communication throughput, relays for underwater networks and time synchronization and detection for communication stability. My work also involves machine learning approaches to exploit channel effects in wireless scheduler design for the applications of controlling underwater vehicles, remote sensing from sensors and cyber security to protect marine infrastructures. I also developed seabed sonar processing algorithms for target detection that was successfully adapted for both archaeological and security applications. • Development of Marine Observatory: As the head of the University of Haifa's Marine Observatory (THEMO), I overseed the development, maintenance and analysis of oceanographic, biological, chemical and acoustic data from numerous sensors. THEMO was one of the most advanced observatories in the world allowing realtime data transfer, novel quality assurance that goes beyond the sensor’s statistics and detection of events such as Tsunami or water pollution. • Bioacoustics techniques: I have developed bioacoustics techniques for the detection, source separation and classification of marine biofauna. My work on Dolphins’ and whales’ vocalization detection and classification (passive acoustics) as well as sea turtle and fish detection (active acoustics) has allowed biodiversity and biomass analysis through remote sensing in large scale that exceeded the current technologies by order of magnitudes. My development of autonomous platforms and robots on which I embedded my bioacoustics techniques has greatly extended the monitoring capability for sustainability and monitoring of the marine environment.

Awards▼

  • Intel Research - Intel Research Excellent Reward 2007
  • Israel Presidential Institute. Awarded by President Shimon Peres Excellence in work - First place in the National Excellent Worker Competition 2009
  • Fullbright Scholarship “Participants are chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential.”, 25k$ - Government of the USA 2009
  • Four Year Fellowship “Ensures UBC’s best PhD students are provided with financial support", 18k$. - University of British Columbia 2009-2013
  • Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship “Supporting individuals who demonstrate strong leadership skills and a high standard of scholarly achievement in graduate studies in health, natural sciences, engineering, humanities and social sciences", 150k$ - Government of Canada 2010-2013
  • Best Student Paper Competition Research innovation - IEEE Vancouver Section 2010
  • University of British Columbia Mobility - Mobility Award 2010
  • National University of Singapore Mobility - The Lee Foundation Award 2011
  • Rafael - Achievement at work-Creativity Award 2014
  • European Union Mobility - EDEN scholarship 2015
  • Government of Germany Research Proposal - Humboldt post-doctroal fellowship (scholarship not used at the end) 2015
  • University of Padova, Italy Mobility - Visiting Researcher 2015
  • University of Padova, Italy Teaching - Visiting Professor 2016
  • WUWNet, China Research - Best Paper Award (F21) 2016
  • WPNC, Germany Research - Best Paper Award (F22) 2016
  • WPNC, Germany Research - Best Paper Award (F28) 2017
  • IEEE Oceanic Engineering Research - Reviewer of the year 2018
  • EU Erasmus Research - Faculty mobility award 2020
  • University of Zagreb Research - Research excellence award (*) 2024
  • Stanford university Research Top 2% scientist (*) 2025

Additional Info▼

Prof. Diamant leads the Underwater Acoustic & Navigation Laboratory (ANL), focusing on underwater acoustics, signal processing, navigation, and marine-environment monitoring. He and his team develop algorithms and systems for underwater communication and localization — for example enabling acoustic communication and data transmission between submerged sensors, buoys and shore stations.

On the detection front, his work includes methods for automatic detection and segmentation of underwater objects — using sonar imagery to identify items on the seafloor or in the water without prior assumptions about their shape or size. He also researches multispectral sonar detection: by combining sonar data at different frequencies his algorithms can better distinguish man-made objects from natural background, improving detection reliability even in complex seabed conditions.

Beyond object detection, Prof. Diamant’s lab works on marine-biological applications: tracking and monitoring marine life (fish, marine mammals) via acoustic methods; classifying and estimating biomass; and developing multimodal acoustic-optical systems to monitor fish populations — aiming at sustainable fisheries and conservation.

Finally, through the marine observatory THEMO, his group builds infrastructure for long-term environmental monitoring: deep-sea hubs and buoy systems that collect data on physical, chemical and acoustic parameters — enabling assessment of pollution, underwater noise, marine ecosystem health, and climate-related changes over time.