About
Hugo Putuhena is a Research Fellow in Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE), specialising in spatial mapping.
He is part of the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) Chair Centre of Excellence for Intelligent and Resilient Ocean Engineering (IROE) and the Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute (SMMI). His current research focuses on identifying suitable marine space for offshore renewable energy by considering multiple factors, including anthropogenic activities, ecology, geoscience, and met-ocean conditions, with the aim of accelerating the energy transition in the ocean environment.
Throughout his academic career, he has developed a strong multidisciplinary research background. He completed his undergraduate degree in Oceanography (Physical Oceanography) at the Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia, in 2013, followed by a master’s degree in Oceanography (Marine Geophysics) at the University of Southampton, UK, in 2015. He was awarded a PhD in Marine Geoscience from the University of Manchester, UK, in March 2020. Following a period of paternity leave, he joined the University of Southampton in September 2021 as a Research Fellow in ORE spatial mapping, supporting the work programme of the Supergen ORE Hub and contributing to research on identifying space for future offshore wind development in UK waters.
Subsequently, he was appointed as a Research Fellow supporting the activities of the RAEng Centre of Excellence for IROE. In this role, he contributes to a range of multidisciplinary projects, including the NERC–Crown Estate ECOWind Benthic–Offshore Wind Interactions (BOWIE) project, the NERC-funded C-Floor project, the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) cables project, and Geospatial HEIF initiatives.