Roy Curtiss III, 65, gave up his chairmanship of the university's biology department to work part time at his six-year-old company, Megan Health.

FORBES: Yes, there is a pulse

Letting the newly programmed HAUV loose on the Curtiss, a 183-metre military-support ship in San Diego, and the Seneca, an 82-metre cutter in Boston, showed that a robot can do the job.

ECONOMIST: Monitor