William Stone (caver)
American caver
William C. Stone (born December 7, 1952) is an American engineer, caver and explorer, known for exploring deep caves, sometimes with autonomous underwater vehicles. He has participated in over 40 international expeditions and is president and CEO of Stone Aerospace.
Biography
Stone was born on December 7, 1952, in Pennsylvania. He was an active caver in the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Outing Club while studying for a B.S. in Civil Engineering, awarded in 1974. In 1976, while studying engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, Stone took part in an expedition to the Sistema Huautla in Oaxaca, Mexico, where his group set a new penetration depth record of 2,624 feet (800 m).
After obtaining a Ph.D. in engineering, Stone worked at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland from 1980 to 2004. While at the institute, Stone established the Construction Metrology and Automation Group. He led the group for seven years before stepping down to focus on projects at Stone Aerospace.
From 1998 to 1999, Stone directed an international group of explorers consisting of over 100 volunteers to participate in the Wakulla 2 Project. Upon securing a permit from the State of Florida the expedition began mapping the cave of Wakulla Springs, near Tallahassee, Florida.
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