He is the CEO and Chief Scientist of Hadal, a marine robotics company, which he co-founded in 2009. Prior to Hadal he was a civilian researcher at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Panama City, FL. He currently holds 30 issued US patents.

From 2014 to 2020, Rick served on the Ocean Exploration Advisory Board as a special government employee reporting to the Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere.

Rick received a PhD in Marine Robotics and an S.M. in Ocean Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and Economics from Carnegie Mellon University.