365 – 364 – 363 - 362 – 361 … THE COUNT DOWN TO WMTC 2006 BEGINS IN EARNEST
DIARY DATE
Event: World Maritime Technology Conference (WMTC)
Venue: Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London
Dates: 6-10 March 2006
Organiser: IMarEST – the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology – supported by key marine global partners
Further information: www.wmtc2006.com and events@wmtc2006.com
With exactly a year to go, all the building blocks are in place for London’s major marine event of 2006 - the World Maritime Technology Conference (WMTC 2006) being held at the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre, Westminster in the heart of London (6-10 March 2006).
Invitations to speak at the event have been despatched to prospective keynote speakers around the world – and already one has accepted with alacrity. Individual calls for papers for the ten conference streams have been issued, and the stream chair and committees are in place; the exhibition has been launched on the dedicated website; and sponsorship deals are currently being explored with key organisations in the marine world.
“WMTC 2006 is very definitely ‘open for business’,” says IMarEST’s Director General, Keith Read CBE. “This is going to be a milestone event, capitalising on the key role that London in particular, and the UK in general, plays in the maritime scene. It is an ambitious venture designed to promote integrated solutions to industry-wide issues while assessing the impact on global economies now and in the future. The event will feature over 180 presentations covering ten technical streams – marine engineering; commercial shipping; naval engineering; offshore oil and gas; underwater vehicles; marine renewable energy; EEZ management; coast and ocean mapping; operational oceanography; and reefs of the world. There will be six daily parallel sessions; an exhibition; innovation sessions and a full social programme.
“We are delighted to be able to announce that the first of our sponsoring organisations is in place – Lloyd’s Register has accepted our invitation to become a Silver Sponsor of WMTC 2006. We look forward to announcing more sponsors shortly.”
The WMTC 2006 strategy builds on the already successful conference programme of the IMarEST and incorporates outstanding vigorous conferences such as the International Naval Engineering Conference and Exhibition (INEC) and international Co-operation on Marine Engineering Systems (ICMES) as well as developing entirely new threads. Professor Chris Hodge chairs the WMTC Technical Committee and an expert in that field heads each technical stream committee. In all over 150 people are actively working on the plans for this major event, which is set to attract well over a thousand delegates.
WMTC 2006 is the second conference in the triennial WMTC series and follows on from the highly successful inaugural conference organised by the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) in San Francisco in 2003, which was attended by 750 high-level delegates drawn by a wealth of technical papers split into six streams over three days. Organised in partnership with 24 of the world’s leading marine organisations, the series was conceived as a response to the perceived need for a single global forum that comprehensively tackles the technical and business topics affecting the maritime industry.
Providing a wake-up call
WMTC 2006 takes as its theme ‘maritime innovation – delivering global solutions’ and aims to give a wake-up call on the maritime challenges facing governments and decision makers across the world. There can be no better place than Westminster, within a few hundred yards of the Houses of Parliament, for IMarEST to build on the success of WMTC 2003 and deliver a clear message on the importance of technology and the sea to world development and wealth creation.
“By inviting IMarEST to host WMTC 2006, after a competition with other societies, the WMTC International Steering Committee has given a vote of confidence in the Institute’s own aims and ambitions to deliver the scientific development of marine engineering, science and technology to a worldwide audience,” explains Keith Read. “We confidently expect over a thousand delegates from all over the world, and are delighted by the initial feedback received from speakers, sponsors and exhibitors.”
The Call for Papers is proving most productive with offers of papers reflecting latest ideas, experiences, technologies, case studies, projects and unique operations reaching us on a daily basis. This is going to be a memorable event for the maritime community, and for London, from the moment it is opened by the Conference Patron on the afternoon of Monday 6 March 2006 and with keynote addresses delivered by internationally renowned speakers, including, from the USA, Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., U.S. Navy (Ret.) Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator; to its final social event.
Over and above the conference programme, during the lunch time period on each day, a series of 15-minute presentations will take place in the exhibition areas giving an insight into the latest research and development initiatives, cutting edge technologies and perhaps a little ‘blue skies’ thinking. It’s an approach that indicates the Institute’s and WMTC’s desire to combine the traditional conference format with fresh, short, sharper approaches to technology that will excite and capture the imagination.
The full conference programme will be launched in September 2005. So too will the social and networking programme, which culminates in the Annual Dinner at which the guest speaker will be a significant figure from the City of London. Typically over 750 leading maritime professionals attend this annual event; in 2006 WMTC delegates and their partners will swell their number to over a thousand and the Dinner will mark the end of what we know will have been a highly successful WMTC 2006. The WMTC ‘baton’ will then be passed on to another nation and the next event in the series will be held in 2009.
Conference themes and those steering them to success
Each of the technical conference streams has a dedicated committee that is already hard at work assessing the abstracts submitted as a result of the Call for Papers (the deadline for submission is 3 May 2005).
“We are delighted to have attracted such high level stream chairmen,” says Keith Read. “They report on progress to our Technical Committee chaired by Professor Chris Hodge FREng.”
• 10th International Cooperation on Marine Engineering Systems Conference (ICMES) – Chairman: Dr Graeme Armstrong, Three Quays Marine Services Ltd
• Commercial Shipping – Chairman: Richard Vie, Carnival plc
• IMarEST’s 8th International Naval Engineering Conference (INEC) – Chairman: Cdr John Newell MBE, Royal Navy
• Offshore Oil and Gas – Chairman: David Brookes, BP Exploration Operating Co Ltd
• Underwater Vehicles – Chairman: Dr Jonathan Evans, Heriot Watt University
• IMarEST’s 4th Marine Renewable Energy Conference (MAREC) – Chairman: Dr Chris French, University of Newcastle upon Tyne
• EEZ Management – Chairman: Cdr David Waters, Royal Navy
• Coast and Ocean Mapping – Chairman: John Pepper, The UK Hydrographic Office
• Operational Oceanography – Chairman: Robin Stephens, Ocean Numerics
• Reefs of the World – Chairman: Russell Reichelt, CRC Reef Research Centre
A wealth of choices at the WMTC 2006 exhibition
Full information on all aspects of the WMTC 2006 exhibition is available at www.wmtc2006.com/exhibition. Exhibitors have the option of an Island, corner or aisle space. The benefit of having this choice is to accommodate all sizes of budget; provide support for smaller organisations and universities; and give sponsors the chance to make the most of prime areas to target their key audiences.
“As can be seen from our exhibition pages, it is not just large commercial organisations that IMarEST is eager to see exhibiting at WMTC – far from it,” says Keith Read. “There are concessionary rates for universities, small businesses – with the criteria clearly set out on the web site; and for the event’s global partners – the leading maritime organisations from countries around the world. We are eager to see involvement by all aspects of the maritime community irrespective of size.”
There are financial advantages for those booking early; and for IMarEST’s “Marine Partners” – members of the membership network established in early 2004 for organisations operating in the marine and offshore sectors. The exhibitor package includes tickets to the official opening reception on Monday 6 March 2006 and to the exhibition closing reception on Thursday 9 March 2006, as well as reduced conference registration fees.
Information on WMTC 2006 is available on the dedicated website at www.wmtc2006.com and from the Institute at 80 Coleman Street, London EC2R 5BJ, UK; Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 2600, Fax: +44 (0)20 7382 2670; Email: events@wmtc2006.com
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