A significant increase in attendees and an unprecedented 90 non-member registrations, simultaneous technical sessions for two independent conferences, a sold out IMExpo, a dozen committee meetings, two continuing education courses, officiating at seven major events, organization of over 112 awards and certificates, a myriad of details among the Ship Production Symposium, SNAME and the hotel, and just socializing with friends and colleagues over the four days left me ‘breathless’ in Boston!

It’s Sunday morning after the Annual Meeting, the sun is shining and I’m catching a breath as I gaze out the Westin’s windows reflecting on the previous week’s events, which by all counts were nothing less than extraordinary. We had hoped for a larger participation by overlapping two events, the Annual Meeting and the Ship Production Symposium. In fact, we had 612 paid registrants, and almost 200 more visiting just for the IMExpo for a total of over 800! This number exceeded the registrants in Vancouver in 2000 by over 150, Orlando in 2001 not being a true comparison, having occurred soon after September 11. Clearly this made Boston one of the best-attended Annual Meetings in years!

Both technical programs were full of topical and innovative papers causing some members to voice their wish to have been able to attend two sessions at once. This certainly was a turnaround from the past few years.

The President’s Reception was held at the Museum of Science and SNAME had the entire Blue Wing to itself for the evening. All enjoyed the science and technology exhibits and delicious food. As a New Englander by birth, I found the Boston baked beans and corn bread to be my favorite. Because of the generous support of seven marine design firms, all students were invited to attend the event this year, and mingle with members, and many of their 132 other fellow students from 11 schools in North America and Europe. This too was a record for student participation.

Our Annual Banquet was filled to overflowing with members and families of the Land Medallist, Bill Gray, the Davidson Medallist, Nils Salvesen, and Taylor Medallist, Keith Michel. Additionally, we were all treated to the polished voice of Susan Giver, Marketing Director and Exposition Manager at Headquarters, who lead us in the singing of “O’Canada”, the Star Spangled Banner, and “God Bless America.” Our Banquet Speaker, Keith Read, Director General of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology, captivated the audience with his humorous stories of his days as Chief Engineer on a British submarine. He left us with a poignant message about furthering the benefits to members of an increased application of our mutual member organizations throughout the world to build on the current cooperative efforts already in place from our 1999 agreement.

The IMExpo had good traffic, and the exhibitors were pleased with the quality of the visitors, citing more shipyard people as a plus. Even with the success of this event, we intend to provide more time in the program for future events to allow for visiting the IMExpo hall.

Another first this year was the book signing by Bill Garzke of his and John Woodward’s new book, “Titanic Ships, Titanic Disasters”, published by SNAME, of which 74 were sold in three days!

The Student Steering Committee, active under the able leadership of Dick Boutwell, organized a Student Job Fair, and the first-ever, very successful Student Reception held at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology across the Charles River in Cambridge.

On Friday the Student Congress began with presentations by the first place Dr. James A. Lisnyk Design Competition winners from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The team winners of the First International Student Offshore Design Competition from the Naval and Ocean Engineering Department at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro also presented their design followed by the awarding of cash prizes.

Later, at the President’s Luncheon, the winners of the Lisnyk Competition’s first and second place teams from the Norwegian University, and the third place team from Virginia Tech, received their certificates. Following numerous presentations for the 50-Year Golden Membership Awards, Distinguished Service Awards, T&R Certificates of Recognition, Student Papers Awards, the Capt. Joseph H. Linnard Prizes, and the Vice Admiral E.L. Cochrane Awards, the luncheon was capped by his final address to the assembled membership, in which president Cuneo left us with much to think about as a nation with such a strong tradition of innovation and creativity in shipbuilding. He used the computer analogy that we must ‘defrag’ our marine industry to produce a united stand in line with this year’s Annual Meeting theme.

Our achievement this year was due wholly to our Headquarters’ staff, those who worked tirelessly in Boston, and those who maintained our operation during the week in Jersey City, all of whom plan with precision, and strive throughout the year to make the Annual Meeting a significant event for all and a major success. Thank you to everyone!

I could go on, but after allowing myself to take that one breath, I realize that it’s now on to San Francisco for the World Maritime Technology Conference and Exposition. This is a major undertaking for SNAME, originators and hosts of this conference, which will assemble 11 international marine societies for the first time to provide a forum for discussion and exchange on issues related to the future of the global maritime industry. With a theme of “Marine Industry Challenges in the New Global Environment” there will be four major tracks with topical papers on the subjects of ship operation, ship design and technology, ship production, and marine society panel discussions on their role in meeting these new challenges. San Francisco’s Westin St. Francis Hotel and the Moscone Convention Center will be the venues for this “world class” event on October 17-20, 2003. Don’t miss it! Catch all the latest plans by logging on to the World Maritime Technology Conference’s dedicated web site, http://www.worldmaritimetechnology.org.

Phil Kimball