There was hootin’ and hollerin’ in the streets of Houston throughout the weekend following the Student Summit, the concluding event of our 2005 SNAME Maritime Conference & Expo and Ship Production Symposium (SMTC&E/SPS) on Saturday, October 22. Admittedly, some of this jubilation might have been for the pennant-winning Houston Astros, but undoubtedly most of it was for another very successful annual conference and exposition. This was a first time for the SMTC&E to be located in Houston, and we think all will agree that the Hilton Houston-Americas and George R. Brown Convention Center were ideally suited to handle the most expansive technical program (over 70 papers, T&R discussions, panel presentations and student papers) since the WMTC in San Francisco, the largest SNAME exposition ever (184 booths), and more awards, certificates and commendations including a second Sperry Award since 2003! We also formalized the sponsorship campaign under the able leadership of Bob Levine, which realized sponsorship in excess of $100,000, or 250% better than our banner year in 2003! This helped to provide free admission for the 128 registered students to attend the SNAME Banquet on Thursday night as well as funding for Katrina-displaced SNAME student members from UNO to attend and travel to Houston from their temporary locations around the country.

There were numerous Standing Committee meetings including both the Executive Committee and Council meetings, which were all held prior to the President’s Reception on Wednesday night. There was ample opportunity for socialization with fellow members, friends and colleagues at this event, the Banquet and the alumni dinners and all seemed pleased to be able to meet and greet students and young members. 2006 will also be notable for the launching of three important ad hoc committees: Knowledge Management headed by Tim Colton, Meetings headed by Bill Cowardin, and T&R headed by Jack Ringelberg. These fast-track committees will study current Society programs and procedures and recommend important changes for implementation within the year.

At the Business Session the Society elected ADM. Robert E. Kramek USCG (Ret.) to the position of President-elect for the year commencing January 1, 2006, and President for two years commencing January 1, 2007. His focus will be on the five-year Strategic Plan and the three ad hoc committees studying Knowledge Management, Meetings and T&R.

A highlight for many of the 600 registrants in attendance was the focus on students and young members with two significant events: first, the Student Congress with a competition created by young members for development by the 80 participating students in a little over an hour. Their free-fall lifeboats with passengers represented by eggs caught the attention of members, exhibitors and attendees in the Expo Hall when nine teams demonstrated the seaworthiness and safety of their craft launched from a “ship” into a pool of water. On Saturday, the Student Summit, a first-time event for SNAME, was held with 60 students and 20 members attending to discuss the questions of continuing student membership and the transition from student to young member. Many new ideas were presented challenging both Headquarters and the Student Steering Committee to collaborate in turning many of them into practice.

We are grateful to the Texas Section for its support during the months leading up to the conference, and numerous Section members who volunteered long hours to make Houston a success. Saturday afternoon the Texas Section held a Texas-style barbeque on the Rice University campus complete with perfect weather, delicious food, wonderful camaraderie and creative door prizes.

Houston was a terrific location for the SMTC&E/SPS, and when the hootin’ and hollerin’ subsided, I heard one person over all others yell out, “y’all come back now