The ocean is the focus of this year's Technology Day, which will be next Friday, June 4. The program of morning lectures and afternoon panel discussions will cap a week of events for some 2,000 alumni/ae and their spouses.
Titled "Riding the Wave of Innovation: the Ocean and MIT," the 1993 Technology Day will celebrate the centennial of the Department of Ocean Engineering and "take a provocative and comprehensive look at the ocean, its uses, and its resources," as well as "the issues that face us today and our descendants tomorrow," according to a brochure on the event.
Professor Francis Ogilvie, head of the Department of Ocean Engineering, will give the opening remarks and introduce the morning speakers. The speakers and the titles of their talks are:
Dr. Sylvia Earle, co-founder and director of Deep Ocean Engineering, Inc., "Exploring the Ocean with Unmanned Vehicles." (Dr. Earle is the only person to have walked untethered on the ocean floor at 341 meters below sea level.) Dr. Earle will speak at 9:20am.
Professor Robert C. Spindel, director of the Applied Physics Laboratory and a professor of electrical engineering and adjunct professor of oceanography at the University of Washington, "Measuring the Ocean Environment." The Applied Physics Laboratory conducts basic and applied research in ocean polar science, ocean technology, ocean acoustics, and experimental physicaoceanography. Professor Spindewill speak at 9:55am.
Professor CarWunsch, Ceciand Ida Green Professor of Physical Oceanography in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at MIT, "Effects of the Ocean on GlobaClimate." Dr. Wunsch's current research interests lie primarily in global-scale ocean circulation and its consequences for climate. Professor Wunsch will speak at 10:30am.
William I. Koch, president of Oxbow Corporation and winner of the 1992 America's Cup, "The Management, Technology, and Victory of an America's Cup." (The America's Cup itself will be on display in McCormick Hall.) Dr. Koch will speak at 11:05am.
The morning lectures will be given in Kresge Auditorium.
There will also be four concurrent afternoon panediscussions that will run from 3-5:30pm (four panelists and one moderator at each). The topics, moderators, and locations follow.
New Ocean Technologies. Panelists will discuss how a variety of new technologies for exploring the ocean "are advancing our knowledge and enabling us to trace chemicals, study the earth's magnetic field, observe the dynamic behavior of the ocean, and reach places that were previously inaccessible, such as under the polar ice cap," according to the Technology Day brochure.
Dr. Chryssostomos Chryssostomidis, Henry L. & Grace Doherty Professor of Ocean Science and Engineering, will be moderator for the panel, which will be held in the Mezzanine Lounge of the Stratton Student Center.
Ocean Recreation and Sports. "Ocean sports are being transformed through the introduction of new technologies, and new forms of recreation are becoming possible on and in the ocean, according to the brochure. To that end, panelists will describe their involvement with "revolutionary technologies for sailing, space-age materials for ocean sports, advanced materials for Olympic competition racing shells, and even the development of tourist submarines."
The moderator will be Louis W. Cabot, director emeritus of the Cabot Corporation and chairman of the America3 Foundation, winner of the 1992 America's Cup. The session will be held in Kresge Little Theater.
Oil Spill Issues. A variety of questions related to oil spills will be discussed in this session. For example, "are we taking the most appropriate preventive actions? Are we limiting the impact when spills do occur? Has this single issue drastically changed our approach to protecting the ocean environment?" The panelists who will address these questions represent a broad range of view points, including regulators, oil companies, independent ship operators, and environmentalists.
Henry S. Marcus, NAVSEA Professor of Ship Acquisition and associate professor of marine systems in the Department of Ocean Engineering, will be moderator for the session. It wilbe held in the Sala de Puerto Rico in the Stratton Student Center.
New Navaand Maritime Missions. "The missions of the Navy were dramatically changed with the end of the cold war. While we know the military threats that we left behind, we cannot be certain about those that lie ahead." Panelists in this session wildiscuss "the kinds of missions the Navy may face in the coming decades, the systems that will be needed to meet those missions, and how both will interact with the political and economic environment in which major defense decisions are made," according to the brochure on Technology Day.
The panel will be moderated by Alan J. Brown, associate professor in ocean engineering, and will be held at Twenty Chimneys in the Stratton Student Center.
In addition to the lectures and panediscussions, there will be exhibits in Lobby 7 and at the MIT Museum related to ocean engineering.
Technology Day is free of charge and open to the public.
A version of this article appeared in the May 26, 1993 issue of MIT Tech Talk (Volume 37, Number 34).
