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In Person Super Storm Sandy blew through New England at the same time the Fourth Annual Marine Renewable Technical confer- ence was taking place. Thankfully, the conference was re- scheduled in three parts in January; two webinars (to accom- modate speakers and attendees who could not travel) and one full day conference. ?Using webinar technology enabled us to bring the content of eight individual peer reviewed presentations to a wider au- dience that could not otherwise have participated,? said Mag- gie Merrill, conference manager. The presentations focused on research results in areas related to ocean wave, tide and wind energy development. Technologies and techniques for assess- ing resources and predicting performance were highlighted. Melding engineering, economics and environmental impacts of ocean energy devices was discussed at length. Those who did make it to Rhode Island during the Oct. 30- 31, 2012, time frame were treated to some crazy weather, chal- lenging logistics and some wonderful, impromptu eld trips. Woods Hole Oceanographic?s (WHOI) Anthony Kirincich opened his doors to some attendees. The next day all trekked over to the UMass Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology (UMD-SMAST). Speakers from the conference presented their work to a lunchtime crowd. The following day a caravan travelled to University of New Hampshire (UNH) to see the test facilities there, meet with the UNH Center for Ocean Renewable Energy team and see the General Sullivan Bridge tidal power test site. The full day conference, held Thursday January 10 in Rhode Island, was launched with style by University of Rhode Island, School of Engineering Dean, Raymond Wright. He spoke of the breadth of URI?s engineering expertise and announced that they are now searching for three faculty positions in the area of ocean energy, a great sign of where URI sees this eld trending. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) provided a ?call to ac- tion? to the technical community to keep working on the tough solutions to generating clean energy from the ocean. He said that the U.S. must come up with carbon neutral methods to generate energy to meet the needs of the future. The U.S. has great capacity to innovate and create solutions to global ener- MREC Looks Ahead to San Diego Fourth Annual Marine Renewable Technical Conference Tackled Sandy and Sets Sights on Oceans 2013Raymond Wright, Dean URI College of Engineer- ing with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) in exhibition area at the technical conference. John Miller welcomes Serhii Honcharenko-Ki- mo Business Ent. Ukraine and Pedro Fernandez Carrasco-Univ. of Politecnica de Madrid, Spain. March 2013 30 MTRMTR #2 (18-33).indd 30MTR #2 (18-33).indd 303/5/2013 4:10:11 PM3/5/2013 4:10:11 PM
