News Release Archive
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT/TOURISM--Oceans Conference Draws Over 1,000
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Five hundred years of ocean exploration will be commemorated next
week as scientists, researchers and business leaders from around
the world gather at the World Trade and Convention Centre in
Halifax for the prestigious Oceans 97 conference.
More than 1,000 delegates are expected to attend the Oct. 6-9
conference, sponsored by the Oceanic Engineering Society of the
Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the Marine
Technology Society.
It is the third time in the 20-year history of the conference
that Halifax has hosted the event, widely recognized as the
largest North American showcase of advancements in ocean
technology.
Halifax, and Atlantic Canada, have long been viewed as the
centre of Canadian ocean science and technological initiatives.
University, government and private sector partnerships have given
the region the third-highest concentration of oceans engineering
professionals in North America. Their products and services span
a variety of fields, from marine biotechnology to ocean mapping,
and have made Atlantic Canada a world leader in the advancement
of ocean technology.
Their achievements will share centre-stage with exhibits by
leading-edge companies, researchers and scientists like Guildline
Instruments, Klein Associates, Knudsen Engineering, Meridian
Sciences and the National Defence Centre of Excellence for
Research in Ocean Sciences.
The theme for this year's conference is 500 years of Ocean
Exploration: Into the Next Millennium, a celebration of the
scientific exploration and discovery initiated by John Cabot's
arrival on these shores in 1497.
Keynote speakers are: Stanley Wilson, Ocean Services, U.S.
Department of Commerce, who will discuss Sustainable Use of the
Ocean; David Pugh, secretary of Britain's Inter-Agency Committee
on Marine Science and Technology, who will discuss Creation of
Wealth from the Oceans: Business in Great Waters; and James
McFarlane, president of International Submarine Engineering of
Vancouver, who will discuss Exploring the Oceans --Underwater
Technology.
Key presentations scheduled for the four-day conference include
Voyages and Explorations, chaired by Alan Ruffman of Nova Scotia;
Sonar, chaired by George Frisk, Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution, Mass.; Seafloor Archeology and Surveys, chaired by
Brian Petrie, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, N.S.; and Oceans
Pollution and Environment, chaired by Hugh Ball of Nova Scotia.
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Contact: Mary Anna Jollymore
Communications Nova Scotia
902-424-1720
E-mail: jollymom@gov.ns.ca
ngr October 3, 1997 3:15 pm
