News Release Archive

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT/TOURISM--Students Honoured at Oceans  97
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Three students were honoured today during an awards luncheon at
the World Trade and Convention Centre in Halifax during Oceans
 97.

Andrea Trucco, from the University of Genoa, Italy, received
first-place honours in an international student paper competition
focusing on new non-commercial ocean technology. Glodina Connan
of University College London, Britain, received second-place
honours, while Justin E. Manley, MIT, Massachusetts, took
third-place. 

Twenty students from around the world made submissions to the
competition this year, one of the highest submission rates in the
event's 20-year history, said Zhihang David Chen of DalTech's
department of electrical and computer engineering.  

Dr. Chen, who is co-chair of the student competition, said a
seven-member panel of judges reviewed the submissions and
selected six finalists to compete in an oral presentation during
the Oceans event. "Basically, we looked at the content of the
paper and the student's ability to handle questions. We tend to
focus more on the content because it provides a fairer assessment
of international students who might not be as comfortable
delivering answers in English."

While there were no submissions from Atlantic Canada, there has
been a lot of interest from students around the region to serve
as volunteers for this week's conference, said Dr. Chen.

"It is great experience for student volunteers because they get
to participate in the technology sessions and gain exposure to
developments in ocean sector. In fact, we had to turn away
students because we had filled our volunteer requirements."

The student honours were handed out at the awards luncheon of the
Oceanic Engineering Society of the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers. All three winners received cash prizes.
The top prize was $300 US. 

Oceans  97 has drawn about 1,200 delegates to Halifax for the
four-day event, which ends Thursday, Oct. 9. The annual
conference, sponsored by the Marine Technology Society and the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, is the largest
global showcase of advancements in ocean technology.  

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Contact: Mary Anna Jollymore
         Communications Nova Scotia
         902-429-7133, Oceans  97 Media Room
         902-424-1720 
         E-mail:jollymom@gov.ns.ca


ngr                 October 8, 1997                 4:15 pm