It is our great privilege and honour to welcome you all to the 39th International Conference on Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering (OMAE) in a worldwide virtual format, from August 3-7, 2020.
We are delighted that OMAE 2020 is being hosted by Florida Atlantic University and its Department of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering (OME). The University is home to over 30,000 students. Its Ocean Engineering program was established in 1965 as the first such undergraduate program in the nation, following the loss of the USS Thresher, a US Navy submarine. Today, OME offers degrees in Ocean Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at the Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD levels. The Department has research focus areas in marine vehicles, hydrodynamics and physical oceanography, marine materials and corrosion, control and automation, nanocomposites, and acoustics and vibrations.
A strong technical program in offshore engineering has been put together, with thematic foci on automation in maritime systems and renewable ocean energy. Over 750 papers and over 50 presentations only abstracts have been accepted for the conference, organized around 12 symposia which will take place during the week. Monday’s Opening Ceremonies will feature three Keynote Lectures from academia and industry, to be given by Professor David Lane, Dr. Alana Duerr, and Mr. Thomas S. Chance. On Tuesday and Wednesday morning, there will be additional plenary lectures given by Professor John Ringwood and Professor Michael Bernitsas, experts of their fields. A Digitalization Workshop will run in parallel with the symposia, bringing industry leaders and academia together in addressing how Digitalization Is changing our world of offshore and maritime project delivery, operations and life extension. ASME is working with an online platform to enable a lively virtual conference involving live and recorded papers. A set of seven short courses will be offered online during OMAE 2020.
Finally, the Conference could not be a success without the dedication and the hard work of many people. In particular, we would like to recognize our Technical Programme Chair, Professor Antonio Carlos Fernandes, the many symposia and topic organizers, session chairs and reviewers, authors of papers and conference participants, our sponsors and exhibitors, ASME and Sea-to-Sky Meeting and Association Management staff. Thank you all most sincerely.
We wish you all a very productive conference, and a pleasant online experience.