Message from the Outgoing Chair - May 2001

What an exciting time to be involved in the Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering Division! First, the arrival of the new millennium! Whether you prefer to acknowledge the 1999-2000 transition, or the 2000-2001 passage, the third millennium has arrived. Second, the birth of a new "baby"! The Pipeline Sub-Division, emerged from the OMAE Calgary Chapter, was established and approved by ASME. Congratulations, Alan Murray, Mike Yoon, and Mo Mohitpur for your hard labor! Third, the substantial transformation of the Division in the past four years! To more realistically address the needs of offshore activities of oil and marine industries and to seize the unique opportunity of expanding the membership base, the Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering Division merged with the Ocean Engineering Division. The merger led to the formation of the OOAE Division, which encompasses all engineering activities in the oceans, energy resources in offshore environment and arctic development. While broadening the scope of activities, the prime focus of the Division remains the International Conference of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering (OMAE Conferences).

Counting with the support of a broader membership and an expanded pool of talents, the annual OMAE Conferences will continue to prosper into the 21st Century. In fact, the 2001 Conference in the marvelous Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will be the 20th OMAE Conference, with the theme of "Towards 3000." What a clever metaphor! With the usual high caliber technical papers, industrial workshops and special sessions on leading-edge technological issues, I strongly believe that the annual OMAE conferences will remain the conference of choice amongst the experts in the field of ocean, offshore and arctic engineering.

The merger and reorganization took almost four years to complete. Looking back, I am proud to have been part of this long and arduous effort. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the following people for their kind support, thorough discussion and insightful advice through this process:
1. ASME Vice-presidents - Jack Whitehead, Bruce Will, and Frank Adamek
2. ASME staff members - Jim Reffelt, Erwin Weinberg, and Ed Robinson
3. OE Division - Dick Seymour and John Robinson
4. OMAE Division - Denby Morrison, Mamdouh Salama, Subrata Chakrabarti, Carlos G. Soares, Terry Jones, and Wilf Nixon

While putting every name here is impossible, I am deeply grateful to every one of you that supported me through the merger process.

The young OOAE Division is enthusiastic, vigorous and thriving. Examples of the dynamics and energetics of the Division are the revision of the division bylaws, creation of a new technical committee structure, and the building of a highly acclaimed website. These innovations will more closely address the needs of the membership and oil and offshore industries and timely report the latest happenings in the Division. The newly elected Executive Committee represents the right mix of energetic people from industry, academia and research institutions. Having served with several of the newly elected members in different occasions and capacities, I am totally convinced of their dedication and commitment. Under the leadership of Cengiz Ertekin, I am sure that the Division will move forward with continuous and greater improvements. Finally to all those that served with me for the past four years, two within OMAE and two as OOAE, a big Thank You for your camaraderie, positive attitudes, wisdom, diligence, and professionalism.

Stephen Liu