RIEDC Holds Fourth Annual Defense and Oceans Day
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May 26, 2009 | Print this page | Share This |
Leaders from the Naval War College, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, URI’s Center for Ocean Exploration and Deepwater Wind discuss visions for the future
The Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (RIEDC) held the fourth Annual Defense and Oceans Day at the Community College of Rhode Island’s Newport County campus on May 22. More than 100 business, defense, homeland security, higher education and private-industry leaders attended the four-hour session in the college’s auditorium.
“This event links two of the many things that make Rhode Island’s economy so unique: Our robust defense industry and the state’s ocean resources,” said J. Michael Saul, RIEDC’s interim executive director. “Our distinguished speakers today from the Naval War College, the University of Rhode Island and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center all have remarkable expertise in their fields, and Deepwater Wind has remarkable insight into how to harness the power of Rhode Island’s offshore wind energy.”
This year’s theme is “Vision for the Next Decade.”
“What the majority of the speakers have in common is their work in the deep ocean environment,” said John Riendeau, defense industry manager for the RIEDC. “I think of Rhode Island as the ‘ocean tech state,’ and these are the leaders in their respective industries. This is an opportunity for more collaboration.”
Notably today, URI Professor and renowned ocean explorer Dr. Robert Ballard mentioned that the Center for Ocean Exploration and the new Pell Science Library Building, both at URI’s Bay Campus, will be dedicated with a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house on June 1, and the first NOAA research vessel dedicated to ocean exploration, the R/V Okeanos Explorer, will use the Port of Davisville as its home port.
Naval War College Professor Jeffrey Norwitz gave a presentation entitled, “Closing Guantanamo: What’s Next?”
Deepwater Wind’s Chief Development Officer Paul M. Rich detailed the company’s plans to build a small wind farm off Block Island and a utility-scale farm in Rhode Island Sound – creating hundreds of jobs and providing 15 percent of the state’s electricity.
“Today provided a great opportunity for us to share our plans for offshore wind farms with some of the people that understand the world’s oceans best,” said Rich. “At Deepwater, we see the potential of Rhode Island’s plentiful offshore winds, and we look forward to working even more closely with leaders in the defense and oceanography fields to move forward on harnessing that energy cleanly and efficiently.”
The day’s complete agenda was as follows:
- Opening remarks by RIEDC Interim Executive Director J. Michael Saul
- Presentation by Rear Admiral James P. “Phil” Wisecup, President, Naval War College, on current activities at the college
- Presentation by Dr. Robert Ballard, Archaeological Oceanography Professor
- University of Rhode Island, on Rhode Island’s role in the future of ocean exploration
- Presentation by Donald McCormack, Technical Director, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, on the future of NUWC and its development of new systems for anti-submarine warfare
- Presentation by Jeffrey Norwitz, Professor of National Security Studies, Naval War College, on the potential closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility
- Presentation by Paul M. Rich, Chief Development Officer, Deepwater Wind, on the company’s plans to build two offshore wind farms in Rhode Island.
Defense and Oceans Day is sponsored by: RIEDC, the Newport County Chamber of Commerce, the Southeastern New England Defense Industry Alliance (SENEDIA), the Rhode Island Procurement and Technical Assistance Center (PTAC), the Rhode Island Manufacturing Extension Service (RIMES), Armed Forces Communication and Electronics Association (AFCEA), and Iron Mountain.
