The 2008 ONR/MTS Buoy Workshop was held March 3-6 at the Hollywood Casino and Hotel Conference Center, located in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.  119 people attended – a new record - and listened to 36 presentations in a fast paced program.  The presentations cover many of the different aspects of the highly specialized technology of oceanographic data buoy systems.  Participants came from six foreign countries – Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Norway and Japan, and the United States.  One afternoon was set aside for most informative site and laboratory tours of the National Data Buoy Center and the Naval Oceanographic Office, both located at nearby Stennis Center. 

For the 2008 Buoy Workshop we received indispensible local assistance from Dr. Paul Moersdorf, Dr. Chung-Chu Teng, and Martha Mitchell of the National Data Buoy Center, and Craig Cumbee of the Naval Oceanographic Office at the Stennis Space Center, their help with local arrangements and leading the site tours is greatly appreciated.  There was also financial support from John Walrod, SAIC Stennis Space Center, Don Conlee from NortekUSA, and Darryl Symonds from Teledyne-RD Instruments for some catering at the event, which is thankfully acknowledged.  The workshop was a lively and in our judgment most successful event. 

A CD is available from Judy Rizoli for $25 of the 2008 Buoy Workshop, which contains the Speaker Program, the Attendee’s List, and the Abstracts and Presentations materials of the 36 talks given at the workshop, and lately also pictures of the event.  Also available are CD’s from the 2002, 2004, and 2006 Buoy Workshops

Purpose, Frequency of Workshops, Mission
The ONR/MTS Buoy Workshops are organized in order to provide a timely update of oceanographic and other buoy systems, their components, and communication links. The Buoy Workshop provides unique opportunities for oceanographic buoy technologists worldwide, as well as for ocean engineering students, and professionals in other disciplines, to learn about this exciting and challenging area of expertise and its near endless possibilities. Since our beginning in 1996, participants have voted that we hold this workshop every two years. Since 2000 we organize the workshops at or near facilities where active buoy technology development and testing work is being performed, and visit these site as part of the workshop program.

Our next Buoy Workshop is planned for early March 2010 in Monterey, California with a site tour of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), a premier oceanographic research facility at a stunning location. We are looking forward to meet in this beautiful part of the Pacific Coast.

Mission of the Marine Technology Society’s Buoy Committee
One of the largest committees of the Marine Technology Society is its Buoy Committee. Its mission is to foster the technology and experience exchange in the highly specialized field of oceanographic buoy systems. This committee organizes speaker sessions at the annual MTS OCEANS conference and as main activity a buoy workshop every two years, all to advance the knowledge about the rapid progress of Buoy Technology. The papers at the OCEANS Conference serve the community’s needs of formal and permanent documentation of research in this area. The less formal workshop environment eases open and focused informal presentations and discussions for the mutual benefit of all attendees with the added benefit site tours of nearby facilities engaged in buoy technologies.

Walter Paul, Rick Cole, and Judy Rizoli