Two Texas A&M University College of Geosciences students were recently awarded 1,000 Year Scholarships, inaugural scholarships co-sponsored by the Society for Underwater Technology (SUT) and the Loop Current Eddy Alliance, funded by attendees of the annual 1,000 Year Party.

The $1,500 scholarships were awarded to Kendall Byers, a senior meteorology major in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, and Sakib Mahmud, a graduate student in the Department of Oceanography. Jan Van Smirren, SUT fellow and honorable secretary, presented the scholarships at Texas A&M and invited the students to network with industry experts at the upcoming 1,000 Year gathering.

“Every year, for about the last three decades, all the industrial meteorologists and oceanographers have met for an informal party in Houston on the Tuesday of OTC week,” Van Smirren said. OTC is the annual Offshore Technology Conference. 

“It used to be called the 100 Year Party, because we typically have to produce extreme estimates to the engineers, out to 100 years, and those inform their designs of off-shore structures,” he said. “Engineers now expect estimations up to 1,000 years out, so we changed the name of the party.”

Last year, the professionals made it a “party with a purpose,” Van Smirren said, and together collected funds for two student scholarships. SUT agreed to administer the scholarship program and the Loop Current Eddy Alliance co-sponsored it.

“We got a really diverse, great group of applicants, but these two really stood out,” Van Smirren said, of Byers and Mahmud.

“What a fantastic way to support education in the MetOcean community” said Dr. Don Conlee, atmospheric sciences instructional professor. “We are also delighted and thankful that our colleague Jan could come and present these in person to make it even more special.”

By Leslie Lee ’09