The Chennai branch of Institute of Marine Engineers organized a technical paper presentation competition on 17th December 2006 at the seafarer’s club. A total of six technical papers from the various maritime training institutes were short listed for the presentation. The cadets of AMET presented the following two papers:

Nuclear Propulsion Systems For Merchant Naval Vessels - The Future
	- By Cadet Vinay Polisetti and Cadet Rushil Tandon (B.E final year)

Ballast Water Management
	- By Cadet Sudhanshu Gajria and Cadet Shankar Ganesh (B.E final year)

The paper on Nuclear Propulsion Systems For Merchant Naval Vessels won the first prize. This paper highlighted the need for the application of nuclear technology and the problems that the present propulsion systems were posing, such as their reliability, noxious emissions and the fact that they depend on non-renewable sources of energy. Comparison of nuclear technology with the conventional plants showed that the former clearly outperformed the latter on a long-term basis.
Since this technology has already been incorporated successfully in defense systems, it can very well be extended to the merchant marine sphere, provided the necessary precautions are taken.
This would in turn have a very significant impact on a nation’s GDP and economy. The paper concluded by highlighting the need of a greater awareness level towards nuclear technology. The natural resource, crude oil, will ultimately get exhausted….WHAT NEXT ! It also said that it is our duty to protect the planet from the effects of global warming, the green house effect and to prevent the depletion of ozone layer; which have reached alarming levels due to the present trends.

The paper on Ballast Water Management presented by Cadet Sudhanshu Gajria and Cadet Shankar Ganesh also from AMET won a consolation prize.