Polar Technology Conference

16th and 17th (Thu & Fri) April 2009
Madison Concourse Hotel
Madison, Wisconsin, USA

Following the tradition established by Stanford University and SRI International, the 5th annual Polar Technology Conference will be hosted by the IceCube Research Center of the University of Wisconsin-Madison on 16th (Thu) and 17th (Fri) of April 2009 . The primary purpose of this conference is to bring together Polar Scientists and Technology Developers in a forum to exchange information on research system operational needs and technology solutions that have been successful in polar environments. This exchange of knowledge helps to address issues of design, implementation, and deployment for systems that are to achieve their research goals in the Polar Regions.

Past participants have come from the private sector, state and federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, and academia. Presentations typically cover system requirements for proposed research along with descriptions of systems and approaches that have been proven in polar deployments. Typical hardware and software topics have included weather stations, robotics, power systems, telemetry, remote communications. We expect to have participants from the National Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programs who endorse the concept of bringing together providers and consumers of these technologies in hopes of benefitting from that synergy. Informal breaks allow for opportunities for networking and information exchange. Previous years' lists of participants are here.

To accommodate more attendees at the conference, the venue has been moved to:

Madison Concourse Hotel
1 West Dayton Street
Madison, WI, USA
1-800-356-8293
1-608-257-6000

U.S. Government per diem rates ($90.00 single, $110.00 double) have been obtained at the Madison Concourse Hotel for registrants of the conference. To obtain these rates, you must contact the hotel directly and mention the Polar Technology Conference. These rates cannot be guaranteed for reservations made after April 6th. This page has links to most of the hotels in the area.

Please register online if you plan to attend. A fee of $30 will be collected at the conference to cover meals and conference expenses. Underwriting by the NSF's Office of Polar Programs allows this registration fee to be waived for the first 30 graduate students in Engineering, Computer Science, and related fields who register.

We invite presentations, specifically focusing in the area of telescience & remote sensing. The final agenda, list of participants, and the topics they will be presenting, will be posted when finalized. This year's registrants and preliminary presentation topics are listed here. Please contact Prof. Robert Twiggs, Roy Stehle, or David Bogen for additional information.