UMaine Composites Center Receives $250,000

Matthew R. Simmons Memorial Fund established to honor the late Ocean Energy Institute founder

The Matthew R. Simmons Memorial Fund has been created in the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center with a $250,000 donation to honor the memory of the late founder and chair of the Ocean Energy Institute.

The fund will be used to host the Matthew R. Simmons International Conference on Deepwater Offshore Wind Technology, part of a biennial conference disseminating research and development in the areas of offshore wind energy and advanced materials.

The Simmons family issued the following statement: “The Simmons family is deeply grateful for all of those who have supported and continue to support Matt’s life’s work. The creation of the Matthew R. Simmons Memorial Fund will allow his legacy and energy to continue far into the future, bringing together the brightest minds to ensure offshore wind technology becomes a driving force in alternative energy throughout Maine, our country and the world. We are so proud that this is being established at the University of Maine, a university in a state Matt loved so much.”

Simmons, who passed away in 2010, was an oil and gas investment banker who later became a renewable energy advocate. His highly acclaimed 2005 book, Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy, has served as an anchor point for journalists at the Washington Post, New York Times and other major publications. In founding the Ocean Energy Institute, he envisioned a clean, renewable, ocean energy-based future as a necessary and viable alternative to fossil fuels.

“Matt was a wonderful friend, a brilliant businessman and a great leader with whom we shared a common vision,” says Habib Dagher, director of the Advanced Structures and Composites Center. “We will continue to forge ahead with Matt’s vision to create ocean energy opportunities for the world. We are particularly thankful to the Simmons family for entrusting us to carry on Matt’s legacy.”

More information about this July 2013 conference will be available on the UMaine Composites Center’s website.

The Advanced Structures and Composites Center is a state-of-the-art one-stop-shop for integrated composite materials and structural component development. Located at the University of Maine, it offers in-house capabilities for developing a composite product or structure from the conceptual stage through research, manufacturing of prototypes, comprehensive testing and evaluation, code approval and commercialization.

Contact: Elizabeth Viselli, 207.907.6962