SNAME Maritime Convention Program Preview and Call for Content 2026

The 2026 SNAME Maritime Convention (SMC 2026) pre-Convention activities will take place on Wednesday, 28 October and the technical sessions will take place on Thursday and Friday, 29-30 October 2026 at the Royal Sonesta Houston Galleria, Houston, TX, USA.          

This meeting is an exciting opportunity for engineers, naval architects, equipment suppliers, and construction and manufacturing experts from all fields to collaborate and learn how proven new technologies can improve every aspect of the maritime industry.  It is also an excellent forum for suppliers to display equipment and discuss modern solutions their company can provide to meet current and future industry requirements.  While at the Convention, take time to experience the Galleria and its restaurants and shops, or visit the Museum of Illusions.       

  
Your input and ideas are needed for this premier event of the international community for maritime and ocean professionals. SNAME members and SMC attendees come from all over the world representing a cross-section of the maritime community.     

     
The theme for SMC 2026 is Shaping the Future: Technologies and Processes to Improve Shipbuilding, Design, and Operations. Potential content includes, but is not limited to, material from around the world on the following topics: design, build, manufacture, operate, sustain, and recycle. Potential subtopics include: 
 

No matter the type of maritime business, geographical location, or professional activity, the SNAME Maritime Convention is your opportunity to interact with colleagues from all over the world and all segments of the industry. 

Abstract Submission: 
All abstracts are submitted using the ScholarOne system. Papers are welcome for all technical tracks; however, the Ship Production and Repair and Technical & Research (T&R) Content Types will also accept presentation-only submissions. Note that all submissions on ScholarOne are referred to as “manuscripts” and that both paper and presentation-only submissions are subject to the dates shown above. 
 

We also intend to host 4 to 6 interactive, moderated panels to further delve into areas of interest within the Convention theme: “Shaping the Future: Technologies and Processes to Improve Shipbuilding, Design, and Operations”. Abstracts for panel sessions are welcome and may be submitted in accordance with the procedure for a manuscript. When proposing a panel session, be sure to include the name of the person who will moderate the session and the names of recommended panelists. Panel Session moderators will be responsible for recruiting panel members. 
 

When submitting an abstract, in addition to the abstract itself, include the following information: 
1. Content Type options – select the one that best suits your material:  
•    Peer Reviewed Session - Technical Paper 
•    Ship Production and Repair Session (paper or presentation) 
•    Technical & Research Program Session (paper or presentation) can feature material that is not at the development level required for Peer Review papers and does not fall into the category of either the Ship Production and Repair or Student sessions 
•    Student Paper Session - SNAME membership is required for student authors by the first draft submission. Student papers must be authored solely by students. It is the intent of the Technical Program Committee to accept all student submissions 
•    Student Poster Session – a poster size not to exceed 1 m x 1 m (40” x 40”). May be on any topic/subject that the school has worked or is working on (e.g., design projects, human powered sub, solar powered boat, autonomous marine vehicles, etc.) 

2. Corresponding author’s name, email address, and affiliation 

3. What topic(s) does your abstract primarily pertain to? You can select more than one topic to describe the intended audience for your paper or presentation. This information will help the committee define tracks for the Convention.  
 

Abstract Requirements: 
These requirements are important: acceptance decisions are made based on the quality of the abstract and adherence to these instructions: 
•    Must be 500 to 1,000 words (exclusive of references) 
•    Single space in a 12-point font 
•    Adequately describe the material to be covered in the proposed submission, including relevant references  
 

Submission Method:  
Abstracts must be submitted via the ScholarOne system. After successfully submitting their abstract, authors will receive an automatic acknowledgement with a unique manuscript ID. Authors should use this manuscript ID for all future correspondence. 
 

Additional Information Required at the Time of Abstract Submission:  
•    Author Agreement for the Corresponding Author of the manuscript 
•    Author bio(s) (length approximately 100 words) 

 

For questions, please contact snamepapers@sname.org. 
For additional information on submission, please visit the SNAME Author Opportunities website www.sname.org/author-opportunities