Applied Science Associates, a Narragansett company that uses computer models to forecast how and where an oil spill will spread. The company’s modeling system takes myriad data – currents, tides, weather patterns, wind speed and direction, water temperature and salinity – and crunches them together, rendering a three-dimensional map of a spill. The result is a Windows-based, real-time system to monitor oil spills and predict their movement. [MORE INFO]

FISHERMEN lost off the Queensland coast in future may owe their lives to a fashion dummy and a new computer software program. And they can thank fourth-year coastal engineering student Nathan Benfer and Asia-Pacific Applied Science Associates director Sasha Zigic, who last week startedground-breaking research off the Gold Coast. [MORE INFO]

The Coast Guard's ability to respond effectively to search and rescue calls, oil and chemical spills, and a wide variety of homeland security issues depends a great deal on local weather and marine conditions. The shipping industry, environmental managers, fishing fleets, and the Navy also rely on such information. [MORE INFO]