January 30, 1997



Prof. Chryssostomos Chryssostomidis
MIT Department of Ocean Engineering
Rm. 5-226
77 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA  02139
(617) 253-4330




Dear Prof. Chryssostomidis,

I am writing to ask for an extension to my time as a Graduate Student
in the Department of Ocean Engineering.  My studies were prolonged as
a result of a combination of factors, most notably a change in
advisors and a change in the thrust of my thesis.

These changes are now behind me and I am pleased to report that as of
my last thesis committee meeting on January 6th the committee was
pleased with the progress of my research and has asked me to establish
the metrics by which my efforts can be judged and compared.  To this
end I am now working on the definition of these metrics and plan to
complete the task by the 31st of January.

If the committee finds these results satisfactory, I plan to complete
my thesis and defend it on or before the 23rd of May, 1997.  I am
therefore asking for an extension of my time here at MIT through the
end of the Spring 1997 semester.  A detailed timetable follows:

Jan 30th   Complete new research (metric definition)

Jan 31st   Present to Committee

March 28th 1st Draft of thesis complete

April 10th Mock defense

May 9      Thesis defense

May 23     Hand in completed thesis





Sincerely,



Andrew Bennett