Civil, Environmental and Ocean Engineering

Stevens Students Compete in 5th International Roboboat Competition

April 23, 2012

Unmanned vessel innovations help to advance next-generation naval vessels “Imagine a world where you could have a boat and just tell it where to go, [and it could arrive there] without any human input,” muses Edmund Hoffman, mechatronics engineer of the Stevens Institute of Technology Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) Senior Design Team. As part of their capstone senior project, the team is participating in the international effort to realize unmanned vessel technology. On June 20th-24th, 2012, they will take their ASV to the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) and Office of Naval Research-sponsored 5th International RoboBoat Competition, where some [Read more...]

Stevens Institute of Technology students taking part in an Office of the Secretary of Defense Underwater Vehicle Demonstration

April 3, 2012

A team of undergraduate Stevens students representing; Naval Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Computer Science & Engineering Management with support from the Davidson Laboratory are taking part in a two semester research, design, build and demonstrate project named Perseus, sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Rapid Reaction Technology Office. Participants will examine emerging technologies that may be of significant interest to the Department of Defense (DoD). The objective of Perseus is to explore if a party, with modest resourcing and in a relatively short period of time, could assemble an Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV), Remotely Operated [Read more...]

Stevens Institute of Technology students taking part in an Office of the Secretary of Defense Underwater Vehicle Demonstration

April 2, 2012

Students from Stevens are taking part in a two semester research, design, build and demonstrate project named Perseus, sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Rapid Reaction Technology Office. Participants will examine emerging technologies that may be of significant interest to the Department of Defense (DoD). The objective of Perseus is to explore if a party, with modest resourcing and in a relatively short period of time, could assemble an Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV), Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) or Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) capable of conducting a specified mission. It also provides a venue for students to demonstrate their [Read more...]

Office of Naval Research Continues Funding for Innovative Research in Unmanned Naval Vessels

March 21, 2012

ACCeSS collaborators push the boundaries of naval technology and education The Atlantic Center for the Innovative Design and Control of Small Ships (ACCeSS) announced the renewal of annual funding worth $4.5 million over five years by the Office of Naval Research(ONR). ACCeSS is an international consortium of university and industry partners founded in 2002 to integrate engineering disciplines associated with shipbuilding, while utilizing the corresponding unique education and research environment to recruit, train and nurture the long-term careers of young engineers. The collaborating institutions are Stevens Institute of Technology, the U.S. Naval Academy, Naval Postgraduate School, University College London, Florida Atlantic University, [Read more...]

Dr. Thomas Wakeman Appointed Chair of Marine Group at Transportation Research Board

February 8, 2012

The Transportation Research Board (TRB) is a division of the National Research Council, which serves as an independent adviser to the President, the Congress and federal agencies on scientific and technical questions of national importance. Dr. Thomas Wakeman of Stevens Institute of Technology was recently appointed Chair of the TRB’s Marine Group. In this role, Dr. Wakeman will coordinate all marine transportation-related research within the TRB organization with allied research in the National Academies. He was also recently appointed to a 7 member review panel for the US Department of Transportation Maritime Administration’s Panama Canal Expansion Study and to a [Read more...]

Dr. Xiaoguang Meng and UNICEF Improve Drinking Water in Bangladesh

December 6, 2011

Naturally high levels of dissolved metals in groundwater pollute millions of private wells in Bangladesh, affecting tens of millions in what has been recognized as history's most widespread environmental contamination. Dr. Xiaoguang Meng, Professor of Environmental Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology, recently returned from a month-long mission to Bangladesh where he and his associates field tested experimental filtration methods that will help UNICEF design small community water treatment systems for removal of manganese and iron in well water. Dr. Meng specializes in water treatment technologies that blend cutting-edge research with affordable, easy-to-use techniques. Since the 1990s, he and other researchers [Read more...]

Doctoral Candidate Designs Artificial Reefs for Coastal Protection

November 9, 2011

For Spicer Bak at Stevens Institute of Technology, being a beach bum and a PhD candidate go hand-in-hand. That is because this Ocean Engineering graduate student studies beach erosion to better understand how we can protect America's coastlines. He's also using support from a unique National Science Foundation graduate student scholarship program to share his excitement for both science and the sea with New Jersey high school students. Coastal protection is a major topic for government agencies, ocean scientists, and beach bums around the world. It's also a big issue among surfers, one of the most vocal and engaged groups among [Read more...]

Dr. Alexander Sutin Elected Fellow of Acoustical Society of America

November 1, 2011

Dr. Sutin develops acoustical underwater monitoring for port and harbor security. Dr. Alexander Sutin, Research Professor with the Center for Maritime Systems at Stevens Institute of Technology, has been elected a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA). This recognition comes after a lifetime of research on underwater acoustics and powerful security applications that result from these acoustical techniques. "The research that Professor Sutin undertakes is in great demand as the US government promotes rigorous security for the nation's commercial waterways," reports Dr. Michael Bruno, Dean of the Schaefer School and Engineering and Science. "Fellow status is a great honor and [Read more...]

Optimizing Offshore Wind Energy Funded by DoE

October 5, 2011

Makes wind a more viable solution for America's energy needs. Offshore wind energy promises stronger breezes, cheaper real estate, and proximity to population centers. But difficulties in studying wind speeds over the open ocean leave energy producers unable to fully capitalize on the power of offshore wind. To address this problem, the Department of Energy funded a research collaboration, led by Dr. Thomas Herrington of Stevens Institute of Technology, to evaluate a new method for measuring offshore wind speeds that promises to make assessing wind farm locations faster and cheaper using inland-based LIDAR research stations. "This is a major collaboration that will [Read more...]

Dr. Alan Blumberg Appeared on CNBC to Discuss Hurricane Irene

August 31, 2011

As New York City ordered its first ever mandatory evacuation for low-lying neighborhoods the day before Hurricane Irene, the question on everyone's mind was, "How bad will Irene be" That is also the name of a CNBC report featuring Dr. Alan Blumberg, Director of the Center for Maritime Systems, who discussed how the timing of the storm's arrival had the potential to significantly affect the storm's impact on New York. In a video posted to the CNBC Web site, Dr. Blumberg provided expert opinion and historical perspective on the tide schedules and possible water damage in areas of Manhattan and [Read more...]