SeaTech - The Institute for Ocean & Systems Engineering
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ChairPierre-Philippe Beaujean, Ph.D.Email: pbeaujea@fau.edu |
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Associate Chair & DirectorFrancisco Presuel-Moreno, Ph.D.Email: fpresuel@fau.edu |
Dania Beach, SeaTech Site
Department of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering
101 North Beach Road
Dania Beach, FL 33004
954.924.7000
Mission
The mission of SeaTech - The Institute for Ocean and Systems Engineering - is to provide an environment for advanced engineering research and technology development aimed at solving problems in the ocean. SeaTech builds on and complements the academic programs of the Department of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering and forms the means for technology advancement, collaboration with academia, industry, and government, and transition of research products to applications.
About SeaTech
Established in 1997 as a State-funded Type II Research Center, the Institute for Ocean and Systems Engineering (SeaTech) is part of FAU's Department of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering, and the College of Engineering and Computer Science. SeaTech is primarily located on eight acres of land between the Atlantic Ocean and the intracoastal waterway in Dania Beach, Florida, with valuable easy access to the ocean. Its team of world-class faculty, graduate students and engineers and technicians are engaged in federally and industry sponsored ocean engineering research and technology development in the following areas:
- acoustics
- marine vehicles
- hydrodynamics and physical oceanography
- marine materials
- nano-composites
- applied ocean systems
- and ocean energy technologies.
SeaTech's 50,000 sq. foot building boasts:
- oceanfront research laboratories
- classrooms
- faculty offices
- conference facilities
- docking facilities for its research vessel (RV McCallister) and other boats from visiting institutions
- machine and electronic shops
- 60 ft wave/towing/flume tank
- laminar flow re-circulating channel
- ocean observation systems
- extensive laboratories for the development of autonomous underwater vehicles and autonomous surface vehicles
- mechanisms for corrosion control
- high-speed underwater modem communication systems
- ocean energy technologies and seabasing systems
- several AUVs, including two 21” Ocean Explorer vehicles with depth rating of 300m
- 21” Bluefin Odyssey III vehicle with depth rating of 3000m
- 9” Morpheus vehicle with depth rating of 100m
- 12', 14' and 16' WAM-V unmanned surface vehicles
- the capability to launch, recover and operate AUVs
- development of an underwater docking station for small-class AUVs.
The Boca Raton campus facilities include:
- A wind tunnel
- and a 30ft deep acoustic test tank.
Partnerships
SeaTech enjoys a long-term partnership with the Naval Surface Warfare Center – Carderock Division and its South Florida Testing Facility (SFTF) which extends offshore south of Port Everglades over a 18 nautical miles cross-self by 4 nautical miles along shelf region, encompassing water depth of up to over 700m. The partnership provides extensive combined in-water test and evaluation capabilities for AUVs and other underwater systems.
Research
The Institute's annual sponsored research expenditure is around $3 million. Recent federally and state funded research and development projects include:
- marine magnetics
- high-speed underwater modem communication
- turbulent flows
- durability of composite materials
- nano-composites
- bio-mimetics
- coastline security technologies
- and systems for harnessing ocean energy.
These projects complement basic research in:
- underwater acoustic transmission
- flow noise
- hydrodynamics and physical oceanography
- computational fluid dynamics
- corrosion and marine material
- structures
- and autonomous control mechanisms.
An ONR-funded program under a national naval responsibility initiative is pursued for training and development of a new generation of workforce for naval laboratories and the ship design industry. New research opportunities in the areas of ocean and acoustic observatories are continually pursued by the faculty.