University Of Hawaii News

All American Marine (AAM) on Tuesday revealed it has been awarded a contract to build a research vessel for the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation (UHF), on the behalf of the Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB). This research vessel, with construction already underway in AAM’s facility on Bellingham Bay, is a 68.5’ x 25’ semi-displacement aluminum catamaran hull that was developed by Nic de Waal of Teknicraft Design in Auckland, New Zealand.

Naval shipyards and industry partners see business growing, but finding enough trained and qualified workers is a challenge.General Dynamics Electric Boat will invest $1.7 billion to modernize and upgrade its Quonset, R.I. and Groton, Conn., facilities over the next ten years,” said Sean Davies , vice president for EB’s Quonset Point Operations. “Here at Quonset, we are investing $700 million that will increase our outfitting space by 13 acres, to support work on the Virginia and Columbia class of submarines.

Greater understanding of what goes on in the ocean is starting to become a reality – thanks to growing use of unmanned surface and underwater vehicles and developments in biological sensing. Elaine Maslin takes a look at what a team at MBARI has been doing.Gathering biological data from the oceans remains a significant challenge for oceanographers. Now, an increasing range of unmanned vehicles that are able to work together is becoming available, as is an ability to collect biological data using them.It sounds straight forward…

Hurricane Lane, a powerful Category 3 storm, spun slowly north out of the Pacific toward Hawaii on Friday, causing torrential downpours and catastrophic flooding on the Big Island.The greatest threat from wind and rain shifted to Maui overnight and then to Oahu, the U.S. state's most populous island, through Friday, the National Weather Service said. Hurricane conditions were possible over Kauai into Saturday, according to forecasts.More than 2 feet (60 cm) of rain had already fallen on a few areas on the windward side of the Big Island…

When one thinks of offshore renewable energy, one usually thinks of offshore wind. For the first time progress is being made in the U.S. to develop offshore wind resources. The first steel foundation jacket has been placed in the ocean floor to support the Deepwater Wind project off the coast of Block Island, Rhode Island. (See www.dwwind.com/press/#/1). But recently, progress is also being made in the development of tidal and wave energy resources closer to shore, which are known as marine hydrokinetic or MHK resources.

It's a career-defining moment for 36 college and university faculty April 30, as the Department of the Navy announces the recipients of its 2015 Young Investigator Program, one of the oldest and most selective scientific research advancement programs in the country. Collectively, awardees will receive $18.8 million in grants to fund research across a range of naval-relevant science and technology areas. This is a banner year for the program, administered by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), which increased funding by 50 percent over last year. "These recipients demonstrate the type of visionary, multidisciplinary thought that helps the U.S. Navy anticipate and adapt to a dynamic battlespace," said Dr. Larry Schuette, ONR's director of research.

NOAA administrator Kathryn Sullivan, Ph.D., has appointed six members to the Hydrographic Services Review Panel, a federal advisory committee that gives NOAA independent advice for improving a range of services and products that support navigation and coastal resilience. Capt. “Providing coastal communities, boaters, and the commercial maritime industry with timely, reliable, accurate, and authoritative information is essential as we strive to keep commerce flowing through our nation’s ports,” Sullivan said. Rear Admiral Ken Barbor (ret.), U.S. Lawson W. Capt. Gary A. Scott R.

Monitoring efforts along the Pacific Coast of the U.S. and Canada have detected the presence of small amounts of radioactivity from the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident 100 miles (150 km) due west of Eureka, California. Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) found the trace amounts of telltale radioactive compounds as part of their ongoing monitoring of natural and human sources of radioactivity in the ocean. In the aftermath of the 2011 tsunami off Japan, the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant released cesium-134 and other radioactive elements into the ocean at unprecedented levels. Since then, the radioactive plume has traveled west across the Pacific, propelled largely by ocean currents and being diluted along the way.

The Duke University Center on Globalization, Governance and Competitiveness (CGGC) recently completed a study on ocean technologies, including remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), for a consortium led by Nova Scotia’s Department of Economic and Rural Development and Tourism (ERDT). Excerpts from the report on the market and technology trends in ROVs and AUVs are provided in this article. Global ROV vehicle sales in 2010 totaled approximately $850 million.

The San Diego-based Navy hospital ship USNS Mercy is scheduled to deploy Tuesday for a four-month humanitarian mission to four Asian nations, reports San Diego 10News. Converted from an oil tanker in the mid 1980s, the Mercy first saw duty in the Persian Gulf War. Following that deployment, it left its berth at Naval Base San Diego. However, the 2004 tsunami that struck Indonesia prompted the hospital ship to return to the area every year since. The Mercy carries about 400 Naval medical personnel, along with civilian crew members with the Maritime Sealift Command. Crew members on the Mercy will provide medical, dental and veterinary care in the host nations and help with civil engineering projects.

PCCI, Inc. (Alexandria, Virginia) announced that Eric Sites has joined the engineering staff in their Alexandria office as a Senior Engineer. He will be responsible for mooring design, ocean engineering and ocean facility construction management. Sites brings to PCCI experience as a Naval Architect, Project Engineer and Hydrodynamicist emphasizing hydrodynamic and hydrostatic analysis of floating structures, and pier/wharf construction and renovation. He possesses a Master of Science in Ocean and Coastal Engineering from the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, at the University of Hawaii (SOEST), and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from The Ohio State University.

NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco recently appointed nine new members to the Hydrographic Services Review Panel, a federal advisory committee that gives NOAA independent advice for improving ocean and coastal navigation products, information, data and services. “Optimizing the benefits of navigation services and products is a priority for the agency,” said Margaret Spring, chief of staff for NOAA and the agency’s representative to the Committee on the Marine Transportation System (CMTS).

NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco recently appointed nine new members to the Hydrographic Services Review Panel, a federal advisory committee that gives NOAA independent advice for improving ocean and coastal navigation products, information, data and services. “Optimizing the benefits of navigation services and products is a priority for the agency,” said Margaret Spring, chief of staff for NOAA and the agency’s representative to the Committee on the Marine Transportation System (CMTS). “We look forward to hearing perspectives and receiving advice from our new committee members, who represent a wide variety of maritime and coastal zone stakeholder interests. Dr. Lawson W. Stephen Carmel, Maersk Line, Ltd. Jeffrey Carothers, Fugro Consultants, Inc. Dr. Dr. David A. Scott R.

Engineering students from 12 universities around the country will began competing in Hawaii in the conference finals of the American Society of Civil Engineers' 22nd Annual ASCE National Concrete Canoe Competition. The winner of these races will earn a spot in the national championships in North Carolina this June. Before the concrete canoes could begin their sail to the finish line, however, they had to get to the starting line. Working together, Horizon Lines, LLC, and Horizon Logistics, LLC, coordinated the door-to-door delivery of the competition canoes from inland points in the continental United States to the Port of Los Angeles for ocean voyage aboard a Horizon Lines container vessel to Honolulu and on to final destination at the University of Hawaii.

The U.S. Navy christened the newest oceanographic research vessel Kilo Moana (AGOR 26) during a 7:45 a.m. ceremony at Atlantic Marine, Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., on Nov. 17, 2001. The Honorable Daniel Inouye, U.S. Senator from Hawaii, was the ceremony’s principal speaker, and his wife, Margaret Inouye served as ship sponsor. In the time-honored Navy tradition, Mrs. Inouye broke a bottle of champagne across the bow and formally named Kilo Moano, which is Hawaiian for Oceanographer. Kilo Moana is designed to perform a broad spectrum of oceanographic research in coastal and deep ocean areas. Research ranges from physical, biological and chemical oceanography to environmental investigations, ocean surveys, engineering, marine acoustics, marine geology and geophysics.

Guido Perla has always had a love of the sea. Perla, who was born and raised in Barranquilla, Colombia, came to the U.S. in 1971 to pursue his dream of using the "tools" he was given to become a naval architect. His story is one that is marked by innovation, relationships and hard work. — By Regina P. Guido Perla’s philosophy on naval architecture and marine engineering — on life — is easily summed up: "I always follow what my father used to say," Perla said. "It is better to be wrong than to be average." Perla is not shy to admit that he's not always perfect, but that does not mean that he will not try and try again until he achieves perfection. "You don't learn anything from sitting around and doing nothing," Perla quips. "You learn from making a move and taking risks.

“Old sailors never die, they just drop the anchor,” Robert J. “Bobby” Pfeiffer said over a decade ago as he was contemplating retirement. Pfeiffer, one of Hawaii’s most renowned sailors and captains of industry, dropped the anchor on Friday, September 26, 2003, at age 83, at his home in Orinda, Calif., after a lengthy illness. During his 12 1/2 years at the helm of Alexander & Baldwin, Inc., Pfeiffer became practically synonymous with business leadership in Hawaii. He charted a course of modernization and diversification, and led A&B through one of its strongest periods of growth and prosperity. At the same time he earned a reputation for leadership –– personal as well as corporate –– in support of charitable and other community causes.

Hawaii Superferry signed a historic agreement with Austal USA that proposes bringing the world’s newest passenger-vehicle catamarans to Hawaiian waters for the development of a commercial high-speed interisland ferry service in Hawaii. Hawaii Superferry plans to use Austal USA-built, high-speed, roll-on/roll-off vessels to create “Hawaii’s Interisland Highway,” with state-of-the-art Austal USA catamarans carrying passengers, vehicles and freight between Oahu, Kauai, Maui and the Big Island, beginning in 2006. Under the agreement, Hawaii Superferry plans to purchase two 340-foot catamaran ferry vessels from Mobile, AL-based Austal USA for delivery during 2006-2008 under an exclusive, strategic relationship.

GUIDO PERLA & ASSOCIATES, Seattle, Washington, and Spain’s SENER INGENIERIA Y SISTEMAS have teamed up to develop the detailed structure and outfitting engineering of an oceanographic research ship, designated the AGOR-26. SENER’s computer-aided ship design and production system, FORAN, will be used for the work, most of which will be carried out in Seattle by GPA staff assisted by SENER engineers. A second SENER team will be working in parallel from its Tres Cantos offices. AGOR-26 will be configured as a Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH) vessel following a conceptual design made by LOCKHEED MARTIN LAUNCHING SYSTEMS, Middle River, Maryland, in response to a requirement from the OFFICE OF NAVAL RESEARCH, the Oceanographer of the US Navy.

The Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service and scientists from various academic institutions are sponsoring a free national lecture series on marine mammals and human noise. They will hold the eighth lecture in Baltimore, Md. on Sept. 23, 2004. NOAA Fisheries Acoustics Program and other scientific experts in marine mammals and human noise are hosting the programs at public aquariums and marine laboratories around the country, to help increase public knowledge about human noise and marine mammals. The lecture series, Marine Animals and Human Noise, started in March in Florida, and will continue through November 2004.

A female bottlenose dolphin “BJ” performs her daily exercises while her trainer, Dera Look, supervises at the joint Marine Mammal Research Program on board Marine Corps Base Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. Professionals and students from the University of Hawaii are studying dolphin hearing and echolocation, the use of sound waves to see. The research will improve the Navy’s mining and sonar techniques and make the oceans safer for marine mammals. U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 2nd Class Jessica B. Davis By Journalist 2nd Class Jessica B. Davis, U.S. Professionals and students from the University of Hawaii (UH) are currently studying dolphin hearing and echolocation - the use of sound waves to "see" - to help the Navy improve mining and sonar techniques and make the oceans safer for marine mammals.

Some University of Hawaii officials and faculty members are still pushing for a Navy research center on campus despite the Faculty Senate's rejection of the project, according to an AP story. University lawyers are reviewing the contract for a Navy University Affiliated Research Center to address concerns of faculty leaders who recently voted against the proposed military partnership. The vote against the center could be overturned if 100 professors sign a petition asking for a vote of all Manoa campus faculty members, according to the report. University faculty representatives voted 31-18 against the center, with opponents expressing fear it could disrupt existing programs, set up publication restrictions on research and allow for weapons development on campus.

According to AP reports, a group of faculty members wants a full review of a proposed contract for a Navy research center at the University of Hawaii. The group has released a report that says it remains unclear what kind of impact the $50 million center could have on the school and on faculty's right to publish research results. According to the report, the group’s concern with the Navy contract is its lack of explanation of the criteria the Navy would use when classifying sensitive research data on work done at the center -- a top worry for professors seeking exposure of their findings. Source: Associated Press