Sea Grant Program
The MIT Sea Grant College Program is one of 30 programs nationwide that funds ocean-related research through a grant from the National Sea Grant College Program. As part of its charter, MIT Sea Grant is dedicated to providing learning opportunities to students, professionals and the public. In addition to its support of graduate students, MIT Sea Grant has substantially increased its commitment to providing grants to undergraduates through UROP.
The range of topics is almost unlimited, as long as the research is marine-related. Recently, students have been funded to develop an ultra-small autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), conduct marine archaeology with AUVs, explore biomimetic propulsion, research coastal management issues and study marine invasive species. Sea Grant generally supports about 10 students during the academic school year and five students during the summer. In addition, Sea Grant presents the Dean A. Horn Award each year, with an $1,000 prize awarded to the most innovative marine-related UROP project.
Sea Grant UROP Opportunities are listed at: http://web.mit.edu/seagrant/edu/urops.html.
Some Related Areas for UROPs
Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aeronautics & Astronautics, Physics
Faculty Research Descriptions
- Prof. Chryssostomos Chryssostomidis, E38-330A, x3-7131, chrys@mit.edu
- Current opportunities include participation in the design of small underwater vehicles, underwater sensor development, and software development and at sea testing of various vehicles and sensors.
- Dr. Madeleine Hall-Arber, Ph.D., E34-344, x3-9308, arber@mit.edu
- Maritime anthropology, commercial fishing industry, social-impacts of regulatory change, community-based data collection are primary foci. Currently working on oral histories of men and women involved in commercial fisheries; organizing fishing vessel safety training; and facilitating collaboration among social scientists and communities.
- Brandy Moran Wilbur, E34-304, x3-5944, bmmoran@mit.edu or Sarah Olivo, E34-304, 978-283-6275, olivo@mit.edu
- Our hatchery focuses on closed recirculating larval finfish aquaculture, as well many education outreach programs. Our work also includes habitat restoration and research, public outreach and education, and development of marine focused activities for K-12 students and teachers.
- Dr. Judith Pederson,, E34-370, x2-1741, jpederso@mit.edu
- Introduced species in marine environments, including field studies, ballast water, and other transport mechanisms; regional research planning initiative; marine pollution; and development of management tools using geographic information systems.
- Clifford A, Goudey, E34-356, x3-7079, cgoudey@mit.edu
- Engineering disciplines applied to problems constraining marine industries; commercial fisheries and offshore aquaculture in particular. Current activities include mobile fish farming in the US EEZ, habitat-friendly fishing systems, automation in offshore fish cages, and alternative energy systems applied to seafood production.
- Justin Eskesen, E38-370 x3-3438, jge@mit.edu
- Multiple software development projects pertaining to various parts of AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles) operation & data management. Projects include vehicle control software, device driver development, data visualization, graphical interface, documentation & web development. Software is written in C++ and/or python.
