NUWC, URI Join Forces to Develop Undersea Technology
The U.S. Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) awarded the University of Rhode Island with the first Center of Excellence in Undersea Technology in the U.S. The Center's mission will be to establish cooperative research, product development, technology transfer, and science and technology training and educational alliances between NUWC and other center partners. In addition to granting this award to the University of Rhode Island, NUWC is also providing $150,000 to assist in the creation of this new center of excellence and for its initial project focused on designing and building an undersea distributed network system. The Center will be the first Navy-sponsored Undersea Technology Center in the nation to develop dual use technology for environmental protection and management, human health impacts, aquaculture, crises management, ocean energy systems, and port and harbor security. The Center will act as a coordinating agent to bring individual technical programs and R&D efforts together for testing and evaluation in Narragansett Bay. Under this umbrella capacity, the Center of Excellence will provide a unique opportunity for NUWC, URI, other educational institutions and technology companies to combine their talents and test facilities. "The Center will foster advancement of undersea technologies to meet the Navy's needs and identify civilian applications for emerging technologies," said Donald Aker, Technical Operations Manager at NUWC Division Newport. Malcolm L. Spaulding, URI professor of ocean engineering, and Kate Moran, associate dean for research and administration at URI's Graduate School of Oceanography, will lead the Center. John Muench will serve as NUWC's technical program manager. A joint board of advisors will be formed to guide the Center's research and educational programs, and it will include representatives from the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. (RIEDC), NUWC, URI, and private industry. "NUWC's selection of the University of Rhode Island for its Center of Excellence is a validation from the industry leader that the oceanographers and ocean engineers here at URI are vital players in the development of critical new undersea technologies," said URI President Robert L. Carothers. "The ongoing support from the Naval Undersea Warfare Center will also help considerably as the Center pursues major funding from the Office of Naval Research, the National Science Foundation, and other agencies." In addition to URI, Center partners will include the University of Southern California, North Carolina A&T State University, the University of MassachusettsDartmouth and Boston, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Private sector businesses partners include General Dynamics Electric Boat, Raytheon IDS, SAIC, ARA, ASC, Eminent, Ocean Server, Rite Solutions, Applied Science Associates, FarSounder, SubChem Systems, WetLab, and United Technology Research Center.
Royal Danish Navy Commits to Easytrak Duo
The Royal Navy of Denmark tapped the benefits of Applied Acoustics' Easytrak USBL underwater tracking system, acquiring two systems for two very different applications. The first for use in mine clearance operations in coastal waters and the second for deeper water oceanographic research. Søren Hjorth Kodal, the Project Manager from Naval Material Command (NMC), Denmark, initially outlined the requirements at the UDT conference in Hamburg in June 2006. At subsequent trials and demonstrations in the harbor at Esbjerg and at a military facility close to the city, AAE's Portable unit was chosen having met their requirements. The deciding factor was Easytrak's ability to provide accurate and stable tracking of divers in very shallow water, which is where the Navy's diving team would be carrying out the bulk of their mine clearance operations. The harbor trial also allowed the NMC to witness the successful operation of Easytrak in an acoustically difficult environment. With the Navy's criteria of rapid deployment and ease of use being met, Easytrak was ordered along with a number of AAE's 219 Micro Beacons, and a 919 Mini Beacon for use with the team's ROV. The second Easytrak system is intended for used on the high profile Danish Galathea 3 research expedition. In 1845, the Danish corvette, Galathea, was commissioned to carry out scientific studies around the East Indian and Nicobar Islands, over which Denmark had
42 MTR May 2007
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