The µFloat project (pronounced “microFloat”) is an underwater float - a trackable, drifting sensor package - that is inexpensive enough to be deployed in swarms to perform simultaneous, distributed measurements in energetic tidal currents.

PMEC researchers are modeling and analyzing farms of floating oscillating water column wave energy converters to better understand the best ways to deploy and operate them in ocean conditions.

Because wave energy conditions are widely variable, a wave energy converter's (WEC) control system should ideally be able to instantaneously adjust to marine conditions to increase power capture and improve survivability. But non-linear WEC control approaches that integrate advanced logic and machine learning approaches need further development and testing to be viable for commercial use.

Just because it performs in the flume, doesn’t mean it’ll perform in open water. PMEC experiments are helping to accurately extrapolate lab data to commercial scale.

A series of experiments in the Alice C. Tyler flume at the University of Washington assessed performance of a cross-flow turbine under speed- or torque-regulated flow.

The team set out to evaluate changes in cross-flow turbine power output and structural loads at various stages of barnacle colonization on turbine blades.

Floating offshore wind devices have great potential for energy generation in deep water. This PMEC project set out to optimize mooring and anchoring in an array of floating wind turbines by identifying which anchors in an array are most important to strengthen.

PMEC researchers are synthesizing existing information and conducting additional field sampling on fish populations near Yakutat, Alaska, in preparation for a potential wave energy installation.

Sound produced by marine energy converters may be audible to marine life, but measuring these sounds is difficult. DAISYs are our answer: low-cost, accurate instrumentation specifically built for marine energy sites.

A new survey of 2,000 California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia residents gives insights about west coast residents’ knowledge of, and attitudes towards, wave energy.

This summer PMEC graduate students participated in the Project Blue@Summer program; virtually mentoring high school interns through the process of writing an ocean energy-related research paper.

Video interviews discuss how PMEC researchers contribute to the larger social conversation about wave energy and social issues related to its use in coastal communities.

PMEC social scientist Shana Hirsch studies the renewable energy industry in Scotland, where marine technologies dominate, as a lens for innovation ecosystems and energy transitions across Europe and around the globe.