Building a "Base at Sea" to Support U.S. Military Operations
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SEABASING, NAVY, MULTI-MISSION PLATFORM, BASE-AT-SEA, OFFSHORE FACILITIES, MILITARY OPERATIONS
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FAU's SeaTech has received a $2 million grant from the Office of Naval Research to investigate, design and build a prototype of a rapidly-deployable, multi-mission platform to be used as an enabling technology for seabasing. This innovative concept of a ?base at sea? will enable and sustain operations equivalent to the size of a Navy unit or larger ? a substantial expansion of today?s amphibious operations capabilities.

Newswise ? Florida Atlantic University?s SeaTech - Institute for Ocean and Systems Engineering in Dania Beach, which is part of the College of Engineering and Computer Science, has been awarded a $2 million grant by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) to investigate, design and build a prototype of a rapidly-deployable, multi-mission platform to be used as an enabling technology for seabasing. This innovative concept of a ?base at sea? will enable and sustain operations equivalent to the size of a Navy unit or larger ? a substantial expansion of today?s amphibious operations capabilities. The Navy?s doctrine for warfare by 2015 includes plans to use mobile, scalable, offshore facilities to support shore-based Navy, Marine, Army and Air Force operations which will be central to future war operations, and will eliminate the need for a land base when conducting military operations. Since its inception in 1997, SeaTech has received 471 grant awards totaling more than $55 million.

This two-year project is headed by Dr. Frederick Driscoll, principal investigator and assistant professor of FAU?s Department of Ocean Engineering. Driscoll will lead a team of researchers from FAU, two Navy laboratories and industry partners, Oceaneering International and Marine Applied Physics Corporation.

?The necessary science and technology for operating such sea bases poses both significant ocean engineering challenges and the need for innovation in ship design, cargo transfer, sea-keeping and hydrodynamic performance,? said Dr. Manhar Dhanak, director of FAU?s SeaTech, chair of FAU?s Department of Ocean Engineering and co-principal investigator of the project. ?Development of various ocean technologies is integral to enabling these mobile bases.?

Dr. Karl von Ellenrieder also is a co-investigator of the project and an assistant professor of FAU?s Department of Ocean Engineering.

ONR, under the National Naval Responsibility for Naval Engineering University Research Initiative, is sponsoring this program. The program involves student internships at the Center for Innovation in Ship Design (CISD) which is hosted at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division. The initial concept was developed by the CISD Innovation Cell on seabasing, sponsored by the ONR, which ran from February through September 2003. The idea was further developed by FAU summer interns working at CISD in 2004.

?It is extremely gratifying to see the transformation from a paper design to a model system and now to a functioning prototype,? said Driscoll.

?Florida Atlantic University is tackling real-world problems to improve life and safety at home and across the globe,? said Dr. Larry F. Lemanski, vice president for research at FAU. ?Our researchers are designing and developing various cutting-edge technologies to support the military in areas such as homeland security, including surveillance, simulation, imaging and secure communications programs, as well as therapies in the war against bioterrorism.?

About FAU?s SeaTech ? Institute for Ocean & Systems Engineering
Florida Atlantic University?s SeaTech provides easy access to the ocean and is located on eight acres between the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal water-way in Dania Beach. Established in 1997, the Institute is part of FAU?s Department of Ocean Engineering, which includes 11 world-class faculty members, 27 engineers and technicians, and 40 graduate students who are engaged in federal and industry sponsored ocean engineering research and technology development in the areas of acoustics, marine vehicles, hydrodynamics and physical oceanography, marine materials and nano-composites. The Institute builds on and complements the academic programs of FAU?s Department of Ocean Engineering and provides the means for technology advancement, collaboration with academia, industry and government, and the commercialization of research products to applications. The Institute has received federal funding for research and development in the areas of durability of composite materials, coastline security technology, harnessing ocean energy, a program under a national naval responsibility initiative for training and development of a new generation of workforce for naval laboratories, and most recently for seabasing.

Florida Atlantic University opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the university serves 27,000 undergraduate and graduate students on seven campuses strategically located along 150 miles of Florida's southeastern coastline. Building on its rich tradition as a teaching and research university, with a world-class faculty, FAU hosts nine colleges - the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Biomedical Science, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, and the Colleges of Business, Education, Engineering & Computer Science, and Architecture, Urban & Public Affairs.

engineer said

Dr. Karl von Ellenrieder also is a co-investigator of the project and an assistant professor of FAU?s Department of Ocean Engineering.

I had him for a class, he's a pretty damn cool professor.