2024 2024: The Marine UnderSea Technology (MUST) program hosts annual technical review

Review allows participants to gain insights into cutting-edge marine technology research

On July 24 and 25, the UMass Dartmouth Marine UnderSea Technology (MUST) program held its annual technical review. This event allows participants to gain insights into the research projects, explore potential collaborations with researchers and industry experts, and discuss future MUST program initiatives and partnerships.

MUST focuses on strong industry and higher education partnerships to advance innovation. To date, has funded 48 research projects, supported 52 faculty & 171 student researchers, and secured $7.8M external funding by MUST PI's. These projects bring together regional and national collaborators to strengthen the Navy's access to cutting-edge research and build a pipeline for a highly trained workforce.

During the two-day event on the main campus, faculty and students supported by the MUST program presented their recent research outcomes in oral and poster sessions. Three student poster awards were selected based on research merits, achievements, and the presentation at the event.

Award winners

First place

First place went to students Sarah Dulac and Bardia SalehiRad for their project "A Biomimetic Approach to Ocean Sensing: Harbor Seal Vibrissa Detecting Footprints left behind Moving Hydrodynamic Objects," which was advised by Mechanical Engineering faculty members Assistant Professor Banafsheh Seyed-Agazadeh and Assistant Teaching Professor Hamed Samandari.

Second place

Second place was awarded to students Angel Thomas, Vidhi Singla, and Paige Watkins, and Assistant Professor Wei-Shun Chang (Chemistry & Biochemistry) for "Fabricate and Characterize Materials for Active Color and Polarization Control."

Third place

Student Ratna Prakarsha Kandukuri and Professor Daniel MacDonald (Estuarine & Ocean Sciences; Environmental Engineering) received third for "Development of a Simulator Based on Ocean Model Data to Support UUV Mission Autonomy."

Program guests

Corporate, research, and academic partners from Purvis Systems, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC), Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), and the University of New Orleans were in attendance.