Before exams and end of semester grading took over everyone’s lives, we were able to get the current students, former students, colleagues, and former colleagues over to the house for some food, chatting, and applications of applied probability. Special congrats to Jack who graduated with his BS in Mechanical Engineering this Spring Semester.
The team at the UNC Coastal Studies Institute hosted another great symposium April 8th and 9th for the North Carolina Renewable Ocean Energy Program. Mackay Burke, Naomi Diaz, Jack Doughty, Chase Pressley, and Bradley Wagoner made the trip from the Renewable Energy Mechanisms group as well as Helen Baginski, a visiting scholar from KIT in Germany. Beyond the technical presentations, the organizers also included a break for everyone to take in the partial solar eclipse.
I was glad to be in DC for Waterpower Week last week. It was good to see a lot of familiar faces and get updates on the various deployments and developments in the marine energy sector. I took a quick break between sessions to stop the the AMEC booth and grab a quick picture with Lindsay Dubbs from the UNC Coastal Studies Institute.
My busy Spring schedule wouldn’t allow me to attend IEEE Southeastcon in Atlanta in person. Still, I was able to present on some of the work that Brad Baer did for his MS Thesis, developing a digital twin of a Solar Electric Racing Vehicle based on Appalachian State’s entry in the American Solar Challenge.
An exciting test setup to help bridge the divide between the simulation and testing of wave energy converters. It also exciting to see Casey Nichols (AEEE ’19) making contributions on another cool NREL project.
So the research assistants that I employ usually have a history of doing cool things before the met me. They do good work while they work for me and then go on to do cool things after they move on from the research group. Kyle Stahler is no exception. An avid woodworker, he has cranked out some exciting pieces since graduating back in May. If you are interested in more of his work, the best way to catch him is camberwoodworking@gmail.com.
The first part of October saw me travel to Durham, New Hampshire with Nils for the University Marine Energy Research Community 2023 Conference. The last time I was at UNH was for tank testing during the pandemic, so it was nice to see a more lively campus this time. As expected the Atlantic Marine Energy Center (AMEC) and Pacific Ocean Energy Trust (POET) were excellent hosts for the event.
Before making our way to UNH, Nils and I stopped in Boston for a tour of PTC arranged by Philip Bard. Philip graduated from the Applied Energy and Electromechanical Engineering program several years back and has been creating awesome demos that show the interoperability of PTC products that are used across the globe.
