MTS Headquarters Announces 2019 Scholarship Awardees

STudenT ProfileSMTS Student Scholarship for Graduate Students

Lisa Bratton is a 2019 recipient of a MTS Student Scholarship for Graduate Students. Lisa will be completing a jointmasters, doctorate program in ocean engineering at Texas A&M University.Her proposed plan of research is to studybiomimicry of natural systems, such asfish and manta rays, in mechanical designspecifically for Autonomous Underwater

Vehicles (AUV’s). The goal of this research is to understand the thrust propulsive techniques of fish in order to adapt these techniques for future AUV designs in an effort to increase propulsion efficiency.

Nadine Doiron, of the University of Southern Mississippi, is a recipient of a 2019 MTS Student Scholarship for Graduate Students. Her research as a graduate student focuses on measuring variations in marine snow abundance in the upper water column and variations in water characteristics such as density,

temperature, and salinity. Nadine plans to apply my masters degree in geological oceanography to coastal and marine environmental work. She has always had a deep passion for studying ocean, coastal, and wetland environments. Ideally, she will work for an organization such as the United States Geological Survey or the National Oceanic and AtmosphericAssociation, conducting research on environmental changes and protection.

Each year, the MTS Headquarters awards over $50,000 in scholarships to MTS Student members. The scholarship window is open from January – April each year and MTS receives many applications for the scholarship funds. The 2019 MTS Scholarship Committee would like to announce this year’s recipients:

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MTS Student Scholarship for Graduate StudentsLisa Bratton, Texas A&M UniversityNadine Doiron, University of Southern MississippiAfolarin Egbewande, Dalhousie UniversityCaroline Fleming, Boston UniversitySarah Murphy, Rutgers UniversityMohammad Irfan Uddin, Florida Atlantic UniversityJessica Valenti, Rutgers University

Charles H. Bussman Graduate ScholarshipDanielle Ingle, Florida Atlantic University

MTS Student Scholarship for undergraduate StudentsBrennan Banks, Florida Institute of TechnologyKatie Galletta, Bowdoin CollegeForrest Hartman, Texas A&M UniversityCaroline MacLeod, Florida Institute of TechnologyAndrew Robinson, University of New England

Charles H. Bussman undergraduate ScholarshipNatalie Gadelrab, Florida Institute of Technology

MTS Student Scholarship for Two-Year Technical, engineering and Community College StudentsZane Elliott, Santa Barbara City College

MTS Student Scholarships for Graduating High School SeniorsJill Bohnet, Louisiana State University Eric Friestedt, Irvine Valley CollegeKayla Haas, University of California, San DiegoAbigail Lee, University of New Haven

John C. Bajus ScholarshipDanielle Dyson, Stockton University

Paros-digiquartz ScholarshipJulia Engdahl, Rutgers University

Vembu Memorial ScholarshipGanta Krishna Mohan, National Institute of Technology, TiruchirappalliAnirudhh Ravi, North Carolina State University

Afolarin Egbewande is a recipient of a 2019 MTS Student Scholarship for Graduate Students. In January 2018, Afolarin began a PhD program focused on the development of novel adaptive filtering techniques for underwater acoustic links in noisy environments. Currently, his research is focused on real-time localization of shipping vessels

in the Halifax Harbor in Nova Scotia, Canada. Key algo-rithms that apply adaptive filtering techniques and machine learning algorithms are being developed for this application. Characterizing ocean acoustic data in real-time is beneficial for the defense sector, oceanographers and would improve our response to natural disasters. Recently, he designed the front end for prototyping a “forward scanning sonar array” for a company based in Nova Scotia.

Caroline Fleming, a 2019 MTS Student Scholarship for Graduate Students recipient, is currently a student at Boston University pursuing a Master of Marine Biology degree. She is working on her thesis entitled, “A Dynamic Energy Budget for the Facultatively Symbiotic Coral Astrangia poculata”. The goal of her

thesis is to model the DEB of A. poculata at ambient and elevated temperatures, to understand its resiliency to global change drivers. In order to construct her DEB model, Caroline will innovate novel MATLAB code, use custom underwater imaging equipment, build custom respiration chambers, and generate microfluidics systems to measure coral physiology at a fine-scale. As marine technological advances are continually achieved, her goal is to apply her masters to use and innovate those tools towards a goal of marine conservation.

Sarah Murphy, of Rutgers University, is a 2019 recipient of a MTS Student Scholarship for Graduate Students. She employs marine technology to gain a clearer understanding of large scale physical oceanographic processes. Cur-rently, she uses satellite SST products to investigate coastal upwelling processes in

the Mid Atlantic Bight. Sarah hopes to establish how these events interact with the overlying atmosphere. Since in-situ data in this area is limited, without satellite products and programming software, these events would be untraceable for exploration. This research will hopefully be applied to advance the accuracy of our weather forecasting model RU-WRF so we may optimize wind forecasting offshore for the operation of wind turbines. Coastal upwelling is a major component in understanding the unique offshore condi-tions of the MAB, which is vital to the success of offshore wind. She hopes to use her Master of Science in Oceanog-raphy to work in this field so that we can ensure the avail-ability of clean renewable energy for generations to come.

Jessica Valenti, of Rutgers University, is a 2019 recipient of a MTS Student Scholarship for Graduate Students. Jessica’s fascination with marine tech-nology influenced her decision to pursue a Ph.D. in Oceanography at Rutgers University. Her research involves assessing impacts of urbanization (anthropogenic land development) on

estuarine fishes and relies heavily on marine technology for success. The technologies she uses to complete the fieldwork portion (fish collection) of her research span the gamut from the boat motor and GPS that make it possible to navigate shallow, estuarine waters to the Yellow Springs Instrument (YSI) that collects data on the physical param-eters of the environment and the GoPro used to document the adventure. Upon return from the field, the technology usage continues when the data are analyzed and statistical models are created, using the R programming language, to help elucidate the observed patterns in the data. She hopes to continue researching anthropogenic stressors on the marine environment.

Mohammad Irfan Uddin, of Florida Atlantic University, is a 2019 recipient of a MTS Student Scholarship for Graduate Students. At present, most Unmanned Underwater Vehicles uses combinationof thrusters and hydroplanes to maneuver,which requires underwater vessels to travel in horizontal direction to maneuver in other directions, with less

efficiency at low speed. Mohammad’s doctoral research focus on a bio-inspired undulating-fin based propulsion that uses a single undulating fin to produce forward and direc-tional maneuver. His short-term research goal is to establish maneuvering control of this robot in 3D underwater space, generating precise force and moment to achieve desired movement. This research work includes collaboration with a research group from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana from Bogota, Colombia.

Charles H. Bussman Graduate ScholarshipDanielle Ingle is the 2019 recipient of the Charles H. Bussman Graduate Scholarship. Her interests focus on understanding the form and function of fully aquatic mammalian skeletons, and how these data may help develop technologies that operate in a range of habitats. Currently, she works at the AD Henderson University School’s Owls

Imaging Lab as a technician for a Bruker SkyScan 1173 micro-CT scanner. Danielle has been fortunate to have the opportunity to learn scanning protocols and CT scan post-processing workflows.

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MTS Student Scholarship for undergraduate StudentsBrennan Banks received the 2019 MTS Student Scholarship for Undergraduate Students. Brennan plans on pursuing marine technology by studying Ocean Engineering at the Florida Institute of Technology. He is most interested in the issues surrounding coastal erosion. Engineers are using seawalls and other

natural engineering practices to minimize damage from erosion, but these solutions are temporary and expensive to maintain. He plans to apply my degree by researching the causes, effects, and solutions of coastal erosion.

Katie Galletta is a 2019 recipient of a MTS Student Scholarship for Under-graduate Students. Katie is a junior at Bowdoin College studying ecology, evolution, and marine biology. She wants to go to graduate school, work in wildlife conservation, and eventually become an educator. She hopes to use her computer skills to help deepen our

understanding of the world around us and inform our protection of our world and its human, plant, and animal inhabitants. Through teaching Katie also hopes to share not only her love of the ocean, but her appreciation of technol-ogies that allow us to see the world around us in new ways.

Forrest Hartman is a recipient of a 2019 MTS Student Scholarship for Undergraduate Students. Forrest joined the United States Navy, where he learned about the technologies and industry sectors directly involved with the ocean environment. It was only natural for him to continue on this path

by striving for a degree in Ocean Engineering from Texas A&M University. He plans on applying his degree in the energy and defense sectors. Using the ocean environment to develop new energy technologies has always been a goal of his. While at the same time, Forrest’s naval career has shown him that autonomous vehicles are going to be the new front-line asset for our military. It is going to be an exciting next 50 years in both industries.

Caroline MacLeod received the 2019 MTS Student Scholarship for Under-graduate Students. With her degree in Ocean Engineering, Caroline plans to focus on developing technology that will assist in research with renewable energy resources. She is very passionate about using renewable energy to reduce the carbon footprint of humans and has

completed multiple research projects studying the effects of excess carbon dioxide and other toxins in the environ-ment, including the issue of ocean acidification. The courses she is currently enrolled in are helping to prepare her for the future by equipping her with the ability to adapt her learning to real-life challenges and work effectively in a team to accomplish a goal.

Andrew Robinson is a recipient of the 2019 MTS Student Scholarship for Undergraduate Students. Andrew’s interests in marine technology are remotesensing and autonomous underwater vehicles. This was shaped by three summers he worked in the Ocean Observatories Initiative at Woods Hole

Oceanographic Institution. Andrew is interested in the establishment of long-term monitoring systems in understudied areas of the ocean that can provide data in real time.This allows research funding to be used more efficiently, as rapid changes in the environment can be investigated more immediately, instead of waiting for a subsequent deployment to modify sampling.

Charles H. Bussman undergraduate ScholarshipNatalie Gadelrab is the recipient of the Charles H. Bussman Undergraduate Scholarship and a student at the Florida Institute of Technology. For her Ocean Engineering capstone project, Natalie worked alongside a team to design, buildand deploy a wave energy converter.The device that they built converts the linear motion of the waves into usable

electricity; although the project didn’t produce a large amount of electricity she is confident that it’s a step in the next direction of increasing the presence of renewable energy. Her Ocean Engineering degree has provided me with a strong foundation to create a greener future. Upon graduation from Florida Tech she plans to work on effi-ciency of ocean-going vessels or in the design of renewable energy devices.

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Eric Friestedt received the 2019 MTS Student Scholarship for Graduating High School Seniors and will enroll atIrvine Valley College. After competingfor 6-years in the Sea Perch Challengefor underwater robotics as well as becoming a certified instructor to teach students how to build the Navy’s Sea Glide ROV, this has become

Eric’s passion. He has had the good fortune to attend the RoboSub International competition in San Diego and see firsthand real autonomous submersibles from top universities and nations from around the world.

When Eric competed at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth in 2018 his coach took the students to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. They spent half a day there exploring. The institute also manages the US Navy’s submer-sibles. Eric thinks it would be a very cool job to work there.

Kayla Haas, received the 2019 MTS Student Scholarship for Graduating High School Seniors and plans to attend the University of California, San Diego. Kayla has always had an interest in marine biology. Ever since she was a little girl, she has loved the ocean and the creatures that inhabit it. She

first started to learn about different types of marine tech-nology and their uses last summer, when she took part in a program with an organization called the California Ocean Alliance (COA). Kayla had the amazing opportunity to learn about marine mammals and study them in their natural habitat with the help of marine technology. While there, she realized just how important the instruments they used were to the future of marine biology. She is excited to use marine technology to help advance her career as our world dives deeper into its technological revolution.

Abigail Lee received the 2019 MTS Student Scholarship for Graduating High School Seniors. She graduated from Pennridge High School with all honors and AP and will be attending the University of New Haven as a marine biology major. In high School she spent much of her time volunteering

for Girl Scouts and Key Club. In college she is joining the marine conservation club.

MTS Student Scholarship for Two-Year Technical, engineering and Community College Students

Zane Elliott is the recipient of the 2019 MTS Student Scholarship for Two-Year Technical, Engineering and Community College Students. Zane plans to take the knowledge developed in SBCC Marine Diving Technologies to become an ROV pilot/technician or a commercial diver. Santa Barbara City College has offered him the opportunity to see firsthand the

beauty, use and (sadly) abuse of the ocean. With advance-ments in technology, he would like to take detailed images of the ocean floor and below to look for weaknesses in the attempt to acknowledge potential threats well before they happen. In commercial diving, many companies are cur-rently in the process of decommissioning the thousands of offshore oil platforms between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. Zane hopes to be part of this process and assistin reforming the existing structures for renewable energies.

MTS Student Scholarships for Graduating High School Seniors

Jill Bohnet, received the 2019 MTS Student Scholarship for Graduating High School Seniors and plans to attend Louisiana State University. Through science fair, Jill performed research to find solutions that could more immediately address environmentalwaste issues that are affecting the world today. Working with a Halliburton

mentor, she created a new drilling mud that incorporated potassium acetate rather than salt so that saturated drill cuttings from offshore drilling could be land-farmed instead of disposed in a landfill or dumped overboard.

By majoring in chemical or environmental engineering, Jill hopes to innovate products that address environmental issues. Her goals are to create new products that assist in bio-degrading our current plastic waste more quickly as well as new plastics that biodegrade more easily after initial use to curb future build-ups. Undertaking these goals can facil-itate efforts in protecting our marine environment.

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John C. Bajus Scholarship

Danielle Dyson received the 2019 John C. Bajus Scholarship. When afforded the chance, people can form a truly amazing bond with the ocean and all the organisms within it. Because of this, Danielle chose to follow a career in Marine Science at Stockton University. She wishes to help others to see the beauty of the ocean the way that she

does, and believes that can be accomplished by completing research that shows our oceans as they truly are. In order for this this happen, she will need to use all different types of marine technology. She has used several pieces of marine technology that have allowed her to assist professors with their research such as: dredges for oyster reef sampling, sidescan sonar for derelict fishing gear detection, and have learnedabout countless more from her marine science classes. she believes that the technology we use within our projects is the vital key to gaining and understanding our blue world.

In the future, she hopes to pursue a doctorate within a Marine Science field by conduct research relating to coral reefs and shark populations. This research will only be possible with through the instrumentation of marine technology. After conducting research, Danielle would like to spread her knowledge with those in the community through outreaches and other types of educational experi-ences. She wants to afford others the same opportunity that she had to fall in love with the oceans and inspire them to love it as freely as she does.

Paros-digiquartz Scholarship

Julia Engdahl is the recipient of the 2019 Paros-Digiquartz Scholarship. She has an interest in marine technology, particularly with physical oceanography, because she finds the coding, building, deployment, and recovery of said tech-nologies to be fascinating. In her Ocean Methods and Data Analysis Class, she is given many data sets to manipulate in

MATLAB and collects her own data sets on boat cruises on the Raritan River using a variety of equipment. Marine technology relates to her current and planned field of study because her classes use a variety of technologies along with her internship with Dr. Hugh Roarty at the Center for Ocean Observing Leadership, in which she also uses MATLAB to analyze CODAR data collected by HF Radars to detect tsunamis. During the summer, Julia participated in the Glider Technology Camp hosted at Rutgers, in which she learned how to contact the glider, ballast it to the right density, execute missions, deploy and retrieve the glider, and analyze the collected data.

Her education will continue in July in the Graduate Program in Oceanography at Rutgers University – New Brunswick. She has been accepted and will begin my Mas-ter’s in Operational Oceanography. This program is in its inaugural year and she is one of two students partaking.

Vembu Memorial ScholarshipGanta Krishna Mohan is the recipient of the 2019 Vembu Memorial Scholar-ship. Krishna’s interest towards Ocean Engineering Research had been started with a visit to National Institute of Technology (NIOT), Chennai. He had an opportunity to visit various depart-ments and discuss various projects that are handled by NIOT. He also completed

an Internship during his second year at NIOT on “Estimationof wave height over a return period of 100 years” using standard distributions like Weibull distribution, Gumbell distribution and GAV method. He enjoyed the opportunityto attend seminars along with Mtech students of IIT Madrasgiven by the scientists of NIOT where they presented about the projects dealt by them, risks involved, challenges faced by them. These seminars increased his interest in ocean engineering.

Anirudhh Ravi is the recipient of the 2019 Vembu Memorial Scholarship. As an electrical engineering student, Anirudhh was passionate about designing an efficient marine microgrid system that will maintain proper power balance and regulation of frequency. His undergraduate courses such as gen-eration, transmission and distribution,

power system analysis, power system protection and power system operation and control guided his research. To solve the power balance issue, he developed a real-time energy management system using batteries as energy storage devices.The developed system had efficient power balancing strategywith regulation of frequency and the battery control algorithmincreased the life of the battery by 30%. Currently, he is testing the working of the developed system for implemen-tation in real-time marine microgrid systems.

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