Marine Engineering and Technology

Come onboard one of the region’s premier experimental aquatic technology centers with the Marine Engineering and Technology research team.

Researchers at the Great Lakes Research Center use their superior location to their advantage. Standing on the shore of the Keweenaw Waterway—just a short sail from the waters of Lake Superior—the Center provides the perfect hub for full-scale field research in experimental coastal hydrodynamics. Our activities encompass a wide variety of research programs, ranging from long-term coastal erosion monitoring to assessment of offshore wind energy potential.

Our host of analytical tools, sub-surface vehicles, and fleet of surface research and survey vessels also play an important role in our research.

  • Shoreline evolution prediction
  • Algae plume transport and circulation
  • Forensic analysis of aquatic accident sites
  • Development of predictive models for the Great Lakes
  • Turbulent marine boundary layer measurements and analysis
  • Fate and transport prediction of biological and passive constituents
  • Underwater vehicles and autonomous control

  • Impact of wind, waves, and ice on offshore structures and coastal instrumentation
  • Development of deep lake cabled observatories
  • Navigation of under-ice vehicles
FacultyAreas of Interest
Yushin Ahn
Surveying/Field practice/Computation; remote sensing data fusion; Digital image acquisition and processing; Adjustment computation; Digital Mapping
Martin Auer
Limnology; Engineering approaches to lake and river management; Mathematical modeling of surface water quality
Brian Barkdoll
Dam Decommissioning; Environmental Engineering; Hydraulic Structures; River Mechanics; Sediment Transport; Stream Rehabilitation; Sustainability
Audrey Barnett
Oceanography, limnology and biogeochemistry; Phytoplankton physiology and ecology; Optics and remote sensing; Harmful algal bloom prediction and mitigation; Mass algal culture for wastewater remediation; Instrumentation and data accessibility
Leonard Bohmann
Electric power systems analysis; Utility applications of power electronics (HVDC, SVC, FACTS); Power system dynamics; Power quality; Power system transients; Computer analysis and simulation of power systems
Charles Kerfoot
Aquatic Ecology; Paleoecology
Eugene Levin
Earth observation systems; Geodesy; Photogrammetry; Geospatial technologies, data, and systems; Global positioning systems; Remote sensing; LIDAR-, SAR-/InSAR-based remote sensing; Geospatial 3-D visualization; Geospatial imaging: perception and interpretation; Introductory and advanced GIS; Spatial analysis and modeling; Spatial decision support; Cartography and cybercartography
Nina Mahmoudian
Nonlinear Control and Dynamics; Cooperative Control of Multi Agent Systems; Autonomous Vehicles with Special Interest in Underwater Gliders
Alex Mayer
Numerical and Experimental Investigations of Contaminant Transport in Groundwater Vadose Zones; Mathematical Optimization of Groundwater Remediation Systems: Multi-Objective and Uncertainty Problems; Surfactant-Enhanced Dissolution of Nonaqueous Phase Liquids in Subsurface Systems; Groundwater Flow in a Fault Zone in the Vicinity of Desert Hot Springs, California; Simulation of Saltwater Intrusion in the Guaymas Valley, Sonora, Mexico California
Guy Meadows
Large scale field experimentation in the Inland Seas of the Great Lakes and coastal oceans; Nearshore hydrodynamics and prediction; Autonomous and semi-autonomous environmental monitoring platforms (surface and sub-surface); Underwater acoustic remote sensing; Marine engineering
Colleen Mouw
Oceanography and Limnology; Aquatic optics and remote sensing; Development of novel aquatic satellite products; Aquatic biogeochemical processes; Phytoplankton ecology; Response of aquatic systems to environmental change
Judith Perlinger
Air and water quality; Atmosphere/biosphere exchange of chemicals; Micrometeorology; Environmental analytical chemistry
David Schwab
Hydrodynamic modeling of the Great Lakes and other coastal regions including theoretical, numerical, and observational investigations of circulation, thermal structure, seiches, storm surges, wind waves, and air-sea interaction; Applications of hydrodynamic modeling to water quality problems, including transport of bacteria from tributary sources to swimming beaches and predictive tracking of algal blooms
Robert Shuchman
Oceanic Sciences/Natural Resources; AR, MS, and Photo-imaging Applied to Oceanography; Earth Resources; Military Coastal Environmental Assessment
Noel Urban
Environmental cycles of major and trace elements; Sediment diagenesis and stratigraphy; Chemistry of natural organic matter; Wetland biogeochemistry; Environmental impact and fate of pollutants; Influence of organisms on the chemical environment; Role of chemical environment in controlling populations
David Watkins
Watershed modeling; Hydrologic frequency analysis; Extreme event (drought/flood) damage mitigation; Seasonal hydro-climatic forecasting; Climate change impact assessment; Decision theory and information technology applications in water resources
Pengfei Xue
Hydrodynamic Modeling; Coupled physical-biological numerical modeling; Dynamics of Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Models; Ocean Data Assimilation; Estuary and Coastal ocean circulation, oceanic frontal processes
Foad Yousef
Remote Sensing and GIS applications in freshwater aquatic ecosystem; Population dynamics (predator-prey, competition, parasitism); Lower food-web (zooplankton, phytoplankton) in lakes
Lucille Zelazny