HANA O KE KAI - University of Hawaiioe.soest.hawaii.edu/OE/newsletters/ore newsletter v14 i1...

HANA O KE KAI “Work of the Ocean” NEWSLETTER OF THE OCEAN AND RESOURCES ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT, Spring 2012, Volume 14, Issue 1

Bruce M. Howe, Chair

T he ebb and flow of life in the

Department continues.

It is always a pleasure to have students

finishing their degrees, including Lau-

ren Tuthill, Charlie field, Yefai Bai,

and Pablo Quiroga. And, Jerica Nolte

was awarded the SNAME Society

Graduate Fellowship. Congratulations

to all!

Professor Geno Pawlak will be leaving

ORE this summer for UCSD Mechani-

cal Engineering. We are sad about this

and wish him the very best of luck in

new endeavors, while also hoping and

expecting to maintain continuing col-

laborations. Geno, for the wonderful

time we have had together and all your

contributions to the Department, ma-

halo nui loa!

As reported below, SOEST is acquiring

a 6,000 m remotely operated vehicle

(ROV). This will be a new asset that

will allow operations that complement

and extend HURL manned submersi-

ble missions, hopefully including engi-

neering projects for OTEC, sea water

air conditioning, submarine power ca-

bles, unexploded ordinance, and man-

ganese nodules, in addition to basic

research science projects. With the new

capability, our students and research

will benefit and with a more diverse

portfolio, we will be better equipped to

weather the ever changing political and

financial storms confronting ocean sci-

ence and technology research.

Chair’s Message Inside this issue:

Chair’s Message 1

Editor’s Corner 1

Students’ Voice 2

Student News 2

Events & Publications 3

ORE Student Research 4

ORE News 9

ORE Family 9

Alumni News 7

Donor Form 14

F amily means putting your arms around each

other and being there for one another. Being

part of the ORE Ohana, I believe the amount

of success that you achieve increases when it is

shared with your family. This newsletter serves as a tool

to spread what is going on in your life. It should not only

focus on the academic aspects, but also be a free voice

for your thoughts and emotions. In words of Einstein,

you will rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of

life!

In this issue, I’ve focused on alumni achievement as

those of students. Learning about real life stories is inspi-

rational for most. It may even help to reduce some anxi-

ety about what might happen after graduation.

It was also a sad moment for us to say aloha to graduat-

ing students and Geno Pawlak. They are beginning a

new chapter of their lives and are ready to fly away from

home. As you will read from our alumni stories, no

matter how far away you go, you will always be a part of

the ORE Ohana. Best wishes to all of you!

Happier days are just around the corner. After rainy days

full of working and study, the sun is embracing us with

warm light once again. I wish all of you a happy and

productive summer.

I owe special thanks to Ethan Roth, Richard Carter and

all faculty members, students and alumni for helping me

to prepare this issue. Any suggestions and comments for

future issues is always welcomed.

I hope you’ll enjoy this Hana O Ke Kai!

Editor’s Corner Yaprak Onat, TA

Volume 14, Issue 1 1

Students’ Voice


HANA O KE KAI “WORK OF THE OCEAN”

T his year, I’ve had the privilege of sharing my office space with a few of my classmates. The

comfy quarters we have shared in POST 132 (and 132a) have provided an opportunity for us to

share ideas, work through homework together, and discuss our various interests - all in a quiet,

windowless, variable-temperature environment. All of us come from different backgrounds—

some of us local Hawai’i kids, others mainland travelers between jobs—but we all share the same passion

for Ocean Engineering that I have thoroughly enjoyed for the past two years in the ORE department. Shar-

ing an office has given us an experience unique to graduate school, and is something I will certainly cherish

as a full-time engineer in a few short weeks. Though lively conversations could be distracting at times (as

was the on-going game of RISK), they did give me much needed breaks from the challenges of wave dynam-

ics, MATLAB programming, and thesis writing.

Office conversations can really serve two beneficial purposes: one is to gain or share information with your

classmate about an idea that one of you is struggling with, and the other is to “blow off steam” when this

struggle becomes insurmountable. Office camaraderie is an undoubtedly worthwhile experience during a

Master’s or PhD program since it prepares us for the challenges of real-world engineering, where we’re

forced to bounce ideas off of our co-workers. Sharing an office prepares you for life as a full-time engineer

because if you’re not ready to share your ideas with the person sitting next to you—whether it’s friendly ban-

ter about the Red Sox or a meaningful engineering dilemma about Morrison’s equation—then are you really

ready to share them with the world?

Charlie Field, ORE Student Representative Thoughts on Office Camaraderie

Student News

Jerica Nolte is awarded to the Society Graduate Scholarship of SNAME to study hydrodynamic forces of

a WEC buoy tethered to a sea anchor. The award amount is $5,000 for the 2012-2013 academic year.

Lauren Tuthill defended her MS Plan A thesis “Dynamics of Cross Shore Exchange on a Tropical Fore-

reef” on March 2, 2012.

Charlie Field defended his MS Plan B thesis “Seakeeping Analysis of Ride Quality Improvements to an

Ultra Deep Vee Hull” on April 4, 2012.

Yefei Bai defended his PhD dissertation “Depth-integrated Free Surface Flow with Non-hydrostatic For-

mulation” on April 27, 2012.

Pablo Durarte Quirora defended his MS Plan A thesis “Effect of Bed-Form Roughness on Long-Wave

Transformations over Fringing Reefs ” on May 22, 2012.

Congratulations and very best wishes for your future and successful career!

Publications & Events



Some Recent ORE Publications

Upcoming Meetings and Conferences

International Exposition 2012, Yeosu, Korea, May12-Augoust 12, 2012, http://eng.expo2012.kr/main.html

4th World Maritime Technology Conference (WMTC 2012) , Lenexpo, Saint Petersburg, Russia, May 29– June 1, 2012,http://www.wmtc2012.org/en/Conference

ICCE 2012 International Conference on Coastal Engineering, Santander, Spain June 1-6, 2012,http://

www.icce2012.com/index.html

11th International Marine Design Conference, Glasgow, UK, June 11-14, 2012, http://imdc2012.org.uk/

The 22nd International Offshore (Ocean) and Polar Engineering Conference (ISOPE), Rhodes, Greece, June 17– 22, 2012, http://www.isope.org

OMAE 2012 31st International Conference on Ocean, Offshore and Artic Engineering, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 1-6, 2012, http://www.asmeconferences.org/OMAE2012/

4th International Conference on the Application of Physical Modeling to Port and Coastal Protection, Ghent, Bel-

gium, September 17-20,2012, http://www.coastlab12.com/

Ninth International Training Workshop on Integrated Coastal Management in the Mediterranean and the Black

Sea, Dalyan-Aegean Coast-Dalyan, Turkey, September 25– October 11, 2012, http://www.emwis.org/thematicdirs/events/2012/09/ninth-international-training-workshop-integrated-coastal-management

4th International Conference on Estuaries and Coasts (ICEC), Hanoi Vietnam , October 8-11, 2012, http://icec2012.wru.edu.vn/

International Conferences on Marine Technology (MARTEC), Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia, October

20-22, 2012, Deadline for abstracts: May 28, 2012, http://martec.umt.edu.my/

Arinaga, R.A. and Cheung, K.F. (2012). “Atlas of global wave energy from 10 years of reanalysis and hindcast data.”

Renewable Energy, 39(1), 49-64.

Bai, Y. and Cheung, K.F. (2012). “Depth-integrated free-surface flow with a two-layer non-hydrostatic formula-

tion.” International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids, 69(2), 411-429.

Cheung K.F., Wei, Y., Yamazaki, Y., and Yim, S.C. (2011). “Modeling of 500-year tsunamis for probabilistic design

of coastal infrastructure in the Pacific Northwest.” Coastal Engineering, 58(10), 970-985.

Das, S. and Cheung, KF. (2012). “Scattered waves and motions of a vessel advancing in a seaway.” Wave Motion, 49

(1), 181-197.

Duennebier F, Lukas R, Nosal E-M, Aucan J, Weller R(2012). Wind, waves, and acoustic background levels at Sta-

tion ALOHA. Journal of Geophysical Research. 117, 21 pages, C03017, doi:10.1029/2011JC007267.

Lay, T., Yamazaki, Y., Ammon, C.J., Cheung, K.F., and Kanamori, H. (2011). “The 2011 Mw 9.0 off the Pacific

coast of Tohoku earthquake: Comparison of deep-water tsunami signals with finite-fault rupture model predic-

tion.” Earth, Planets and Space, 63(7), 797-801.

Yamazaki Y., Lay, T., Cheung, K.F., Yue, H., and Kanamori, H. (2011). “Modeling near-field tsunami observations

to improve finite-fault slip models for the 11 March 2011 Tohoku earthquake.” Geophysical Research Letters, 38,

L00G15, Doi: 10.1029/2011GL049130.

Yamazaki, Y. and Cheung, K.F. (2011). “Shelf resonance and impact of near-field tsunami generated by the 2010

Chile earthquake.” Geophysical Research Letters, 38, L12605, Doi: 10.1029/2011GL047508.

Yamazaki, Y., Cheung, K.F., Pawlak, G., and Lay, T. (2012). “Surges along the Honolulu coast from the 2010 To-

hoku tsunami.” Geophysical Research Letters, 39, Doi: 10.1029/2012GL051624.

Yamazaki, Y., Cheung, K.F., and Kowalik, Z. (2011). “Depth-integrated, non-hydrostatic model with grid nesting for

tsunami generation, propagation, and run-up.” International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids, 67(12), 2081-

2107.

http://eng.expo2012.kr/main.html

http://www.icce2012.com/index.html

http://www.icce2012.com/index.html

http://www.asmeconferences.org/OMAE2012/

http://www.coastlab12.com/

http://www.emwis.org/thematicdirs/events/2012/09/ninth-international-training-workshop-integrated-coastal-management

http://www.emwis.org/thematicdirs/events/2012/09/ninth-international-training-workshop-integrated-coastal-management

http://icec2012.wru.edu.vn/

http://icec2012.wru.edu.vn/

http://martec.umt.edu.my/


ORE Student Research


O ver the last ten years, an unusual number of large tsunamis have occurred around the world. The

most recent 11 March 2011 Tohoku earthquake (Mw 9.0) generated a mas-sive tsunami that devastated the entire Pacific coast of northeastern Japan, including the Kanto and Tohoku dis-tricts and the south coast of Hokkaido. The most affected area was along the Tohoku coast, where the average runup was between 10 ~ 20 m, and the highest runup reached over 39 m. The 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsu-nami resulted in a death toll of over 15,000 and property damage of US$200 billion. Despite the tragic loss of life and a property, tsunami data-sets were generated that provided the best quality and coverage of any earth-

quake to date for scientific research and emergency management. Six GPS buoys, three wave gauges, and three DART buoys around the earthquake source recorded the complex genera-tion and initial evolution of the tsu-nami. These 12 water level records provide the first complete dataset to assess the tsunami generation mecha-nism. Few water-level stations have recorded such initial tsunami behav-iors in other previous events. Recent advances in seismic inversion

algorithms enable accurate descrip-tions of the dislocation, rise time, and rupture propagation over the fault area. Historically, none of the tsunami models were able to fully utilize these detailed rupture processes to describe tsunami generation. The main reason is the lack of vertical flow structures in the model formulation. We have de-veloped a shock-capturing,

Yoshiki Yamazaki,

Post-doctoral Research Fellow

Modeling of the 2011 Tohoku Tsunami

with Advanced Earthquake and Tsunami

Numerical models

Figure 1:Time sequence of rupture, seafloor deformation, and surface elevation dur-

ing the generation and initial evolution of the 2011 Tohoku tsunami

Continued on page 5




Modeling of the 2011 Tohoku Tsunami with Advanced

Earthquake and Tsunami Numerical models…

Continued from page 4

dispersive wave model, NEOWAVE (Non-hydrostatic Evolution of Ocean WAVEs), which builds on the nonlin-ear shallow-water equations with a vertical velocity term to account for dispersion in tsunami generation and propa-gation, as well as a momentum conserving advection scheme to describe flow discontinuities associated with breaking waves and bores. The vertical velocity term de-scribes tsunami generation from the time history of sea-

floor deformation and appropriately takes into account the transfer of potential and kinetic energy from the seafloor into the water.

The development of NEOWAVE has provided alternate directions in tsunami research. NEOWAVE was the first tsunami model, which fully utilizes detailed rupture proc-esses from finite fault inversion to describe the generation and initial evolution of tsunamis. The computed results from NEOWAVE have been validated with the recorded water-level data at the GPS buoys, wave gauges, and DART buoys surrounding the source of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. The two-way, grid nesting scheme in spherical coordinates allows modeling of the entire tsunami evolu-

tion which includes generation at the source, basin-wide propagation, and nearshore wave transformation and run-up. Further tsunami impact assessments along the Japan coasts with NEOWAVE will provide insights into effects of local resonance on near-shore tsunami processes, in-cluding wave dispersion and bore formulation, which were observed at several sites during the event. References: Yamazaki, Y., Kowalik, Z., and Cheung, K.F. (2009). Depth-

integrated, non-hydrostatic model for wave breaking and run-

up. International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids, 61

(5), 473-497.

Yamazaki, Y., Cheung, K.F., and Kowalik, Z. (2011). Depth-

integrated, non-hydrostatic model with grid nesting for tsunami

generation, propagation, and run-up. International Journal for

Numerical Methods in Fluids, 67(12), 2081-2107.

Lay, T., Yamazaki, Y., Ammon, C.J., Cheung, K.F., and Kanamori,

H. (2011). The great 2011 Tohoku-oki (Mw 9.0) earthquake:

Comparison of deep-water tsunami signals with finite-fault

rapture model predications. Earth, Planets, and Space, 63,

doi:10.5047/eps.2011. 05.030.

Yamazaki, Y., Lay, T., Cheung, K.F., Yue, H., and Kanamori, H.

(2011). Modeling near-field tsunami observations to improve

finite-fault slip models for the 11 March 2011 Tohoku earth-

quake. Geophysical Research Letters, 38, L00G15,

doi:10.1029/2011GL049130.

Figure 2: Modeling of tsunami propagation and runup at Onagawa, Japan using NEOWAVE with two-way nested-grids.

Circles denote locations of water level stations and rectangles outlines the nested computational domains.




INTRODUCTION Recent global and local projections suggest that sea-level will be on the order of 1 m or higher than the current level by the end of the century. Coastal communities and eco-systems in low-lying areas are vulnerable to impacts result-ing from hurricane or large swell events combined with sea-level rise. Numerical modeling has become an indis-pensable tool for coastal engineering design and hazard

assessment. An ORE research team led by Prof. Cheung has been developing numerical models for coastal engi-neering and disaster management for more than a decade. His team recently assembled a package for the modeling of storm-induced coastal flood hazards. The package utilizes a suite of numerical models to capture both large scale phenomena in the open ocean and small scale processes in coastal areas for inundation mapping in Hawaii and at various sites across the continental US. METHODOLGY The model package contains four simulation components: (1) meteorological conditions, (2) astronomical tides and storm surge, (3) wave generation, propagation, and near-

shore transformation, and (4) surf-zone processes and runup onto dry land. The package includes a suite of para-metric hurricane models, the third generation spectral wave model WW3, the coastal wave model SWAN adapted by former ORE postdoc Jean-François Filipot for tropical reef environments, a storm surge and tide model adapted by ORE postdoc Ning Li based on the tsunami model NEOWAVE developed by ORE postdoc Yoshiki Yamazaki, and the fourth-order conservative Boussinesq-type wave model BOSZ developed by ORE postdoc Volker Roeber. Significant aspects of this package are the two-way coupling between the spectral wave and storm surge models, as well as a phase-resolving component of coastal and swash processes that are often neglected in

existing model packages. SWAN and NEOWAVE dy-namically share the radiation stress, water surface eleva-tion, and current velocity that result in a more accurate prediction of the wave field and surge elevation. BOSZ

uses the storm surge level and wave spectrum provided by NEOWAVE and SWAN and calculates wave-by-wave processes in the surf zone including secondary effects such as infra-gravity motion and surf beat, thereby providing an accurate description of the high-velocity flows, runup, and inundation along the coastline. The majority of the models utilize parallel computing ar-chitecture and run on Prof. Cheung’s in-house 176-

processor computer cluster. RESULTS Each model has been validated individually as docu-mented in various publications, while the model package as a whole has been validated with recorded wind speed, wave conditions, water levels, and debris lines from Hurri-cane Iniki of 1992 and Hurricane Ivan of 2004 that made landfall on Kauai, Hawaii, and the Gulf coast, respec-tively. Figures 1, 2 and 3 provide snapshots of the com-puted flow fields from the two events. The package cor-rectly reproduces large wave run-up of several meters above the storm surge level under hurricane wave condi-tions. This highlights the importance of considering wave-

by-wave calculations for disaster management. The mod-elling work also shows high-speed flows in the swash and wave breaking zone that pose erosion hazards and poten-tial danger to coastal infrastructure. Conventional land-use planning often considers sea level rise as a static component. However, this research is show-ing that sea-level rise can significantly exacerbate flood

Volker Roeber,

Post-doctoral Research Fellow Modeling Coastal Flood Hazards

Figure 1 :Maximum flow speed from the wave field at Poipu

Beach, Kauai (HI) during Hurricane Iniki of 1992. The flow

speed was calculated to exceed 10 m/s at some locations in

the swash und run-up zone. The black line denotes the out-

line of the observed inundation limit for reference. Output

from BOSZ.

—————————————————————— NEOWAVE: Non-hydrostatic Evolution of Ocean WAVEs BOSZ: Boussinesq model for Ocean and Surf Zones NEOWAVE and BOSZ are NOAA approved numerical models for inundation mapping in the US. Continued on page 8

Inside ORE



I n the last ORE newsletter, Bruce Howe described the ALOHA Cabled Observatory (ACO) in-stallation and its basic infra-

structure. Besides the ports that are available for future science experi-

ments, ACO features a suite of core sensors that are already being used to analyze variations in temperature, salinity, currents, pressure, and under-water sound. Acoustic data is col-lected by the Hydrophone Experiment Module (HEM), which consists of both a broadband and high-frequency hydrophone. The kinds of signals re-ceived more often come from sources such as earthquakes, ships, and ma-rine mammals. Naturally, it’s the cap-t ivat ing cal ls of charismatic megafauna that have become of par-

ticular interest to some ACO data us-ers. Much of the research on Hawaiian

cetaceans is conducted near-shore or in calm waters on the leeward side of the islands, while ACO provides a unique opportunity to study several deep-water species at a site represen-tative of the North Pacific subtropical

gyre (Station ALOHA). In addition, acousticians who deploy autonomous recorders offshore are constantly faced with the limitations of batteries or media storage capacity, while with ACO the data literally keeps coming in 24/7. When the ACO proof mod-ule was deployed from 2007-2008, researchers at HIMB found that the occurrence of Minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) in Ha-waiian waters is much more frequent than previously thought (Oswald et al., 2011).

This past winter was an incessant ca-cophony produced by the giant levia-

thans as they made their way into Ha-waiian waters. In addition to Minke whale boings, several different re-searchers have acoustically identified calls from other baleen whale species such as blue whales (Balaenoptera

musculus), fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) , humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), and sei whales (Balaenoptera borealis). Toothed whales emit calls at higher frequencies, so besides the vociferous echolocation clicks of deep-diving sperm whales (Physeter macrocepha-lus), one would not expect to receive signals from other odontocetes at nearly 5 km depth. Yet there are nu-merous unidentified buzzes, clicks, and whistles that have been recorded well above 10 kHz, which is beckon-

ing further curiosity from marine mammal experts.

Ethan Roth & Bruce Howe, PI

Listening to Marine Mammal Calls

from Five Kilometers below the

Ocean Surface

Continued on page 8




Modeling of Coastal Flood Hazards…


hazards caused by hurricane landfalls or large swell events from extra-tropical storms. Additional analysis (Figure 3) for probabilistic hurricane scenarios in combination with a moderate increase in sea level indicates a more pro-nounced storm surge level that in turn allows more de-structive waves in the nearshore area.

References:

Booij N., Ris R.C., Holthuijsen L.H. (1999). A third-generation wave model for coastal regions, Part I, model description and validation. J. Geophys. Res., 104(C4), 7649-7666.

Filipot, J.-F. and Cheung, K.F. (2012). Spectral wave modeling in fringing reef environment. Coastal. Eng. accepted.

Phadke, A.C., Martino, C.D., Cheung, K.F., and Houston, S.H. (2003). Modeling of tropical cyclone winds and waves for emer-gency management. Ocean Eng., 30(4), 553-578.

Tolman H.L. (2008). A mosaic approach to wind wave model-ing. Ocean Modelling, 25(1), 35-47.

Roeber, V., Cheung, K.F., and Kobayashi, M.H. (2010). Shock-capturing Boussinesq-type model for nearshore wave proc-esses. Coastal Eng., 57(4), 407-423.

Roeber, V., Cheung, K.F. (2012). Boussinesq-type model for ener-getic breaking waves and its application to fringing reef envi-ronment. Coastal Eng., accepted.

Yamazaki, Y., Kowalik, Z., and Cheung, K.F. (2009). Depth-integrated, non-hydrostatic model for wave breaking and runup. Int. J Num. Meth. Fluids, 61(5), 473-497.

Yamazaki, Y., Cheung, K.F., and Kowalik, Z. (2011). Depth-integrated, non-hydrostatic model with grid nesting for tsu-nami generation, propagation, and run-up. Int. J Num. Meth. Fluids, 67(12), 2081-2107.

Figure 2 – Individual waves overtopping Okaloosa peninsula (FL)

during Hurricane Ivan of 2004 resulting in significant inundation

far beyond the actual storm surge level. Output from BOSZ.

Figure 3 – Storm surge at Okaloosa peninsula (FL) under hurricane

conditions at 1 m projected sea level increase. In many cases, a rise

in sea level intensifies the storm surge and the subsequent inunda-

tion. Output from NEOWAVE.

Listening to marine mammal calls from five kilometers below the ocean surface…


By adopting a model whereby ACO core-sensor data is free and accessible to the scientific community and public (the ACO website streams live audio), the ever-growing archive of ACO acoustic records serves to bolster collaborations and helps to achieve innovative science. Currently, the Cetacean Research Program at NOAA PIFSC is interested in com-paring the seasonal presence and site fidelity of several species recorded at ACO to other long-term acoustic monitoring sites around the Hawaiian Islands. The Marine Mammal Research Program at HIMB is using ACO data to develop various signal detection algorithms used to automatically identify and classify calls by species. We are also beginning to work with Whale Acoustics, a small business contractor, to engage in more multi-faceted and interdisciplinary acoustics studies dealing with ambient sound, ship-noise disturbance, localization/tracking, and population density estimates.

ORE News



A s part of their standard practice, SNAME hosted a joint meet-

ing with the Marine Technology Society (MTS) and the

American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE), in addition to

the SNAME and MTS Student Sections at the University of

Hawaii on April 17, 2012. Ian R. Busch, P.E. Manager of Initial Design &

Naval Architecture (IDNA), General Dynamics NASSCO, presented

“Mobile Landing Platform (MLP): The Evolution of Cost-Effective Sea-

Basing”. ORE thanks UH student chapter chairs John Casilio (SNAME)

and Will Templeton (MTS) for their efforts in organizing this delightful

social event.

T he C-MORE education office held an Ocean and Earth Science

Career Day on April 21st for high school and community col-

lege students around Oahu. The ORE table showcased our de-

partment, as well as careers in the ocean engineering field, to

the next generation of college-bound students.

T he School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) and the University of Hawaii at

Manoa (UHM) have contracted Deep Ocean Exploration and Research (DOER) Marine for the

design and construction of a new remotely operated vehicle (ROV). With a depth of rating 6 km,

the DOER Marine H6000 ROV will extend the vertical reach of exploration and complement the

capabilities of the existing fleet of UH manned, remotely operated, and autonomous underwater vehi-

cles. The new vehicle will provide operational support and assist the science carried out by the human oper-

ated vehicles (HOV) Pisces IV and Pisces V. Designed for maximum maneuverability and mission flexibil-

ity, the H6000 will have the ability to collect specimens; characterize substrates; capture video and still im-

ages of activities and surveys, monitor water column properties, install, connect and test seafloor equipment,

and perform other specialized tasks. Reference: Bernard Greeson

ORE Family

W e are sad to say that Geno Pawlak will be leaving ORE for UCSD-ME this summer. Geno will still be part of

our family by advising students and continuing ongoing work. To send him off, ORE had a party organized by

Natalie Nagai on May 4, 2012. Best wishes, Geno!

ORE Family



I t is with a bit of a heavy heart that I will be bidding aloha to UH this summer as my family and I

leave the islands. I will be starting a new position in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace

Engineering at the University of California, San Diego. Although we are excited for new ventures,

our departure is bittersweet – Hawaii has been a wonderful, happy home for us for the past 11 years.

During my time with UH, I have been fortunate to work with world-class faculty in ORE, SOEST and

across the university, along with dedicated and skilled technical and administrative staff. I’m grateful to all

of you for your support over these years. Most of all, working with ORE students has made my time at UH

especially satisfying.

I’m particularly proud of the graduate research work carried out by Marion Bandet, Miguel Canals, Kumar

Rajagopalan, Abdulla Mohamed, Vasco Nunes, Mindy Swanson and Lauren Tuthill, with whom I’ve had

the privilege of working with as thesis advisor. Their work has contributed to new understanding on a

range of topics including boundary layer dynamics in steady and oscillating flows, tsunami generated bores

and tropical reef circulation. In the end, I’m sure I’ve learned at least as much from them as they might have

from me. Similarly, ORE postdoctoral researchers Jeremy Bricker, Judith Wells, Jon Fram and Sergio

Jaramillo have all made invaluable contributions to our research group. None of the work could have been

carried out without the expert contributions of ORE technical staff including Kimball Millikan, Brian

McLaughlin, Chris Colgrove and Joseph Shacat.

I’ve also greatly enjoyed working with numerous other students in ORE and SOEST on a wide range of

topics as a thesis committee member. I’m consistently impressed and inspired by the creativity and ingenu-

ity shown by students across the school.

I am encouraged and excited about ORE’s present and future. The department has outstanding new faculty

in ocean acoustics and ocean resources, expanding research in ocean energy, along with continued excel-

lence in wave modeling and ocean observing technology. The department’s continued excellence is further

reflected in the full ABET accreditation granted in 2010. I anticipate that ORE will play important roles in

new SOEST and UH initiatives in ROV technology and sustainability.

At UCSD, I’ll be joining the faculty in the department where I received my PhD 15 years ago. I anticipate

continuing much of the field-based research on coastal hydrodynamics that I’ve been carrying out at UH,

but I will also be establishing a more significant component in laboratory-based environmental fluid dynam-

ics research. I will continue to work with ORE and SOEST, where I’ll continue to advise students and

work with faculty to maintain and expand ORE field and lab facilities.

While our move to San Diego makes a lot of sense for us on many levels, it still is difficult to leave our

beautiful island home, and the wonderful ‘ohana of ORE and SOEST. I hope to continue to cross paths

with you all in Hawaii, California or elsewhere. Aloha, mahalo and a hui hou.

Geno Pawlak Aloha ORE

Alumni News



“Nonlinear Water Waves” at the Erwin

Schrödinger International Institute for

Mathematical Physics Motohiko UMEYAMA

M otohiko UMEYAMA

received his Ph.D.

from ORE in May

1989. He is now a

professor in the Department of Civil

& Environmental Engineering at To-

kyo Metropolitan University. Here is

his article published on 'Nonlinear

Water Waves', Philosophical Transac-

tions of the Royal Society A (2012),

Vol.370-1964, p1499-1719.

During the three-month period be-

tween April 4 and June 30, 2011, a

program “Nonlinear Water Waves”,

organized by A. Constantin (Vienna),

J. Escher (Hanover), D. Lannes (ENS

Paris) and W. Strauss (Brown), was

held at the Erwin Schrödinger Inter-

national Institute for Mathematical

Physics in Vienna, Austria. This pro-

gram was devoted to recent progress

in the mathematical study of water

waves, with special emphasis on

nonlinear phenomena in various

fields of science and engineering, such

as applied mathematics, physical

oceanography, civil engineering, and

ocean engineering. It aimed to pro-

vide insight into modern aspects of

water wave theory by focusing on

four very active areas: (i) free surface

water waves; (ii) stability theory of

fluids; (iii) current aspects of inte-

grable systems and solitons; and (iv)

tsunamis. There were a series of one-

hour lectures by 18 invited speakers

including Robin S. Johnson

(Newcastle), H. Segur (Colorado), J.-

M. Vanden-Broeck (UCL), and M.

Stiassnie (Israel). In addition, two

workshops were held on May 17-19

and May 31-June 1, and 17 papers

were presented at “Workshop on

Qualitative and Numerical Aspects of

Water Waves and Other interface

problems” and “Workshop on Sur-

face Water Waves”.

In April 2012, a special issue

“Nonlinear Water Waves”, compiled

and edited by Adrian Constantin, was

published from Philosophical Trans-

actions of the Royal Society A (ISSN

1364-503X). This volume (Vol.370,

No.1964) is not a conference proceed-

ing, but rather it collects various pa-

pers from some leading experts with

the aim to offer a snapshot of the cur-

rent activity in these four areas of re-

search within the broad field of water

waves. Some authors are concerned

with approximations of small-

amplitude motions, while others

tackle the nonlinear governing equa-

tions for water waves. A wide range

of analytical, numerical and experi-

mental approaches is covered in this

issue. Although most of the contribu-

tors to this volume also participated in

the program “Nonlinear Water

Waves”, the list of authors repre-

sented in the contents is broader.

Some papers in the present collection

illustrate the most recent research idea

or technique that provides particular

insight into the aspect of nonlinear

water waves.

References of some participants

Constantin A. (2011) Nonlinear water

waves with applications to wave–

current interactions and tsunamis,

CBMS-NSF Conference Series in Ap-

plied Mathematics, SIAM, Vol. 81.

Johnson, R.S. (1997) A modern intro-

duction to the mathematical theory of

water waves. Camb. Univ. Press

Drazin, P.G. and Johnson, R.S.

(1988) Solitons: an introduction,

Camb. Univ. Press.

Mei, C.C., Stiassnie, M., Yue, D.K.-

P. (2005) Theory and applications of

ocean surface waves. World Sci.

Vanden-Broeck, J.-M. (2010) Gravity-

Capillary Free-Surface Flows. Camb.

Univ. Press.

Figure 1: This photo was taken in Hanoi

in October 2011. Over the course of a

m onth , Um eyam a lec t ured on

“Nearshore hydrodynamics” for gradu-

ate students of the Oceanography de-

partment in Vietnam National Univer-


Alumni News


T ore Leraand came from Norway to study Ocean En-gineering at UH from 1987-1990. His thesis was related

to the development of a 3D element for analysis of flexible cables (with Prof. Ronald Riggs in the CE dept.) He joined Makai Ocean Engineering the same year he graduated (1990) and worked there until the spring of 2007 when he started his own company, in addition to a family! He and his wife now have two small kids (2 & 4) and live in Hawaii Kai. Currently, he is developing sonar processing software for commercial sale. His goal is to make it easy and affordable for anyone to “get in the water” and map seafloor bathymetry without spending a fortune. SonarTRX is now in use by more than 100 clients in 20+ countries. Here is his story. .. “It was exciting to come to University of Hawaii in 1987 to study Ocean En-gineering and also to enjoy ocean sports (Windsurfing / wave riding) in warmer waters. The Norwegian gov-ernment provided student loans & grants to students who wanted to study abroad. University of Hawaii’s program in Ocean Engineering was on the list of approved graduate schools, so it was a quite a unique opportunity. I think the most difficult thing initially was to get accustomed to lectures in a foreign language. However, I did have the advantage of 2 year work-experience for a Norwegian engineer-ing firm involving design of oil plat-forms for the North Sea, and most project documentation was in English. During my masters, I followed the offshore course option and worked on my technical paper with Professor

Ronald Riggs at the Civil Engineering department (“An Element for Static Analysis of Flexible Cables”). At the time, the lectures were held by Profes-sor Ertekin, Seidl, Loomis, Bathen, and Edith Katada was the one keeping it all together in the “OE Headquar-ters”. As is the case now, the students in the Ocean Engineering department were from all over the world, provid-ing a great learning experience, both from a technical and cultural point of view. Ocean Engineering is a very broad field and typical projects involve sev-eral disciplines e.g. civil, mechanical, chemical engineering and oceanogra-phy. My background in Civil engi-neering combined with the topic of my thesis gave me an advantage when it came time to finding a job the Ha-wai’i. I started working for Makai

Ocean Engineering in 1990 doing sea-water pipeline design and feasibility studies for both sea water air-conditioning and OTEC. Later on, I was more involved with developing cable-laying software and commis-sioning & sea-trials of telecom ships. It was an exciting time and involved a lot of travel. After 16 years I decided that I was ready to branch out on my own and focus more on software de-velopment and commercial clients. I was also ready to cut back on travel-ing and start a family. When working on a software develop-ment project, it is important to be positive and stay motivated. Without start-up funding, the pressure to make money and sell software licenses was there from the very beginning.

Tore Leraand A journey From Norway to Hawaii

SonarTRX

Continued on page 13


Alumni News


A journey from Norway to Hawaii…


I consider that a good thing; Hawaii has some high-tech compa-

nies, but few are able to sustain themselves without government-

support in the form of tax credits or federally funded research

contracts (SBIR, CEROS, HTDV etc.). Many technology-

companies end up shifting their attention away from the original

intended client-base in order to support their sponsor’s priorities,

which may not always align with the commercial market. I de-

cided to focus on making it easy & fun to map the seabed, using

SonarTRX and fish-finders with sidescan technology.

SonarTRX is affordable, easy to use software for viewing and cre-

ating geo-referenced images from sidescan sonar recordings. The

images can be viewed with Google Earth or imported to GIS.

SonarTRX is geared towards users of modern fish-finders that often

include sidescan capabilities. Many SonarTRX users are from uni-

versities, environmental groups, fisheries research organizations,

dive contractors, maritime archaeologists and search & rescue op-

erations. Their feedback has been extremely helpful in ensuring that

I am developing features desired by the end-users. I am also happy

to have clients using SonarTRX for unexploded ordnance (UXO)

mapping/clearance in rivers in South-East Asia. They are able to

carry out their work in remote areas, on a very low budget.” More

information about SonarTRX can be found at www.sonartrx.com

Tori Leraand with His wife: Margot Schrire, and their kids:

Torbjorn and Sofie

T imothy Downs was tenured

in 2010 as an Associate Pro-

fessor of Environmental

Science & Policy at Clark

University, and continues to work on

community-centered sustainable de-

velopment - with a health and wellbe-

ing focus - in locations such as the US,

Central America, Africa and Asia. He

recently gave a plenary talk at the Na-

tional Institutes of Health Campus in

Bethesda, MD on “Integrated Ap-

proaches to Health System Analysis

and Response”. His master’s work on

OTEC from1988-1990 continues to

serve him well. He undertook a doc-

toral degree in Environmental Science

& Engineering at UCLA during 1992-

1998, with fieldwork in Mexico on

water supply, sanitation and health

impacts. He married in 2007 had a

daughter in 2009. They are building a

sustainable home in the beautiful,

tranquil woods of Central Massachu-

setts (Petersham) and welcome their

friends and family anytime. Here is

his story...

“I recall that I found the math in-

volved in Hydrodynamics quite chal-

lenging, but that I studied very hard

and didn't go out much that first term

so I would succeed. The effort paid

off. I did well in the class and I still

use that class as an example for my

own students that we are all capable

of more than we may think we are.

People used to tease me that studying

in Hawaii must have been hard with

all the distractions but I studied hard

and played hard, and found a good

balance. I joined Koa Kai Canoe Club

based at Ala Moana Park, and that

was great fun. I was living a dream

being in those ocean canoes off Wai-

kiki. I grew up watching the original

Hawaii 5-0. I loved the OTEC re-

search and marine architecture. Going

aboard Prof. Seidl’s “NAVATEK-I”

with my mom when she visited from

England was terrific fun. We spent

such a memorable time together, and

would remember UH and O’ahu

many times over the years. My mom

passed away recently and we played

clips of our time together in Hawai’i

at her funeral. My mom laughed so

hard in the glorious wind of Pali look-

out; thanks for the memories.

Timothy Downs

Continued on page 14

Sustainability in Life

http://www.sonartrx.com/


Alumni News


Sustainability in Life…


The sustainability work is great for me because I get

to combine social and technical knowledge and

work with others to innovate in ways society needs

to become more sustainable. UCLA was a great in-

terdisciplinary doctoral program because it was set

up to train people to be just that - interdisciplinary.

It was based in the School of Public Health, which

reinforced my health focus, but included faculty

from the natural sciences, engineering, and social

sciences. I had two great faculty champions who

mentored me and helped me succeed: Arthur Winer

and Mel Suffet. They became most important when

I ran into political obstacles during my dissertation

work in Mexico and was being pressured to work

on air quality issues instead of water issues which I

wanted to investigate. My six years in Mexico 1994-

2000 taught me to be resilient and not to be drawn

into conflict and negativity. Clark University where

I have been since 2001 is a great fit for me because

it is a small research university with liberal arts cul-

ture. My department includes engineers, physicist,

chemists, geographers, political scientists, anthro-

pologists and economists. Many of us have worked

in the so-called “developing world”, and we have

projects in Africa, Asia and the Americas. One

quickly learns that the underlying challenges for

sustainability are fairly universal and are more so-

cial and political than technical. Pooling knowledge

and building bridges among different groups and

cultures are the key.

My family and close friends and mentors helped me

be successful. In particular, there were close friends

in Mexico - Pablo Cicero, Marisa Mazari, Gaby

Sanchez, Ricio Alatorre, Carlos Santos and Ma-

tiana Ramirez - who became my local support net-

work. Remembering to laugh, not taking yourself

too seriously, being true to your code of honor, be-

ing a true friend, and always doing your best. These

are very important in life as we face challenges

along the way.

I work to create partnerships among academic re-

searchers, communities most affected by environ-

mental change, policy makers and businesses.

These partnerships basically pool diverse types of

knowledge to create improved understanding of

complex problems - like the drivers of health in a

given setting - then apply this collective knowledge

to explore alternative solutions/responses/policies/

practices. We then choose the one deemed most

sustainable by multiple criteria - social, economic,

ecological, political and cultural - and build requi-

site social and technical capacity to implement

it, monitor performance and adapt to changes over

time. The approach is rooted in what the literature

calls "socio-technical network innovation". We tend

to use health and well-being (including employment

and prosperity) as entry points for constructive dia-

logue among stakeholders, then connect with other

topics and sectors that are interdependent like food

systems, energy, land use, transportation, water and

sanitation. It is an approach that works at multiple

spatial scales, for any topic, and crucially sets the

social dimension as primary, with technical dimen-

sion secondary, playing the support role to social

change.”

Timothy Downs with his wife: Elizabeth and their daughter

Hana O Ke Kai Newsletter of the

Department of Ocean and Resources Engineering School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology

University if Hawaii at Manoa

2540 Dole Street, Holmes Hall 402

Honolulu, HI 96855-2303

USA

TEL: +1(808)956-7572

FAX: +1(808)956-3498

Email: [email protected]

URL: http://www.ore.hawaii.edu

To subscribe, obtain copies of previous issues of

HANA O KE KAI and send your material for the

newsletter publication, please visit the above URL

and then click the ‘News’ link.

ENGINEERING THE

OCEANS SINCE 1966!

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