Seatrec Selected for Gulf Blue Navigator Program
Seatrec Wins Spot in Inaugural Gulf Blue Navigator Program to Bring Ocean Innovation to the Gulf of Mexico
The University of Southern Mississippi Research Foundation-led initiative aims to recruit technology startups focused on improving ocean health, securing critical infrastructure, increasing coastal resilience and driving the Blue Economy
VISTA, Calif. – WEBWIRE – Monday, November 7, 2022 Seatrec, a renewable energy company that harvests energy from temperature differences in the environment, today announces that it was selected as one of six startups to join the inaugural Gulf Blue Navigator Program established by the University of Southern Mississippi Research Foundation and SeaAhead. Seatrec and the other startups in the new program were selected from a pool of 48 applicants across 12 countries.
The Gulf Blue Navigator program provides innovative, ocean-focused startups with market access to the Gulf of Mexico region, proximity to federal agencies, technical facilities, and expertise. These blue technology startups will leverage the existing strengths and capabilities of the Mississippi Gulf Coast and shorten the timeline of product development and market access.
“The Gulf of Mexico is a critically important area both economically and in terms of people affected by hurricanes,” explains Yi Chao, Ph.D., CEO and Founder of Seatrec. “Addressing the challenges facing the Gulf - from better predicting hurricanes to developing sustainable economic growth - requires innovative technology and Seatrec is excited to be part of the inaugural cohort.”
There is evidence to support that rapid intensification of major hurricanes - like Katrina, Irma and Ian - is strongly influenced by ocean conditions below the surface but current methods do not allow timely subsurface measurements over a large area.
Seatrec’s innovation to harvest energy from the ocean’s temperature differences can reduce the data collection interval from 10 days to 8 hours - 30 times more data than the battery-powered alternative - and increase the spatial coverage. This new wellspring of data provides a missing piece to improve the hurricane forecast, especially during rapid intensification.
Before the hurricane season in 2022, Seatrec successfully deployed two ocean-powered floats in the Gulf of Mexico to demonstrate the concept of operation. Support from the Gulf Blue Navigator program will allow Seatrec to expand the number of floats to be deployed before the next hurricane season in 2023 and collect the data needed to provide timely and accurate predictions of hurricane rapid intensification.
The program will also help Seatrec expand the development of clean, renewable power solutions for commercial applications across industries from transportation to aquaculture.
Startups participating in the program are provided access to advanced interactive workshops taught by practitioners in the field, site visits with large industry and federal agencies, co-working space at the historic Gulf and Ship Island Building in Gulfport, and customized mentorship to meet the needs of each startup. The program will kick off the first week of November with the cohort visiting all three Coastal counties as a first step to developing partnerships to accelerate commercialization.
About Seatrec
Seatrec designs and manufactures energy harvesting systems that generate electricity from naturally occurring temperature differences in ocean waters. This renewable energy can be used to power deep water oceanographic research equipment such as floats, gliders, and autonomous underwater vehicles, resulting in the most scalable, cost-effective deep ocean data collection possible. Incorporated in 2016 by CEO, Dr. Yi Chao, Seatrec’s technology originated at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, to provide clean power for remote off-grid locations. The company is headquartered in Vista, CA. Visit us at www.seatrec.com and @seatrecinc.
About USMRF
The USM Research Foundation is a Mississippi non-profit corporation formed in 1998 and is administered and operated exclusively for the benefit of The University of Southern Mississippi. The foundation supports and enhances the research mission of the University by promoting the increase of useful knowledge and encouraging the development of intellectual property owned by the University. The foundation also provides support to the University by managing research contracts, coworking space and entrepreneurial programs.
About USM
The University of Southern Mississippi’s support for the Gulf Blue Navigator program is anchored by the Marine Research Center with its ability to support autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) development ranging from prototyping to over-the-horizon at-sea testing, the Thad Cochran Marine Aquaculture Center which conducts research in algae, fin and shell-based aquaculture as well as recirculating aquaculture system-based farming, and the Mississippi Polymer Institute.
About SeaAhead
Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., SeaAhead Inc. specializes in high-potential, ocean-focused technology startups, building global networks, and venture financing. Now also co-located in the Gulf & Ship Island building in Gulfport, SeaAhead’s platform, in tandem with USM’s infrastructure and mission of fostering a culture of innovation, will connect promising global blue technology startups to the Mississippi Gulf Coast blue economy.
Media Contact
Sean Yokomizo
Seatrec
sean.yokomizo@seatrec.com
+1 925.878.1200
Seatrec and Seabed 2030 Launch Project NEMO, the “Last Great Expedition” to Map Ocean’s Most Remote Spot
Autonomous profiling floats equipped with echosounders will map the ocean near Point Nemo – the farthest point in the ocean from land
VISTA, Calif. – WEBWIRE – Wednesday, March 23, 2022. Seatrec and The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project today announce Project NEMO (Novel Echosounder to Map the Ocean) via a memorandum of understanding to map the area in the ocean farthest from land near Point Nemo. The project marks one of the last great expeditions to explore the most remote and mysterious area on the planet in the spirit of efforts to chart unknown regions of the Amazon and poles during previous centuries.
“Point Nemo is particularly challenging and expensive to study and map because it’s 2,688 kilometers (1,670 miles) from the nearest land, which makes it emblematic of the difficulties that scientists face in understanding and mapping the ocean as a whole,” explains Yi Chao, Ph.D., CEO and Founder of Seatrec. “Successfully deploying technology that can accurately and inexpensively map the most remote point in the ocean will help us chart a way forward to the world’s first high-resolution map of the seafloor.”
Just over 20% of the seafloor is mapped at high-resolution leaving an area roughly equivalent to the surface of Mars uncharted. Knowledge of the ocean’s topography provides basic information for science, economy, education, management and geopolitics. Applications as diverse as climate modeling, tsunami forecasting, marine protection and management, communication cable and pipeline planning, all require reliable seafloor maps.
Seabed 2030 – a flagship program of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) – addresses that vital need through an international effort to facilitate the complete mapping of the seafloor by 2030.
“Mapping the seafloor will have a direct impact on the future of our planet, and as a result, that of humanity,” says Jamie McMichael-Philips, Seabed 2030 Project Director. “Cutting-edge technology like Project NEMO is critical to helping us achieve our goal of mapping the seafloor by 2030. ”
Experts estimate that it will cost up to $5B to map the 80% uncharted seafloor using traditional methods such as ships that burn diesel fuel and emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Seatrec’s transformative technology harvests energy from the ocean temperature difference and provides a cost-effective and sustainable solution to deploy a fleet of subsea robots at a fraction of the cost of ships.
Leading Project NEMO is seafloor mapping pioneer Larry Mayer, Professor and Director of the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping at the University of New Hampshire.
“The clock is ticking on the international community’s unprecedented effort to map the seafloor so we can understand and protect the ocean’s resources,” emphasizes Mayer. “Next-generation ocean mapping technologies – like Seatrec’s – are vital to getting the data we need in a scalable and cost-effective way.”
About Seatrec
Seatrec designs and manufactures energy harvesting systems that generate electricity from naturally occurring temperature differences in ocean waters. This renewable energy can be used to power deep water oceanographic research equipment such as floats, gliders, and autonomous underwater vehicles, resulting in the most scalable, cost-effective deep ocean data collection possible. Incorporated in 2016 by CEO, Dr. Yi Chao, Seatrec’s technology originated at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, to provide clean power for remote off-grid locations. The company is headquartered in Vista, CA. Visit us at www.seatrec.com and @seatrecinc.
About The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project
Seabed 2030 is a collaborative project between The Nippon Foundation of Japan and the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO). It aims to bring together all available bathymetric data to produce the definitive map of the world ocean floor by 2030 and make it available to all. The project was launched at the United Nations (UN) Ocean Conference in June 2017 and is aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal #14 to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources. For information visit: seabed2030.org.
Media contacts
Sean Yokomizo
Seatrec
sean.yokomizo@seatrec.com
+1 925.878.1200
Pegah Souri
Seabed 2030
pegah@raittorr.co.uk
+44 (0)7951 581707
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Morning Brew: Seatrec’s Self-Replenishing Batteries Could Make Ocean Research Cheaper
https://www.morningbrew.com/emerging-tech/stories/2022/03/14/seatrec-s-self-replenishing-batteries-could-make-ocean-research-cheaper
