University of Maine Completes Ocean Engineering Lab Funding

The University of Maine has received a USD 3.9 million grant from the Harold Alfond Foundation for the establishment of an ocean engineering and an advanced manufacturing laboratory on campus.

The latest grant brings the total of funds raised for the Harold Alfond W2 Ocean Engineering Laboratory and Advanced Manufacturing Laboratory to almost USD 14 million.

The ocean engineering laboratory will prototype coastal and offshore structures, including ships, aquaculture facilities, oil and gas structures, and ocean energy devices under extreme wave, wind and current environments.

“We are investing in people and infrastructure that will support ocean engineering, and advanced manufacturing education and research, and grow Maine jobs,” said Gregory Powell, chairman of the Harold Alfond Foundation.

The total construction, equipping and start-up of the new laboratories over the first three years will cost more than USD 13.8 million.

The Alfond Foundation naming gift will help complete the equipping of the facility, hire engineers for the start-up in 2015–16, and fund graduate and undergraduate students over three years to help start-up the facility.

“These will be the only labs of their kind in Maine with world-class capabilities to educate students and conduct cutting-edge research and development,” said professor Habib Dagher, executive director of the UMaine Composites Center.

“The R&D will support the growth of the ocean economies and shipbuilding sectors in Maine and the nation, as well as the growth of digital and additive manufacturing of thermoplastic composite materials.”