Coral Reef Restoration Project at University of Hawai'i at Mānoa

The Mechanical Engineering Department at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa finishes its bachelor of science program with a yearlong course in practical engineering design. For the school year of 2016-2017, ten senior-year-level students with a common interest in improving the marine environment have teamed up to complete a design project focusing on infrastructure for natural resources restoration. Broadly, our task will be to design, manufacture, test, and deploy an in-water nursery for coral colony rehabilitation. The scope of this endeavor requires the development of critical engineering skills and qualities, such as engineering ethics, design methodology, project planning, decision making, materials selection, economic analysis, quality control, and finite element analysis.