© Makai Ocean Engineering, Inc. ​ Keep an Eye on Makai Semi-Annual Newsletter   ALOHA! Here are some quick updates on Makai and our ocean technologies. Makai was recently awarded a $245 million IDIQ contract with the Navy, enabling us to compete for Oceans MAC contracts. A new west-coast office has been opened in Ventura, California. We have started work on a Phase I SBIR for Air Force Ultra Compact Heat Exchangers, which aims to transition our ocean energy heat exchanger technology.  Meanwhile, our focus on ocean energy continues with efforts on the DoE ARPA-E MARINER offshore macroalgae program as well as seawater air-conditioning designs in the Caribbean. Makai’s cable products continue to lead the market as we join the team for the world’s longest submarine power cable installation and are developing ways to connect power and data cables underwater autonomously. Just the sort of challenging and innovative projects that our engineers love! Makai has recently upgraded from ISO9001:2008 to ISO9001:2015 to ensure our work is performed at the highest possible quality. Finally, we welcomed 3 new engineers to the team on the Makai Research Pier. Please be sure to keep an eye on our employment webpage for future opportunities. We hope you enjoy!   With Aloha, The MOE Team www.makai.com

Makai Wins $245M IDIQ Contract for Ocean Engineering Services to the Navy   Ocean cables are one of the primary task areas for this new contract with NAVFAC EXWC; a Makai engineer is pictured here aboard a subsea cable installation ship in 2017.   The big news is that Makai was awarded a $245 million ceiling IDIQ contract by the Navy for ocean engineering services for a period of 5 years. Makai will support the Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (NAVFAC EXWC), in Port Hueneme, California under this award.  Tasks will leverage Makai’s diverse project experience to provide worldwide design and construction of ocean cable systems, ocean work systems (i.e., shipboard load handling systems and undersea work systems), waterfront facilities, offshore structures, moorings, and ocean construction equipment.  Makai is excited to work with our government customers and subcontractors to provide services at Makai’s high standard of quality under this award. The Government press release can be found here: Defense News Navy Award April 25, 2018

The World's Largest Manufacturer of Cables Chooses MakaiLay  MakaiLay’s 3D viewer showing the subsea power cable route and profile.   The subsea cable team is honored to announce that the Prysmian Group, the world’s largest manufacturer of cables, has decided to join the elite group of MakaiLay users. MakaiLay’s real-time feedback allows for precise placement and eliminates the risk of cable failure due to errors made in the installation process. It is expected that MakaiLay, with its power-cable-specific module will be used by the cable ship Giulio Verne when it starts working on the North Sea Link installation - a subsea power cable interconnector between Norway and UK that will be the longest subsea interconnector in the world upon completion in 2021. The Prysmian Group’s extensive knowledge in cable manufacturing paired with the world’s #1 subsea cable installation software ensures the successful installation of the North Sea Link project as well as many to come.

U.S. Air Force SBIR for Heat Exchanger Technology   Volumetric comparison of Makai’s heat exchanger vs. a State-of-the-Art heat exchanger for an aircraft application   ​Makai has been awarded a Phase I SBIR contract to develop Ultra-Compact Heat Exchangers for the U.S. Air Force. The proposed system is based on the thin walled titanium heat exchangers originally developed for ocean energy applications in our Heat Exchanger Manufacturing and R&D Facility in Kailua-Kona, that was constructed in late 2016. The heat exchanger utilizes innovative manufacturing techniques that allow the system to conform to complex geometries, while providing increased efficiency. Testing shows a dramatic improvement in volumetric performance compared to industry standard heat exchanger technology. This Air Force SBIR award will allow Makai and its engineers to adapt our technology and prove its application in domains other than the one we are well known for; the ocean. For more information on our heat exchanger technology, see the last issue of our newsletter. It’s always interesting to see how innovative technology can translate across domains; from the ocean to the edges of space! This is the first of many possible applications, and we are poised to see what the future holds for Makai’s heat exchanger technology. Contact a Makai Engineer to discuss your application today!

Three New Navy SBIR/STTR Contracts for Towed Systems     Makai is expanding its knowledge and expertise of towed tethered systems   Makai was awarded three more Navy Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) contracts. The first contract is for straightening of vertical towed arrays while it is being towed, as the straightness of the array affects the accuracy of the sensors. The design will have to take into account the ocean’s currents and the towing vessel’s speed and path. The goal is to design a system that automatically accounts for these changing variables and straightens the vertical array along its entire length. The system will be designed to integrate with existing vertical array systems. Makai’s experience modeling underwater cables and how they interact with the ocean environment positions our engineers well to tackle this project and design a viable solution.   The second contract awarded to Makai is to develop a distributed temperature sensing tow cable system, to accurately measure the temperature in the water column along the length of a towed cable. Makai’s strong experience understanding the dynamics of towed cables and state-of-the-art fiber optic interrogation methods provides us with the foundation to develop a ruggedized solution to this problem that’s extensible to a variety of towed systems and oceanographic applications. Finally, we have been selected for an SBIR Phase II for further development of our horizontal towed array straightening system.

Dominican Republic SWAC Feasibility Study Deployment of deep seawater pipe similar to what would be used for the Dominican Republic SWAC intake.   Seawater air conditioning, or SWAC, remains a hot topic in many Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Caribbean islands that have access to deep cold seawater. SWAC provides a low energy option for cooling buildings to help their occupants escape the hot climate. Makai recently concluded a SWAC feasibility study and conceptual design for Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic. Makai’s conceptual design of the SWAC system would serve a resort area and downtown areas of Puerto Plata. This award follows an earlier development bank funded feasibility study that used Makai’s SWAC computer model to show that Puerto Plata was a technically and economically promising location for a SWAC system. For places like Caribbean islands that have large cooling loads with access to cold deep sea or lake water, SWAC systems have been proven to yield attractive economic returns and provide eco-friendly air conditioning. Contact a Makai engineer to discuss your SWAC project today!

Macroalgae Farm for Future Biofuel Production Makai’s initial concept design of the algae farm and harvester vessel.   Exploring how to cultivate and harvest macroalgae (i.e., seaweed) for fuel using low-cost, low-energy technologies will be the central task in two Makai contracts (modeling as a prime and engineering design as a sub) that were recently kicked off under the Department of Energy, ARPA-E’s MARINER Program. Makai is tasked to design a system that will bring nutrient rich deep seawater up to fertilize a macroalgae farm on the ocean’s surface. Makai is teamed up with Kampachi Farms, LLC to produce a system that grows, harvests, and processes macroalgae, independently from any electrical grid or fossil fuels. Complex physical, nutrient, and biological modeling tools are being developed using Makai’s EFDC software. The goal is to have all of the following systems powered by alternative energies as to reduce the cost to produce the fuel and create a sustainable system. Deep Seawater Upwelling System Algae Growing Substrate Algae Seeder & Harvester Algae Harvest Transportation to Shore   This project looks 50 years into the future with the hope of creating game-changing and sustainable technologies for alternative fuel source. Coastal macroalgae cultivation is a billion dollar industry in the Asian and European markets, and Makai is proud to be part of a team exploring options that could accelerate the world’s transition away from fossil fuels.

Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Testing Award   Makai’s underwater vehicle will be adapted to install and connect power and data cables and tested in Hawaii.   Makai recently won a grant from the State of Hawaii, Hawaii Technology Development Corporation (HTDC) to advance the capabilities of our patented autonomous underwater vehicle. This funding will support deep water at-sea testing of the fully assembled prototype. The underwater vehicle will bury, install, and connect power and data cables underwater without a human in the loop, which will mark the first time this has ever been done, to our knowledge.   We would like to send out a big Mahalo to HTDC for their support of Makai in bringing innovative technology from Hawaii to serve the technology needs of our federal customers.   See the previous issue of our newsletter for more information on this project.

Employee Spotlight: ​   Allan Carmichael   Ocean Engineer   Allan joined Makai in 2008 as a part-time research assistant while attending the University of Hawaii and pursuing his Master of Science degree in Ocean Engineering. While attending UH, Allan was part of a team that worked on connecting underwater environmental sensors on the Kilo Nalu Nearshore Reef Observatory. Allan took on a full-time position at Makai as an ocean engineer a few months before graduating with his masters, working on marine pipeline engineering and R&D engineering and design and testing for underwater vehicle development. Over Allan’s time with Makai, he has made significant contributions to the R&D team and has taken a leadership role on Makai’s Autonomous Underwater Vehicle as the lead Test Engineer. He continues to enhance our client’s systems with his practical and creative design solutions as well as performing test diving, vehicle construction and maintenance, and day to day operations. Allan is an experienced diver that provides in-water feedback to our engineers on land while testing Makai’s R&D projects. His testing support on the underwater vehicle includes numerous tests off of the Makai Research Pier as well as testing off the coast of California. He provides engineering design for underwater pipelines and has overseen at-sea oceanographic and bathymetric surveys.  During his free time you will likely find him surfing, paragliding over the island, or free-diving and spearfishing.

What are you Working on?     If you have a project related to the ocean, we can probably help. We are nimble, creative, cost-effective, and most importantly, our designs last. We'd love to discuss your project that might involve:    Subsea Pipe / Cable Systems Pipeline designs Cable designs Micro fiber optic cable systems Cable planning and installation software and services Survey support Energy Systems Cooling water intake and screen designs Heat exchangers Bottoming cycle power plant designs Energy storage designs Offshore wind / wave / tidal engineering District cooling designs Engineering & economic modeling Marine Vehicles & Buoys Underwater vehicle design Sonobuoy component design Submarine Launch, Recovery, Transport vehicles Naval architecture General Engineering Support Corrosion R&D and testing Materials Testing Environmental consulting Physics-based modeling Software development GIS software and services Value engineering   Please call or email us today for a free consultation about your project. Contact a Makai Ocean Engineer!