Adam Doroski Wins 2011 Dean A. Horn Award for Undergraduate Study in Marine Research

Cambridge, MA — MIT Sea Grant announces the winner of the 2011 Dean A. Horn Award for Undergraduate Study in Marine Research. This year¡s award goes to Adam Doroski, a graduating senior in the MIT Mechanical Engineering Department for his senior thesis titled, Precision Stationkeeping with Azimuthing Structures. Doroski was nominated by his supervising professor, Franz Hover.Professor Hover¡s lab group has built a small kayak with twin azimuthing thrusters (one forward and one aft), for the purpose of precision stationkeeping ¤a capability that other autonomous boats lack. The control problem is not an easy one because of the nonlinearities involved. Doroski¡s contribution to this work advances the super-maneuvering capabilities of marine craft.Professor Hover describes Doroski¡s accomplishments this way: Adam tackled the controller design with a completely fresh perspective, first constraining the kinematic behavior of the thruster pair so as to simplify the problem, and then applying sound feedback control principles. He successfully proved out in simulation several original strategies, incorporating slew rate limits, simplified thrust dynamical models, and wave disturbances in order to capture realistic behavior.ŒDean A. Horn was Director of MIT Sea Grant from 1975 to 1982. The Award originated upon his retirement in 1983, when friends and colleagues established the award to honor his ideals: service, creativity, pursuit of excellence and tireless application to research. An award of $1000 is presented yearly to selected MIT undergraduate students for a creative marine-related project and resulting paper. Students from any academic department are eligible.For a complete list of past winners and for more information about the Dean Horn award, visit /horn.php .ABOUT MIT SEA GRANTThe mission of the MIT Sea Grant College Program is to employ innovative research, education and outreach strategies to responsibly use and sustain the vital marine resources of Massachusetts. The issues we address manifest locally but many are global in nature. Compelling challenges demand our attention as a solo entity and in partnership with other groups living and working on the coasts and at sea. MIT Sea Grant brings the substantial intellectual abilities of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and our sister universities to bear on ocean-related challenges requiring an extraordinary technical contribution. In meeting these challenges, we expand human understanding of the ocean and establish the infrastructure to sustain the initiatives and talent pool needed to address complex issues of critical and fragile marine resources. ### MIT Sea Grant College ProgramMail to: 77 Massachusetts Avenue, E38-300, Cambridge, MA 02139To visit: 292 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02140/