The MIT Sea Grant College Program receives nominations during the academic year for the Dean A. Horn Award for Undergraduate Study in Marine Research. All MIT undergraduates from any department are eligible. An award of $1000 and a certificate is presented at the end of May. The winner is selected for excellence in design and execution of his/her research project, and for clear communication of his/her results in a well-written paper.
Dean 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 in his name to honor and perpetuate Horn’s many contributions to undergraduate marine education: his spirit of service, creativity, pursuit of excellence, and tireless application to research.
2024 Awardees
- Santiago Borrego (MIT Mathematics ’26)
- Unyime Usua (MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science ’27)
Unyime and Santiago trained machine learning algorithms to aid aquaculturists in differentiating and counting healthy and unhealthy shellfish larvae.
>>Read the 2024 Dean Horn announcement
PAST AWARDEES
| 2023 | Arianna Ilvonen, MechE ’24 | Design and Testing of an Autonomous Cable Mounted Aquaculture Robot |
| 2023 | Emma Rutherford, MechE + Physics ’23 | Design and Deployment of an Underwater Enclosure for a High-Speed Video Camera |
| 2022 | Ethan Lietch; B.S., Mechanical Engineering ’22 | First Order Thermal Model of the Navy Integrated Power Electronics Building Block |
| 2021 | Alex Miller; B.S., EECS & Physics | Simple Modem: A Low Cost Acoustic Modem Implementation for Remote Sensing Applications |
| 2020 | Quingmei (May) Wu; B.S., Mechanical Engineering | Evaluating a Multi-jet Impingement Air Heat Exchanger Design for PEBB 6000 using Solidworks Flow Simulation |
| 2018 | Danielle Gleason; B.S., Mechanical Engineering | Increasing Situational Awareness of Motorized Kayak Operators. |
| 2018 | Jocelyn Lorrey; B.S., Mechanical Engineering | Adding an Onboard Computer to the SeaPerch ROV. |
| 2017 | Stanislav Lukashov; B.S., Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | Constructing and Experimenting on a Magnetic Metamaterial Lens for Improved Wireless Power Transfer Efficiency. |
| 2016 | Stanislav Lukashov; B.S., Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | Constructing and Experimenting on a Magnetic Metamaterial Lens for Improved Wireless Power Transfer Efficiency. |
| 2015 | Hayoon Chung; B.S., Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering | Calculation of Observed Slip Velocities in an Intrusion Layer from a Submerged Oil Blowout. |
| 2014 | Jacqueline Sly; B.S., Mechanical Engineering | Overview of the Prototype Aluminum-Gallium Power System for the Remus 600 Unmanned Undersea Vehicle. |
| 2013 | Andrei Ivanov; B.S., Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | Video productions for communication of MIT Sea Grant projects, programs, and people. |
| 2012 | Katy Olesnavage; B.S., Mechanical Engineering | The Design and Testing of a Procedure to Locate Fresh Submarine Groundwater Discharge in Cyprus (thesis). |
| 2011 | Adam Doroski; B.S., Mechanical Engineering | Precision Stationkeeping with Azimuthing Thrusters. |
| 2010 | Joseph Conte; B.S., Mechanical Engineering | Fast-starting robotic fish. |
| 2009 | Corinna Hui; B.S., Mechanical Engineering | Laser Range Finder Mapping of Floating Vehicle. |
| 2008 | Matt Gildner; B.S., Mechanical Engineering | Small Diameter Propeller Design Utilizing OpenProp for use with MIT ROV Team. |
| 2007 | Damon Vander Lind; B.S., Physics, 2007 | Modal Decomposition of Internal Tides |
| 2006 | Lauren Cooney; B.S., Mechanical Engineering, 2006 | Development of a Low-Cost Underwater Manipulator |
| 2005 | Heather Brundage; B.S. Candidate, Ocean Engineering, 2006 | An ROV Concept for the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) National Competition. |
| 2004 | Michael Jordan Stanway; B.S. Candidate, Ocean Engineering, 2006 | The Development of an Artificial Gill to Supply Oxygen to a Submerged Microbial Fuel Cell |
| 2004 | Daniel Walker, 2004 | An Amphibious Tetrapod |
| 2004 | Rubi Rajbanshi: B.S., Chemical Engineering, 2004 Melissa Wu: B.S. Candidate, Biology, 2005 |
Analysis of the Growth and Sustenance of Ascidiella aspersa and Ciona intestinalis |
| 2003 | Kathryn (Katie) Wasserman: B.S. Candidate, Ocean Engineering, 2004 | iQuarium: An Interactive Aquarium for Science and Engineering. web site || news link |
| 2003 | Johanna L. Mathieu: B.S. Candidate, Ocean Engineering, 2004 | Acoustic Backscatter from Sediment and Archaeological Wood |
| 2002 | Sandra Chow: B.S. Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering | Assessing Eukaryotic Genetic Diversity Along Natural and Artificial Gradients in the Ocean |
| 2001 | Brett J. Lockyer: B.S. Candidate, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2003 | Odyssey Actuator Manual news link |
| 2001 | Sara Jo Elice: B.S. Candidate, Urban Studies and Environmental Engineering, 2001 | Whither the Sediment: A History and Evaluation of the Boston Harbor Navigation Improvement Project news link |
| 1998 | Ian Ingram: B.S. Candidate, Ocean Engineering | The Autolycus Project news link |
| 1996 | Jamie Cho: B.S. Candidate, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1996 | McRobolobster, a Human Interface to Robolobster |
| 1995 | Steven R. Jayne, B.S. Candidate, Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, 1995 | Dynamics of Beta Plane Jets: A Nonlinear Model of the Gulf Stream news link |
| 1994 | Steven Jayne: B.S. Candidate, Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, 1994 | Dynamics of Plane Jets: A Nonlinear Model of the Gulf Stream |
| 1993 | Amy Chan: B.S. Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1993 | Sources of Contaminants to Boston Harbor: Revising Loading Estimates |
| 1992 | Mark Corcoran: B.S. Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1992 | Effects of Dredging on the Movement of PCBs in New Bedford Harbor |
| 1991 | Jennifer Caulfield: B.S. Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1992 | A Simulated Model of Polychlorinated Biphenyls Uptake and Excretion in Blue Mussels, Mytilus edulis |
| 1990 | Donald L. Lee: B.S. Candidate, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1990 | Deep Submergence Autonomous Underwater Vehicle news link |
HOW TO APPLY
Nominations are currently closed.
Nomination of candidates is by letter from the student’s faculty supervisor and must be accompanied by the student’s research report, both emailed to mnewlim@mit.edu. Students are encouraged to ask their faculty supervisor for a nomination. No UROP experience required.
Faculty members may submit one or more nominations every year. Final selection will be made by MIT Sea Grant Director Michael Triantafyllou, in consultation with an independent MIT faculty committee.
CONTACT US
If you have any questions, please contact MIT Sea Grant Research Coordinator Mary Newton Lima at mnewlim@mit.edu.
VISIT & CONTACT
12 Emily Street, NW98
Cambridge, MA 02139
seagrantinfo@mit.edu
(617) 253-7041
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12 Emily Street, NW98
Cambridge, MA 02139
seagrantinfo@mit.edu
(617) 253-7041
Accessibility
MAILING ADDRESS
MIT Sea Grant College Program
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue, NW98-151
Cambridge, MA 02139
MIT Sea Grant College Program
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue, NW98-151
Cambridge, MA 02139
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MIT Sea Grant Newsletter
Northeast MA Coastal Outreach (NEMCO)
Southeast MA Coastal Outreach (SEMCO)
