UMERC+OREC Workshops and Tours Sign-ups Logo

  • UMERC+OREC Workshops and Tours Sign-ups

    The UMERC+OREC Conference is delighted to be able to offer you a variety of workshops and tours throughout the week. Due to the number of workshops and tours, you will find that many are taking place concurrently. Therefore, we are requiring that all participants sign-up for each sub-event. As you will note, many of the workshops and tours do have attendance caps so please make sure that you are only signing up to sub-events you will actually attend. See the descriptions, times, and other necessary information below. As always, feel free to reach us at umerc@pacificoceanenergy.org if you have any questions. *Workshops and Tours are available to registered participants only.*

  • WORKSHOPS

    Shaping the Future of DEEC-Tec: An Update and Collaborative Dialogue on Distributed Embedded Energy Conversion Technologies for Marine Energy Conversion
    Host: NREL - Dr. Blake Boren
    Date: Tuesday, August 12, 2025
    Time: 8:30am-9:30am
    Cap: 50 Attendees

    The workshop will provide participants with an update on Distributed Embedded Energy Conversion Technologies (DEEC-Tec)—a field aiming to drive a step-change in how ocean wave energy is harvested and to enable a transformative shift in the design and implementation of wave energy converters. DEEC-Tec centers on the distribution and embedment of many relatively small energy transducers, which collectively form the structure of the converter itself. The primary goal of the workshop is to update, inform, spark interest, and gather input by presenting updated value propositions, identifying key challenges and pitfalls, and facilitating interactive dialogue on the future of DEEC-Tec. This includes discussion of plausible use cases, technical barriers, and collaboration opportunities across near-, mid-, and long-term timeframes. Ultimately, the workshop aims to foster interdisciplinary exchange among ocean energy conversion stakeholders thereby building momentum around a promising new direction in sourcing marine energy.


    Stakeholder Engagement Workshop
    Host: AMEC - Dr. Lindsay Dubbs, Dr. Linda D'Anna & Viola Clark
    Date: Tuesday, August 12, 2025
    Time: 9am-12pm
    Cap: 50 Attendees
    Are you interested in stakeholder engagement, but don’t know where to start? Are you trying to understand outside perspectives or get community buy-in to advance your research or technology? Join the AMEC Stakeholder Engagement Team and other researchers in this workshop to reflect on your own experiences with engagement and explore techniques for a key first step in the engagement process: stakeholder analysis. Dive in with us to find out more!


    Workshop on Differentiable Marine Hydrodynamics Simulations and its Applications using MarineHydro.jl
    Host: Cornell University - Dr. Maha Haji & Mr. Kapil Khanal
    Date: Tuesday, August 12, 2025
    Time: 10:00am-12:00pm
    Cap: 30 Attendees
    This workshop introduces MarineHydro.jl, a fully differentiable BEM solver that unlocks access to exact sensitivities of hydrodynamic coefficients through reverse-mode automatic differentiation. Developed in Julia, MarineHydro.jl supports both direct and indirect BEM formulations and includes fast and accurate Green’s function implementations. The workshop is targeted at researchers and practitioners working on design and control of offshore and marine structures, with an emphasis on applications where sensitivity information is essential. Participants will learn to install the solver, perform hydrodynamic simulations, extract gradients, and apply these results to practical case studies.


    Environmental Effects of Off-grid Marine Energy
    Host: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
    Date: Tuesday, August 12, 2025
    Time: 10:00am-12:00pm
    Cap: 50 Attendees

    Most research and monitoring for marine energy devices has sought to understand effects that will drive permitting and licensing decisions for large (utility-scale) devices. However, we know that many near-term and likely long-term uses of marine energy will be to power remote coastal and island communities and to provide power at sea for offshore aquaculture, ocean observations and navigation markers, and other off-grid uses.  

    The workshop will provide some background on off-grid uses, and will focus on interactive sessions that examine and discuss environmental effects of off-grid marine energy applications via use cases for:

    • Providing power for a remote coastal community - tidal
    • Providing power for an island community - wave
    • Powering aquaculture operations
    • Powering offshore ocean observations

    Please join Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Ocean Energy Systems – Environmental (https://tethys.pnnl.gov/about-oes-environmental) to explore what level of environmental effects might be expected from smaller-scale (off-grid) wave, tidal, and other marine energy devices, and to determine what additional information is needed to streamline permitting for these devices.

    PRIMRE Workshop: Choose Your Own Data Adventure
    Host: Pacific Northwest National Laboratories, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories
    Date: Wednesday, August 13, 2025
    Time: 3:00pm - 5:00pm
    Cap: 50 Attendees

    Join the Portal and Repository for Marine Renewable Energy (PRIMRE) team to learn about the data, information, and resources available on PRIMRE and provide feedback on future development. This workshop will feature three different facets of the PRIMRE:

    AI/ML in Marine Energy: Explore AskPRIMRE, an AI-powered research assistant that can answer questions on a vast array of marine energy topics, and discuss potential applications for AI/ML in marine energy.
    Marine Energy Software: Review several commercial and open-source software packages relevant to marine energy development and discuss future ‘Software Demo Days’ interactive sessions.
    Diving into PRIMRE: Dive deep into PRIMRE to find specific resources to support marine energy research, development, and deployment.
    Each activity will include live and interactive demonstrations to help acquaint participants with PRIMRE, its knowledge hubs, and the various pathways to data, information, and resources. 

    PRIMRE is developed and managed by three U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories: the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia). 

    Installation, Operations & Maintenance (IO&M) Tool Development Workshop
    Host: NREL - Ms. Elena Baca
    Date: Wednesday, August 13, 2025
    Time: 3:00pm - 5:00pm
    Cap: 50 Attendees

    NREL is hosting a workshop focused and marine energy installation, operation, and maintenance (IO&M).

    We will be soliciting for feedback on our marine energy (ME) IO&M tool in development. We are particularly seeking feedback from ME technology developers and supply chain vendors who offer services applicable to IO&M activities of marine energy systems.

     

    TOURS
    O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory
    Host: Dr. Pedro Lomonaco and OSU Hinsdale Lab Team
    Date: Wednesday, August 13, 2025
    Time: 3:00pm
    Cap: 30 Attendees
    Join us for a tour of the Oregon State University's O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory. Hinsdale provides outstanding research and testing at the largest nearshore experimental facility at an academic institution in the US. The 61,000 ft2 (5,700 m2) building is situated on the main campus and houses the Large Wave Flume (LWF), Directional Wave Basin (DWB), and 5,400 ft2 (500 m2) of office space for staff, graduate students, visiting researchers, and clients.The laboratory conducts research on coastal and nearshore processes involving:

    • Wave-structure interaction
    • Nearshore hydrodynamics and sediment transport 
    • Wave energy
    • Tsunami and coastal hazards
    • Fixed and floating structures

    Through our work we deliver research, testing, and education and outreach opportunities to improve the resilience and sustainability of coastal areas, and to develop innovative solutions to the design of coastal infrastructure.

    Wallace Energy Systems & Renewables Facility (WESRF)
    Host: Dr. Ted Brekken and Dr. Eduardo Cotilla-Sanchez
    Date: Wednesday, August 13, 2025
    Time: 3:00pm-5:00pm
    Cap: 20 Attendees

    The Wallace Energy Systems & Renewables Facility (WESRF) is one of the highest power university labs in the nation. The lab is named in honor of the late Prof. Alan K. Wallace, who secured funding to establish the lab in 1993 as the Motor Systems Resource Facility, with the help of funding partners Bonneville Power Administration, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Electric Power Research Institute. In 2007, to signify a strong commitment to renewable energy, the lab was renamed the Wallace Energy Systems & Renewables Facility (WESRF). The WESRF lab is administered by the Energy Systems group. The lab is available for academic research and industrial testing services.


    PacWave
    Host: Mr. Dan Hellin and PacWave Team
    Date: Thursday, August 14, 2025
    Time: 2:30pm-7:00pm
    Cap: 80 Attendees
    Join us for a tour of the PacWave wave energy test facility located off the coast of Newport, OR.  The open ocean test site consists of four berths, which occupy two square nautical miles of ocean with a cable route to shore of approximately 12 miles in length. The location for PacWave South was selected through a public outreach process, including significant input from local fishermen. The project continues to have wide community support. As PacWave South is pre-permitted for the majority of wave energy device types, clients will not have to undertake a costly and time-consuming permitting process prior to testing at the site. This will allow for more rapid optimization of designs.

    We will organize transportation to and from OSU to PacWave once we know how many attendees are going.

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