ENGINEERING & INNOVATION
The Engineering & Innovation (EIG) Working Group connects engineering networks to the coral restoration community for a multidisciplinary approach to developing scalable and effective restoration solutions. To achieve this the EIG endeavors to 1) understand practitioner hurdles in an engineering context to help identify solutions, 2) help to clearly communicate design requirements to the engineering network, and 3) provide opportunities for practitioner-engineer interfacing (e.g. workshops, Reef Futures Symposium).
The working group’s Core Team is led by Chair Miles McGonigle (Secore International), and Co-Chair Deepak Sathyanarayan (Zero-G Horizons Technology).
PRIORITIES
Our priorities for the 2020-2025 timeframe include:
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Optimization of transport and physical attachment of coral to reefs
Development of structures to augment natural reefs
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Sustainably augmenting restoration using automation, robotics, and sensing technologies
Click here to see our full list of priorities and sub priorities.
WHAT WE'RE WORKING ON
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CoralTech: a web-based portal that showcases both emergent and existing restoration methods. Expected release Winter 2021.
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EIG is investigating transport methods designed to increase the number of corals that can be moved from a nursery to restoration site in a single day.
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In an effort to move past traditional adhesives like epoxy and nails/zipties, EIG is looking into developing new adhesives to scale-up restoration activities.
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Engineered Structures: Small-scale engineered structures can be used to augment coral restoration efforts. They provide not only clean, uncompromised, substrate for coral attachment but can also be used to scale up coral restoration efforts.
