The University of Southampton is excited to be a part of this year’s Southampton International Boat Show, not only to showcase the exciting and impactful research and enterprise activity we are undertaking in the marine and maritime space, and the large selection of courses we offer in this sector, but also because we pride ourselves on being a Civic University and we are committed to making a positive difference to the lives of all residents and communities across the City and the Southern region.
The University of Southampton stand, coordinated by the Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute and the School of Ocean and Earth Science, will be showcasing a number of interactive exhibits that bring to life research projects and activity that span marine robotics, underwater archaeology, wind assisted shipping and nature-based solutions for coastal defences.
Dr Michael Grant and Dr Felix Pedrotti will be offering visitors the unique opportunity to explore the UK’s first Royal Research Ship, RRS Discovery, through the power of immersive technology. Dr Joseph Banks’ interactive wind tunnel experience will allow visitors to learn how wing-sails can increase the propulsive force on ships, allowing them to adjust the trim settings on a model of a commercial ship and measuring the output at different wind angles.
Professor Blair Thornton and his team will be talking visitors through our ocean-going robotics along with videos showing them in action in the field, and Dr Richard Stockey will lead an engaging hands-on activity that explores the evolution of Earth’s climate and life in our oceans by delving into interactive reconstructions of the Earth’s climate over hundreds and millions of years of Earth history.
Dr Hachem Kassem and researchers from the School of Ocean and Earth Science (SOES) will be on hand to talk through their interactive demo tank on nature-based solutions and coastal defense structures. The tank serves as a wave basin, where visitors can build a town out of Lego and add ‘natural’ or ‘engineered’ flood defenses, either traditional coastal protection (seawalls) or underwater/coastal vegetation (such as seagrass meadows), and then see how these stand up to wave flooding and storms simulated by a wave maker.
