Ocean researcher wins
award and $300,000 grant
Geno Pawlak, University of Hawaii-Manoa assistant professor of ocean engineering, was one of 26 scientists selected nationally by the Office of Naval Research as a 2003 Young Investigator.
He will receive $100,000 a year for three years for research in the Department of Ocean & Resources Engineering.
The prestigious Young Investigator awards recognize research achievements, potential for continued outstanding research and strong university support.
Pawlak joined UH in March 2001 from the University of Washington, where he was a postdoctoral researcher. He said in a recent interview that his major interest is fluid dynamics, problems pertaining to coastal engineering.
He plans to use his grant to set up an array of instruments off Honolulu's South Shore to look at the effects of the roughness of a coral reef on waves approaching shore.
"That's important in general for coastal engineering because it defines what wave conditions are very near shore that affect sediment transport, coastal erosion and so forth," he said. "It also determines what some currents are near shore that transport pollutants and nutrients in the near-shore area."
He said the instruments will be placed in water about 30 feet deep and have pressure sensors to measure waves over a large field.
The instruments will probably extend about 10,000 feet offshore and cover an area about 1,650 feet across, he said. They will be cabled to shore, most likely at Kewalo Basin, so they can be monitored in real time, he said.
University of Hawaii
