Sea Technology would like to call attention to a young scholar, Claire Atkinson, who has written a paper (below) on a project that simulates AUV flight to improve efficiency for scientific operations.

Atkinson is a junior at the University of Washington (UW) majoring in physics and applied and computational mathematical sciences. She uses Python to study gliders that help measure and analyze ocean environments. Atkinson aspires to pursue a research career with a focus in ocean, bio or atmospheric physics.

“Claire Atkinson came to work with me as an undergraduate physics major at the University of Washington,” said Peter Brodsky, principal engineer at the Applied Physics Laboratory at UW. “She was tasked with generating simulations of autonomous underwater gliders, which my lab builds and operates.  With no background in the area, she quickly learned the associated subsea physics and mechanics and ultimately produced a sophisticated and useful model. This is some of the best work I have ever seen from an undergraduate in my 25-plus years in the business.”