EPS - Home

What We Do

Developing and building state-of-the-art solutions for challenging problems faced by the U.S. Navy has been our core expertise for several decades.

Modern submarines host thousands of sensors that are used for tactical purposes and also to collect data that are subjected to later analysis such as mission reconstruction.

APL-UW is the implementing organization for the Pacific Northwest component of the NSF Ocean Observatories Initiative: Regional Scale Nodes. This underwater cabled observatory will be installed off the Washington and Oregon coasts to span the Juan de Fuca plate. We are engineering leads for this high bandwidth, high power distribution system, and will also deliver the scientific instrument packages that connect to it. More >>

Expertise

Custom Recording Systems

We develop custom recording systems and also the interfaces between them and ship's sensors for every U.S. Navy submarine. We also develop the highly specialized signal processing tools used to analyze the collected data.

High-Definition Sonars

We have developed a new class of high-definition sonars used to inspect and identify objects in turbid water where optical systems fail and continue to explore applications for them. They can identify underwater intruders as part of harbor security, and can be deployed on remotely operated submersibles where they can scan for objects of interest. The sonars are even being used to count migrating salmon by fisheries researchers.

DIDSON high-definition sonar images: fish (L) and stingrays (R)

Photonics

Photonics is the use of light to acquire, transfer and store data of all types. Systems operating with light are expected to replace many electronic devices in the future. Researchers are developing fiber optic modulators and switches based on organic electro-optic polymer materials. We are also working on spectroscopic identification of materials using terahertz radiation.

Gary Harkins, EPS Department Director

What's New?

Visions'11 Cruise

Our engineers participated in VISIONS'11, a major research cruise aboard the R/V Thomas G. Thompson. Their work prepared for installation of the Regional Scale Nodes underwater cabled observatory (part of NSF’s Ocean Observatories Initiative). View the excellent graphics and real-time underwater video collected by remotely operated vehicle ROPOS. Areas of exploration included the Oregon Margin at Hydrate Ridge and Axial Volcano, more than 200 miles off the Washington coast. More >>

Detecting IEDs

APL-UW conducts basic scientific research to increase the predictive capabilities of counter-IED efforts and to detect IEDs at distance and speed before they can cause harm. More >>

Photonics Research

Senior Engineer and Affiliate Associate Professor Antao Chen's photonics group is engaged in multidisciplinary research on advanced fiber optic materials and devices to address the bandwidth needs of the future. More >>

XRay Flying Wing Glider

Principal Engineer and Affiliate Associate Professor Jim Luby leads the Laboratory's team in developing the large undersea glider in partnership with Scripps Institution of Oceanography. More >>

In the News

Undersea cable laid for 'transformative' ocean observatory

KUOW Radio, Tom Banse

24 Aug 2011

This spring, there was a big volcanic eruption in the Pacific Northwest. It happened under the ocean off the northern Oregon coast. All this week, a University of Washington research ship is streaming live video via satellite of lava flows in the undersea crater.

Whale-Song Recording Goes Deep

Nature News, Rex Dalton

9 Nov 2009

Silently slipping to 1,000 metres below the ocean surface, an undersea glider equipped with a recording device is cruising off Hawaii to capture unprecedented detail on the sounds made by whales.

Seaglider monitors climate-related ocean circulation in the Arctic

U.S. News & World Report

10 Jun 2009

An intelligent, ocean-going glider has spent six months on a record-breaking deployment to sample the icy waters off western Greenland.