Generating Agile Technology
By Lisa Ferdinando
Through a collaborative program with the Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center, a team of engineering students designed and prototyped a generator powered by ocean movement, with the aim to support the energy needs of warfighters in contested logistics environments.
During the 2024-2025 academic year, students at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, Calif., in collaboration with the Marine Energy Development Program of the Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (NAVFAC EXWC), initiated a multi-phase, multi-disciplinary capstone project that aims to bring agile technology to the warfighter. The students, five mechanical engineering majors and four studying electrical engineering, selected NAVFAC EXWC as their capstone sponsor for the inaugural session of this project. Their objective was to design, build, test, and field a portable Expeditionary Ocean Power Generator (ExOPG) that would convert and store electrical energy from ocean movement.
The ExOPG device is meant to support the warfighter in the field, giving forces the ability to recharge batteries while minimizing a logistics footprint. This would remove the need for a bulky generator and allow missions to continue without resupply.
Guided Design And Prototyping
To guide their design, the students deciphered historical ocean buoy data and leveraged information gathered by EXWC from a wave resource assessment conducted at the Cal Poly Pier. The assessment provided valuable data on wave power potential, and helped the students to engineer a device specifically tailored to the site’s wave characteristics.
In translating oceanographic theory into real-world application, students tackled the design, fabrication, and deployment of the ExOPG prototype throughout the academic year. Their hands-on work involved machining precision metal parts with a keen focus on achieving the required tolerances.
Encased in a watertight, buoyant structure, a rack and pinion gear system converts the vertical movement of waves into rotational energy, spinning a shaft that drives a generator. The electrical team fully developed the internal components, including a rectifier, booster, control unit, and battery.
Developing a prototype from the design involved rigorous testing, including a watertight integrity test at the Cal Poly Pier in Avila Bay in early May. Soon after, further testing was carried out in Morro Bay as mentors from EXWC observed and evaluated the ExOPG’s performance. Supported by the Department of Energy, Cal Poly Pier partnered with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to conduct high-resolution wave energy resource characterization. This collaboration aims to provide valuable data to student teams and developers, enabling them to correlate wave activity with the performance of future marine energy technologies.
Then in late May, the students successfully deployed the 30-lb ExOPG near the mouth of Morro Bay.
Real-World Applications
The partnership between Cal Poly and EXWC gave students the unique opportunity to design and create a project with real-world applications. The new technology developed could support ongoing efforts to equip the warfighter in contested logistics environments. The ability provided by the ExOPG to produce power close to the point of use aligns directly with the current operating concepts of services like the U.S. Marine Corps, and increases the survivability and lethality of the modern-day warfighter.
Plans are being made for future EXWC-sponsored projects, built on the foundation set by the ExOPG capstone.
Lisa Ferdinando is Public Affairs Officer, Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center; lisa.a.ferdinando.civ@us.navy.mil.
Published in the September-October 2025 issue of The Military Engineer
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Generating Agile Technology
Through a collaborative program with the Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center, a team of engineering students designed and prototyped a generator powered by ocean movement, with the aim to support the energy needs of warfighters in contested logistics environments.
