NOAA Awards Boston Engineering a Contract to Advance Hurricane Forecasting

WALTHAM, Mass., Oct. 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston Engineering today announced a contract with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to develop a prototype to enhance hurricane forecasting. The end product will collect readings from inside the storm area to improve modeling for hurricane intensity, trajectory, and duration over water. Boston Engineering's Advanced Systems Group (ASG) is executing the $400,000 Phase II SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) award.

Boston Engineering's MASED™ – an acronym for Multi-Purpose Above Surface/Below Surface Expendable Dropsonde – is an instrumented buoy with advanced sensors. MASED will be the first product to:

1. collect both atmospheric and underwater data to determine if a hurricane is gaining or losing strength more accurately; and
2. take readings during multiple submerge-and-surface cycles (profiles) to improve hurricane analysis.

"Advanced hurricane forecasting has the potential to increase public safety dramatically, and strengthen our storm preparation and response capabilities," said Mark Smithers, co-founder and chief technology officer (CTO) of Boston Engineering. "The NOAA MASED project also illustrates how our multimodal sonde technology can provide powerful insights for broader government and commercial requirements."

The MASED design incorporates proven air dropsonde technology with an innovative sonde device to record underwater temperature, depth, water current magnitude and direction, conductivity, and density. Typically deployed from an aircraft into the ocean, the MASED transmits its findings wirelessly each time it surfaces.

"Our MASED program illustrates how Boston Engineering combines its innovative concepts with practical and proven approaches to develop game-changing products that include cost-effective components and the flexibility to support a variety of research and other applications," said Michael Rufo, director of Boston Engineering's Advanced Systems Group.

About Boston Engineering
Boston Engineering delivers product design and engineering consulting solutions that drive innovation and achieve measurable results. We manage the entire product development process – from ideation to supply chain development. Certified for ISO 9001 and ISO 13485, our industry expertise includes consumer products, defense & security, medical devices, robotics, and industrial & commercial products. We are also the Northeast's largest PTC software reseller. Boston Engineering is headquartered in Waltham, Mass. with an additional office in the Advanced Technology & Manufacturing Center (ATMC) of the University of Mass. Dartmouth. Learn more at www.boston-engineering.com. 

SOURCE Boston Engineering Corporation

Related Links

http://www.boston-engineering.com

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