Phoebus High School students to benefit from $1 Million NSF-funded wave energy research partnership with ODU

Phoebus High School (PHS) students will soon have a unique opportunity to engage with cutting-edge renewable energy research through a newly funded $1 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant awarded to Dr. Tian-Bing Xu, a professor in the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at Old Dominion University (ODU). The grant supports the development of an innovative underwater wave energy converter system.

 

The project stems from a multi-year collaboration between Xu and Nicole Snyder, a PHS teacher who has worked in Xu’s lab during the summers of 2023 and 2024 through the NSF Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program. Their partnership continued beyond the summer sessions, culminating in the successful submission of the funded proposal in November 2023.

 

As part of the project’s outreach component, students from Phoebus—particularly those enrolled in Dual Enrollment Oceanography through the Virginia Peninsula Community College Academy of the College Experience (ACE) and those in the Academy of Cybersecurity, Engineering, and Robotics (ACER)—will directly benefit from the partnership. Over the next several years, students will visit ODU to observe the wave energy converter technology in Xu’s lab, while Xu and his research team will bring hands-on demonstrations and guest lectures to Phoebus classrooms.

 

This collaboration not only connects high school students with real-world STEM research but also helps inspire future engineers and scientists by bridging secondary education and university-level innovation.

 

“This project award provides a valuable resource and a great opportunity for ODU to lead research in ocean wave energy, educate the next generation of engineers, and open the door to new opportunities,” said Xu.