This year’s Marine Energy Collegiate Competition (MECC) brought together 25 top colleges and universities from across the country to take on one of the world’s most urgent challenges: harnessing the power of our oceans to support a sustainable future. As the smallest college in the competition, Webb Institute was honored to place third overall, standing alongside much larger institutions like Stanford, Duke, and the University of Michigan, and earned top national recognition by winning the Community Connections Challenge for meaningful and impactful outreach.
From Vision to Reality
Over the course of several months, Webb’s MECC team worked tirelessly balancing demanding academic schedules with a rigorous competition timeline. With weekly meetings and submittals to coordinating events, the team demonstrated both engineering excellence and a great understanding to real-world application.
“This year’s project focused on developing a system that could harness wave energy to generate hydrogen as a renewable fuel,” said Michael Coppi ‘25, who led the technical design and strategy. “We looked at cost-efficiency, market needs, and technical feasibility to ensure that our solution could scale and serve the future marine industry’s needs.”
The team’s proposed system – a breakwater-mounted oscillating water column offered multiple benefits: reduced marine disruption, low installation cost, and ideal integration near ports and transportation hubs. The team also designed a data-scraping tool to analyze wave energy potential at different sites and developed market case studies for future deployment.
In addition to technical innovation, the team built a robust business case, conducted testing, and presented to judges representing the industry. They also participated in optional events such as the poster competition and quick pitch finals, further strengthening Webb’s visibility on the national stage.
People-First Engineering | Winning the Community Connections Challenge Award
Phoebe Garrett ‘25 and Juliette Schaefer ‘27, co-leads of the Community Connections team, led a multi-pronged outreach campaign. It was an intentional campaign rooted in community, mentorship, and educational access. Their strategy was designed to address a very real challenge: the disconnect between academic education and the rapidly evolving marine energy industry.
Their approach was structured around three pillars: mentorship and professional networking, interactive educational events, and digital and social media engagement
“Juliette and I approached outreach like an engineering problem,” said Phoebe Garrett ’25. “We identified the disconnect, developed a targeted solution, and brought it to life through events and experiences.”
Together, the team designed a project for Webb’s freshman programming course where students developed software to retrieve data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and calculate potential power outputs of wave energy converters at various global sites. They also organized events such as a coastal cleanup, a technical presentation to a local high school, and a middle school Engineering Day that brought over 80 students to Webb’s campus for hands-on STEM activities.
With support and funding from Webb, several team members also attended national conferences such as the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) and the Connecticut Maritime Association (CMA) Shipping Conference- gaining valuable exposure to industry trends, engaging with professionals, and bringing those insights back to the team to inform both outreach and technical efforts.
Additionally, members of the MECC team attended STEMapalooza at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Flatirons Campus in Colorado, an event designed to increase interest in STEM fields and inspire the next-generation workforce.
“For us, outreach was a way to bridge the gap we see between generations, classrooms, and industry,” Phoebe added. “We wanted to create momentum that extends beyond our campus by building real connections, sharing what we learned, and showing how students at a small school like Webb can be part of big conversations about marine energy.”
They made sure their work reflected an understanding of how to connect technical ideas with real-world audiences.
What’s Next
For a small, student-driven team, the results speak volumes. MECC not only tested their technical and strategic capabilities but also strengthened their leadership, project management, and communication skills. Most importantly, it showed how Webbies are already helping to shape the future of renewable energy.
“We hope our work sets the stage for future Webbies to step into spaces where we’re not always expected to thrive,” said Burke Kanemasu ’25 , who led the team’s business plan development. “ A big part of our challenge was showing how a wave energy concept could move beyond the lab and into real markets, with real users. We had to think not just like engineers, but like strategists building a path toward commercial adoption.”
The work done by Webb’s MECC team highlights what happens when technical skill meets purpose, and how even a small team can make an outsized impact on the future of marine energy.
