Students work as members of interdisciplinary project teams on contemporary ocean-related problems under the guidance of a faculty adviser. Student team defines problem, prepares a budget, conducts literature surveys, engages in dialogue with experts in the community, deals with vendors, designs, and builds a working engineering model, gathers and analyzes scientific data or conducts a comprehensive study, makes interim reports, and defends the results before a jury of experts. A yearlong effort: 2 credits each semester, 4 credits total, an IA (continuous course) grade given at the end of the first semester.