A group of coastal engineering seniors completed industry-supported capstone projects as part of their coursework, according to an April 27 announcement from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
The initiative is intended to give students practical, work-based learning experiences before they graduate. Greg Williams, assistant professor of practice in coastal engineering, received a High Impact Practices Faculty Fellowship for the 2025-26 academic year to help develop these projects in his dredging and beach nourishment class. The fellowship also enabled collaboration with English faculty member Ian Weaver, who co-instructed the course and assisted with technical writing.
In June 2025, a call for project proposals was sent out to the Coastal Engineering Advisory Board and other supporters of the program. Thirteen proposals were reviewed by faculty members, who selected eight final team projects. These included evaluating memorial reef stability offshore Wrightsville Beach, three dredging-related studies, two stormwater management efforts, shoreline stabilization work, and marsh management.
One student team—Alex Chinigo, Arden Ganse, Jacob Gillespie and Emily Weber—focused on shoreline stabilization in Fort Caswell along the Cape Fear River. They collected site data on topography and currents to analyze design solutions using numerical models. Ganse said: “Our group was responsible for organizing a deployment and retrieval plan for data collection, as well as justifying the use of each instrument. While we had support from our professors, the responsibility placed on us is unlike any course I have taken previously. I feel that this level of independence is some of the best preparation for transitioning into industry work.” Chinigo added: “We were able to deploy two pressure sensors and an ADCP in the surf zone… We even got to take a drone out which allowed us to get some great imagery.”
Students also learned about communicating with clients and balancing effective solutions against cost or environmental concerns. Weber said: “At the beginning of the course I didn’t know about the challenges facing Fort Caswell… The collaboration between client and engineer has been a great learning experience.” Gillespie reflected: “Engineers typically aren’t involved in more than one aspect of a project… This class has taught me much about practical, real-world engineering practices and has given me experience that will prepare me well for the workforce.”
The final projects were presented at an advisory board meeting on April 22. The Bachelor of Science in Coastal Engineering program at UNCW began in 2019 as both its first engineering degree program and reportedly unique within U.S. universities.
