FloWave ‘wows’ top science photography prize

A photo showing a spectacular single water spout at FloWave test facility has won a prestigious national prize in a science photo competition run by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

‘Wowing the Crowds’, shot by Stuart Brown, CEO of the FloWave Ocean Energy Research Centre, took first place in the Equipment category of the annual competition, organised by EPSRC.

The winning image shows a 9.5 m ‘spike’ wave created for a crowd during a public open-day in September 2015.

The ‘spike’ trick is one of the highlights of the demonstration where a variety of ‘party tricks’ are shown alongside the test facility’s more usual task of accurately replicating the ocean at scale.

Stuart Brown said: “This photo captures the moment when the public go ‘Wow!’ It is a super trick, but it does underline the extraordinary capability of the facility to replicate an extraordinary range of different and complex sea states at scale.”

FloWave Ocean Energy Research Facility is owned by the University of Edinburgh, and is designed for academic research into wave and tidal current interactions.

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