A December Visit from MIT’s Self-Assembly and Nepf Labs to the Stone Living Lab

by: Dr. Katherine Dafforn, Director

Just before the December holidays, the Stone Living Lab welcomed visitors from MIT’s Self-Assembly Lab and Nepf Lab for an afternoon of research exchange and collaboration at the Venture Development Center at UMass Boston. The visit brought together researchers working at the intersection of coastal engineering, physical modeling, and nature-based infrastructure to explore how Living Seawalls panels might help reduce wave overtopping
under a range of coastal conditions.

The gathering provided a valuable opportunity to share early results, align experimental and computational approaches, and begin planning the next phase of this collaborative work.

The visit began with a presentation from Conrad Davis, a graduate student in Heidi Nepf’s lab, which focused on flume experiments using scaled-down Living Seawalls panels. The large rockpool panels were inverted to create overhangs and mounted along a vertical wall within the flume to test how different wave conditions interact with the textured, ecologically-designed surfaces. Conrad shared early observations and we discussed scaling
to a larger tank to address issues with reflection inside the smaller flume.

Following the experimental overview, Walt Zesk, presented on the computational modeling efforts underway at the Self-Assembly Lab to complement the flume testing. The combination of physical flume experiments and computational models is a key strength of this collaboration. Modeling allows the team to explore a much broader range of conditions than would be practical in the lab alone, while experimental results provide essential
grounding for testing and refining model assumptions. Together, these approaches are helping build a more robust understanding of how Living Seawalls panels might function across scales.

The final presentation came from Skylar Tibbits, Co-Director of the Self-Assembly Lab who shared insights from their work “Growing Islands” in the Maldives. This project explores adaptive, nature-based approaches to coastal protection and land formation, concepts that
resonate strongly with ongoing efforts at the Stone Living Lab.

This December visit marked an important step in a growing collaboration between the Stone Living Lab and MIT researchers. With experimental and modeling work underway, the next phase of work will focus on scaling up, refining designs, and continuing to bridge laboratory
research with real-world coastal challenges.