Max Bethune-Waddell
Max holds a BASc and MASc in electrical engineering through the University of British Columbia. Max started his PhD in mechanical engineering with the west coast wave initiative (WCWI) in 2017 upon being awarded an NSERC PGS-D scholarship. Max did his masters in using numerical methods to solve for the electrodynamic interaction between radiation forces and deformable media, resulting in several publications. He then spent two years on the hardware development team at Iris Dynamics Ltd. in Victoria BC. During this time a Kickstarter was launched that eventually lead to the development of a Coggless linear motor for haptic applications. Max is now assessing control strategies for wave energy by building a scale model wave energy converter that can assess the performance of several devices. Max’s research focuses on single point absorbers where force control strategies to resonate with ocean waves can be emulated on a smaller scale using an electromagnetic force feedback linear motor, this provides a much more economical route to testing devices.