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- The Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington (APL-UW) was
formed in 1943 at the request of the U.S. Navy to bring university resources to
bear on urgent WWII defense problems. From a wartime beginning focused on
effective torpedo exploders, APL-UW initiated acoustic studies and
oceanographic research programs to understand how variations in the ocean
environment affected the performance of Navy systems.
Decades of acoustic and oceanographic studies yielded an understanding of the
world's deep oceans, and now APL-UW scientists are developing expertise in
coastal and small-scale oceanography and the new physics required for tactical
superiority in shallow water environments. Our scientists and engineers make
important contributions to understanding the earth's climate cycles with
satellite and in situ sensing of ocean winds, currents, and air-sea fluxes;
observations of Arctic sea ice, its variations and effects on mid-latitude
oceans; and ocean tomography that reveals how the abyssal ocean mixes and
sequesters carbon. APL-UW continues to lead research in the basic and applied
physics of sound?from sonars used to probe the geology of the deep ocean floor
to hand-held high-frequency focused ultrasound devices to image and stop
internal bleeding without surgery.
Website: http://www.apl.washington.edu/
[Summary provided by the University of Washington.]
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