Blue crab populations along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts are dwindling. One of the causes is overfishing. The watermen who fish for crabs have substantial investments and no other means to make money. Without crabs, they also have nothing to catch. My senior design team was tasked with designing a system for use by watermen to restock the areas which they fish. We were given a 10,000$ budget. The system required one egg-holding female crab and produced 5000 or more juvenile crabs in about 40 days. The design included a production tank, lighting system, simulated aquatic vegetation, a filter system, a plant tank to remove nitrate and a feeding regime which required live food growth. The system fit in a one bay garage, could be operated by one person working one hour per day, and cost less than 3,000$ to build.

I served as the team leader, designed the filter system and the data logging system used for testing. As leader, I was responsible for time management and finances for the group.