MIT Sea Grant links students with Norwegian offshore aquaculture technology projects.
Two MIT students have completed summer placements in Norway as part of a new MIT Sea Grant initiative focused on offshore aquaculture technologies.
The AquaCulture Shock programme, run with the MIT-Scandinavia MISTI office and funded by the National Sea Grant College Program, placed Beckett Devoe and Tony Tang at SINTEF Ocean in Trondheim, one of Europe’s largest marine research institutes. Both previously worked with MIT Sea Grant through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.
Devoe worked with SINTEF Ocean’s Aquaculture Robotics and Autonomous Systems Laboratory on applying AI to optimise salmon feeding, a major operating cost in the sector. Tang developed simulations for an underwater vehicle–manipulator system designed to inspect farms and repair cage nets, reflecting Norway’s growing reliance on autonomous robotics in offshore operations.
The students also visited SalMar’s Singsholmen farm off Hitra, operated under SINTEF Ocean research licences, to observe large-scale production systems and net-pen infrastructure.
MIT Sea Grant said the internships build on its existing collaboration with SINTEF and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) on aquaculture robotics and modelling. The programme is recruiting four students for similar placements in 2026.
