BUILDING ON THE HAWAII NATIONAL MARINE RENEWABLE ENERGY CENTER (HINMREC) FOUNDATION, THIS PROJECT’S GOALS ARE TO: FORMALLY REBRAND HINMREC AS THE HAWAII MARINE ENERGY CENTER (HMEC), RAISE THE PROFILE OF HMEC AS ONE OF THE FOUR DOE NATIONAL MARINE ENERGY CENTERS (NMECS), AND ENABLE HMEC TO EXPAND CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE U.S. AND GLOBAL MARINE ENERGY COMMUNITIES. THIS WILL ENTAIL THE FOLLOWING OBJECTIVES: ESTABLISH A FRAMEWORK FOR THE EXPANSION OF MARINE ENERGY RESEARCH, MAINTAINING AN EMPHASIS ON WAVE ENERGY AND POTENTIALLY OCEAN THERMAL ENERGY CONVERSION (OTEC), WITH AN EMPHASIS ON ISLAND AND REMOTE COMMUNITIES; IMPROVE AND ENHANCE WAVE ENERGY TEST INFRASTRUCTURE IN HAWAII; FURTHER DEVELOP INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIPS; DEVELOP KINDERGARTEN (K) THROUGH 12TH GRADE (12) AND COMMUNITY COLLEGE SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) OUTREACH PLANS AND EFFORTS; IMPROVE AWARENESS OF MARINE ENERGY WITHIN LOCAL, STATE, AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES; AND FOSTER ENHANCED COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS AND APPRECIATION FOR THE POTENTIAL OF MARINE ENERGY IN HAWAII AND PACIFIC ISLAND COMMUNITIES. TO ADDRESS PROJECT GOALS AND OBJECTIVES, HMEC WILL FOCUS ON THE FOLLOWING FOUR AREAS: 1. COMMUNICATIONS, BOTH INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL, TO CONVEY THE CAPABILITIES, VALUE, AND SUCCESSES OF HMEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF HMEC REGIONAL LEADERSHIP, WITH A FOCUS ON HAWAI'I AND THE PACIFIC ISLANDS. 3. MAINTENANCE AND ACCESS TO HMEC INFRASTRUCTURE AND FACILITIES. 4. COORDINATION WITH WATER POWER TECHNOLOGIES OFFICE (WPTO) AND THE OTHER NMECS.