The Wavebreaker

Climate change is increasing the severity of coastal storms. Current methods of protecting coastal communities are too expensive and take years to build. Most coastal communities around the world cannot afford the current solutions- millions and sometimes billions spent on one structure that doesn’t even cover much of the shore. Coastal communities need multi-faceted protection immediately at an affordable cost that can be deployed rapidly and generate sustainable energy. Traditional methods like building a wall won't work in the future with sea level rise making these seawalls obsolete as the water rises over the walls. Climate disasters cost the world $313B in 2022, and a large portion of this number are hurricanes and typhoons making the cost of rebuilding unsustainable for the future. There needs to be a solution that is multi-use, can protect communities against waves and storm damage, and generate consistent power, especially during disasters.

The solution is The Wavebreaker, a patent-pending technology backed by science and validated by the best engineers around the world. The Wavebreaker is a 300ft wave “speedbump” that decreases the height and velocity of waves to protect coastal communities. The way that it works is that the wave hits the Wavebreaker, the structure bears the brunch force of the wave, it begins to rotate, and as it rotates the remaining waves are dissipated over the grooves, and the energy is converted for community use. The Wavebreaker is a multi-use system that protects the coast, prevents erosion, provides clean wave energy, uses sensors to predict future storms, and after a storm when traditional grid power fails, the Wavebreaker keeps generating power, allowing the use of charging stations on a microgrid. The Wavebreaker is moveable, affordable, scalable, easily deployable, streamlined for manufacturing, and does not get in the way of the fishing or tourism industries. It creates local jobs and will be manufactured in strategic locations around the world. The Wavebreaker can significantly reduce destruction and casualties from storms. We are speaking with communities from North America to Asia and we are going to be conducting a major pilot test next spring. 

There are 372,000 miles of coastline on earth and more than half of the population lives within 40 miles of the coast. The main areas that will we concentrate for our market will be North America, the Caribbean, South America, west Africa, east India, Australia, and Southeast Asia because these are the areas in the world that are hit by major storms or have significant erosion issues that are destroying peoples homes. Our target population is mid-income to lower-income communities that do not have the funding or time to defend themselves with concrete walls or large engineering projects. In the United States for instance, most lower-income communities are left unprotected from storms because The Army Corps of Engineers which is supposed to help all Americans has a system called "cost-benefit analysis" where only communities that can afford to put value into the project will be helped. Our Wavebreaker goes right to the communities and because it's easily deployable and moveable it's flexible in where we can protect. The solution will address their needs because it is relatively affordable, will provide consistent power and will protect life and property.

I'm Alex Berkowitz, founder & CEO of Coastal Protection Solutions. In 2012, my hometown of Rockaway Beach, NY was devastated by Hurricane Sandy. After pumping 9 feet of water out of my parent's basement, I took a walk to the beach, only 2 blocks from my home. The beach was destroyed and the homes were decimated by giant 20-foot waves destroying lives and property. I vowed on that beach to never let any other community suffer like mine did- because my story is a global story of communities just trying their hardest to survive climate change. I had an idea on the beach that day that if I could build something that would float in the water and be able to decrease the height and velocity of waves, these homes and the beach would have stood. I worked for 5 years building back the community from the storm, working with numerous community organizations. I got feedback from members of my community about the project, which helped design it. After that, I decided to finalize the invention by going to the Harvard Graduate School of Design. For the last 2 years, I've been spending time listening to communities that are experiencing these issues- from Massachusetts to Indonesia, gathering input, and new ideas, and hearing about possible impediments of government or permitting. 

We are currently conducting CFD ( Computational Fluid Dynamic) testing and are quantifying the decrease in wave energy and also fine-tuning the design along with the exact geometries. We currently have an LOI for a community in Cape Cod where we will be doing a pilot test with. We have been speaking with communities all over the world who are also interested in doing a pilot. 

I am applying to Solve for multiple reasons. First, and most important is that I want to be a part of the Solve ecosystem and connect with other Solvers and mentors and perhaps partner with them on projects. Second, I am applying to Solve to get assistance and connections to expand The Wavebreaker worldwide. I am looking for partners in Asia and West Africa, specifically, to work with on this. I want to be part of the Solve network and I believe I can advance my company and my technology through this. 

The Wavebreaker is an integrated coastal structure that both decreases the height and velocity of waves, but also creates clean wave energy and has sensors attached to it to monitor currents for impending storms. This multi-use technology is very rare in the marine space. This is a product that is utilized for both coastal resilience and mitigation, which makes it very powerful. Most other products for coastal resilience only focus on preventing damage and not keeping communities vibrant and running (which our energy would). Most other resilience products don't address what happens after the disasters when the power goes out- ours does. Large-scale engineering projects cannot be scaled and are too expensive to build- The Wavebreaker can be easily deployed and manufactured and is affordable. I hope that it catalyzes the idea that every product should be multi-purpose. It could change the market by introducing a product that can be installed quickly to help communities fight devastation and death. It can also change the market by proving that going forward we need agility and innovation to survive climate change and that the older methods are not as effective anymore introducing a new age of climate ready technology. 

I have conducted hundreds of interviews with my target population and they all say that they need something immediate that can be a non-permanent structure that will protect their coastline. The Wavebreaker is to be installed and maintained by the local community. It also provides lower-cost electricity to the communities it protects. We are also looking to do educational programs as well. The communities that are involved will become the steward of their Wavebreakers. The impact will be economic, and protective, and also start to develop a new way to live in the world of climate change where technology mixed with the ocean can protect and provide instead of destroy. 

Our impact goals under the UN Development Goals are: life below water, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, and sustainable cities and communities. For life below water we are creating a microorganism marine ecosystem in the moorings of The Wavebreaker. We will be testing the success of this when we do a pilot and then continue to work with marine biologists to further improve the environment for marine life. We will be charging a small amount for the energy that is harvested from The Wavebreaker and providing clean wave energy to many communities that deal with extreme pollution and lack of consistent electricity. Once we start installing The Wavebreakers they will be able, by AI sensors to capture the effectiveness of the electricity into the community. We also hope to have a community "lead" who will be able to provide us with data to quantify our impact. For decent work and economic growth, The Wavebreaker will employ local community members to do installation and maintenance as well as build the Wavebreaker in factories creating local jobs. Lastly our impact with sustainable cities will come directly from the community leaders, many of whom we have been listening to for years. 

The Wavebreaker is a 300 foot composite steel wave attenuator that floats at the top of the ocean. It is tethered to the seafloor by moorings and sits about 75 feet offshore. As the wave hits the Wavebreaker, the structure begins to spin, both dissipating the wave and then as it spins in a roto movement, the energy is then created into clean wave energy. The cable is attached to the side of The Wavebreaker and is connected on shore to a waterproof microgrid that can be converted into a charging station during power outages. 

There have been numerous academic papers written on wave attenuation on cylinders. The latest one is out of The Netherlands and says that a basic cylinder in the ocean will decrease the wave height and velocity by 20%. With out unique design and custom geometry, we are looking to reduce wave height by 50-70%. 

1- full-time staff (Alex Berkowitz)

3- Contractors

2- Interns

I have been working on my solution full-time for 2 years now. My contractors have joined the project 1 year ago, 9 months ago, and 8 months ago. 

I am a woman leading a primarily engineering-focused company in the blue tech sector where it is mostly men. My team is made up of scientists from all over the world- Chile, Iran, and Spain. My advisors are both men and women, many of color. The company creates an environment for equity through advancement. I am looking to bring two of the consultants on full-time so there is a growth opportunity and opportunity for advancement. Coastal Protection Solutions is a company with an environment in which everyone has an equal say in our operations and our technical development. This is a cornerstone of the environment. 

We are are B2G business. Our business model is that we design and engineer everything in-house and then subcontract the manufacturing of The Wavebreaker regionally, which means that more jobs are created around the manufacturing of our product. We train a local workforce to install and maintain The Wavebreakers and work with local fishermen to also transport and install The Wavebreakers into the ocean. We sell to local, state, and national governments.

We have raised $150K in angel investments and $75K in grants from The Clinton Global Initiative and the Harvard Innovations Lab, and have won The Harvard Presidents Innovation Award, so far. We are looking for our next round to be nondilutive government and institutional grants and once we finish the pilot we will look for a Series A raise to scale the manufacturing. Once we are operating, we will be turning a profit in year two. We already have an LOI to install The Wavebreaker in a town in Cape Cod, MA, and are working with many towns on the East Coast and around the world. I just pitched The Wavebreaker to The World Bank last week and we are looking to partner with them for investment and bringing the product to West Africa.