The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded Dr. Todd Griffith $3.3 million for his research project, A Low-Cost Floating Offshore Vertical Axis Wind System. With the project, Dr. Griffith plans to develop a floating turbine design featuring a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT). VAWTs offer advantages over traditional offshore wind designs because they have a lower vertical center of gravity and center of pressure, require a smaller, less expensive floating platform, do not need yaw control systems, and have the potential to reduce operations and maintenance costs due to platform-level access to the drivetrain.