This article was contributed by Lydia Thomas, UNCW CIE Program Manager, and Vivian Yuditsky, Executive Assistant of Veterans Memorial Reef. 

In 2023, Founder and CEO of Wilmington-based Veteran's Memorial Reef (VMR), Thomas Marcinowski, met Raleigh-based Natrx Co-Founder Dr. Matthew Campbell at the UNCW Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship's (UNCW CIE) Ocean Innovation Conference. Dr. Campbell was struck by Thomas’s idea and moved by the way he was honoring veterans, and the two began working together on a new design for memorial markers.  

Today, that chance meeting has grown into a partnership. VMR Executive Assistant, Vivian Yuditsky, explained, "Thanks to the incredible space the Ocean Innovation conference created for connection, VMR and Natrx were able to come together for the good of the reef, and that partnership has since grown into ongoing collaboration." 

At the heart of the work is Natrx’s patented Dry Forming™ process, which shapes habitat-specific, eco-positive reef modules built to support resilience and restoration through natural habitat growth. This process has allowed the two organizations to deliver memorial markers with precision and speed, in keeping with VMR’s ceremonial timeline. 

 

Together, Veterans Memorial Reef and Natrx are helping families honor their loved ones while creating living reefs that will benefit marine life for generations, because those who served continue to serve. 

Stories like this are exactly why the UNCW CIE hosts the Ocean Innovation Conference. 

Every year, the conference brings together entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, industry leaders, students, and community members who are passionate about the future of our oceans and coastal economy. While we can thoughtfully curate speakers and programming, we can't script the conversations that happen over coffee or between sessions. Those brief moments of collision often become the catalyst for something much bigger. 

If you're reading this, consider this your invitation to the fourth annual Ocean Innovation Conference on September 29, 2026. In 2025, the conference hosted over 420 attendees from across 13 states and four countries. We can't promise who you'll meet or what ideas you'll discover. But if the story of Veterans Memorial Reef and Natrx is any indication, one conversation has the potential to become something extraordinary. 

Event Details: 

UNCW CIE’s Ocean Innovation Conference 

September 29, 2026 | 8a.m. - 4:30p.m. 

UNCW Burney Center 

Tickets Available Here (Rising Tide Tickets on sale for $109 until July 31, General Admission on sale for $139 starting August 1 through September 29 or sold out): https://www.uncw.edu/research/centers/innovation-entrepreneurship/events-programs/programs/ocean-innovation/ 

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Heather McWhorter is the director of the UNCW Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE). CIE supports innovation-forward start-ups and helps to build a vibrant innovation economy for all in southeast NC.