Page 39: of Marine Technology Magazine (June 2011)

www.seadiscovery.com Marine Technology Reporter 39 by Edward Lundquist

The first-ever National SeaPerch

Challenge was held on May 24 at

Drexel University in Philadelphia,

Pennsylvania for top robotics teams from middle and high school districts and student interest groups with established SeaPerch programs.

SeaPerch is an innovative underwa- ter robotics program, sponsored by the Office of Naval Research and managed by the Society of Naval

Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) that trains teachers and provides a curriculum to instruct stu- dents on how to build an underwater

Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) in an in-school or out-of-school set- ting. Students build their own ROV from a kit comprised of low-cost, eas- ily accessible parts, following a cur- riculum that teaches basic engineer- ing and science terminology and principles with an ocean and marine engineering theme.

At the National Challenge, stu- dents participated in a two-day series of events, which included team pre- sentations, a vehicle underwater obstacle course and a simulated sea- floor oil spill that required teams to cut the flow, cap the well, and con- duct recovery operations.

Because the event was held concur- rently with the Navy's Intelligent

Ships Symposium IX, the students also had an opportunity to partici- pate in this major technical sympo- sium of scientists and engineers and to meet and talk with them. The winning teams were recognized at the symposium and the top teams deliv- ered formal presentations to some conference attendees as well as their fellow competitors about their tech- nical solution to meet their mission requirements. Phil Kimball, the for-