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www,seadiscovery.com Marine Technology Reporter 39 What the Judges had to say Dr. Robert Tyce, said of the ROV competition, “this is really a great place to meet potential candidates for our program right here at URI. We would like to interest these high school students to pursue a col- lege program such as our Underwater Robotics program here at the university. I was very impressed with the level of the teams this year as compared to last year. They are much better prepared." Tyce said that the Leviathan vehicle designed by the team at South Kingston High School was very innovative. He said it is a cross between an ROV and an AUV, and was the only solid vehicle in the competition. It looked very much like an AUV, but it had standard ROV components such as external thrusters and a camera. There was also a battery pack which powered the camera, which saved power for the thrusters. Matt Naiman, of the WHOI Deep Submergence Group said, "this is much better than last year's competition. Many have benefited from competing last year. Also, I think the race preparation seminar hosted by Stellwagen Bank Marine Sanctuary really helped the teams. The result was that every vehicle operated." Chief Judges Matt Naiman (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) Brennan Phillips (University of Connecticut/ Institute for Exploration) Pool Competition Judges Craig Bussel (National Undersea Research Center: North Atlantic/Great Lakes); Dennis Arbige (University of Connecticut Marine Sciences) cadet from mma name?; Dr. Matthew Loomis (Mass Maritime Academy) Engineering Judges Dr. Robert Tyce (URI Ocean Engineering) Katy Croff (URI/GSO); Chris Voorhis (URI Ocean Engineering) Jim Case (University of New Hampshire/ MTS New England) Eric Martin (URI Ocean Engineering);Mike Tash (URI Ocean Engineering) Poster Judges Anne Smrcina (Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary) Maggie L. Merrill (Marine Technology Reporter); Ryan Smith (Mass Maritime Academy) Technical Report Judges Todd Gregory (Institute for Exploration) Anna P.M. Michel (MIT/WHOI) The Results 1st Place: High Technology High School, Lynncroft, NJ 2nd Place: Milton Academy, Milton, Mass. 3rd Place: North Kingstown High School, North Kingstown, RI Other Prize SAIC Engineering + Creativitiy Award: Plymouth North High School Best Bang for the Buck Award: North Kingstown High School Rookie of the Year Award: East Lyme Middle School Best Pool Mission: Milton Academy Sippican Communications Award: South Kingstown High School Most Talented Pilot Award: Cambridge Rindge and Latin School ComeBack Kid Award: The Sound School Team Spirit Award: East Lyme High School 4th Annual National Student ROV Competition The Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center and the Marine Technology Society's (MTS) ROV Committee teamed up with the NASA Johnson Space Center's Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL) to take students from the depths of the oceans to the far reaches of outer space during the 4th Annual National Student ROV Competition which took place June 17-19, 2005 at the NBL in Houston, Texas. More than 40 high school, community college, and university teams from across the U.S. and Canada tackled missions where they "explored" Jupiter's moon Europa or entered "underwater Olympic" events that range from simulating the installation of a new instrument module on the Hubble space telescope to capping an old oil well and repairing a damaged fiber optic telecommuni- cations cable. Underwater robots competing for a national title will replace astronauts training for space missions in the NBL's 6.2-million gallon, 40-foot deep pool, which has mock-ups of the space shuttle and International Space Station secured on the bottom. The two top contestants from the six regional events traveled to Houston for the finals. Jill Zande, Director of the MATE program ,said, "this year six regional events are feeding into the Ranger class national; New England, Southern California, Monterey Bay, California, Texas, Hawaii, and Florida, which is new this year.” The winning vehicle in the tougher, Explorer Class was Eastern Edge Robotic Team from St. Johns, New Foundland. This team also won the best overall score award and the Rookie of the Year award for being a first time competitor with the highest overall score. The winning vehicle in the Ranger Class was the High Tech High School from Lincroft, New Jersey. There were prizes that rec- ognized many of the distinctive features of the competitors and their vehicles; including the Biggest Bang for the Buck given to Palm Beach Lakes High School of West Palm Beach, Florida for spending the least amount of money on a vehi- cle that performed well. The most important thing was what NASA's Dr. Lotson said, " It doesn't mat- ter if you finished 1st or 2nd or last, ocean and space organizations need you. Stay involved study hard and keep thinking outside the uni- verse!" MTR#1 (33-48).qxd 7/19/2005 9:55 AM Page 39
