On April 11th NSCC hosted Nova Scotia’s regional 2014 MATE ROV Competition. The MATE (Marine Advanced Technology Education) Competition challenges participates to create a mock start-up company looking to “sell” a product – Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV). Teams of high school students utilize skills such as science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), entrepreneurial and marketing skills to create the ROV, writing and grammatic skills to create a technical report, a business plan, a sales pitch and fundraise money to cover costs. This allows student to gain first-hand experience in Ocean Technology, applied technical skills, team work and problem solving. The 2014 MATE compeition theme is “Exploring The Great Lakes” focusing on explloring shipwrecks, sink holes and conservation in the Great Lakes.
This year 4 teams from 4 schools including Auburn Drive High School, Eastern Shore District High School, Central Kings Rural High School and Prince Andrew High School competed at the regional competition held at the NSCC Akerley Campus. The teams spent months of hard work, time, effort and creativity with the guidance of a mentor and coach designing and building their ROV masterpieces. Finally the exciting day came to see their ROVs in action to complete a series of assigned underwater tasks. Some of the tasks included measuring the length, width and height of the shipwreck, collecting a plate from under the ship wreck, recover a bottle, open and move a mess door to gain entrance into the shipwreck. Representing Ocean Sonics at the 2014 ROV Challenge was President Mark Wood, and Marketing Coordinator Lauren Dolan. The “start-up kits” were sponsored by the Ocean Technology Council of Nova Scotia (OTCNS). OTCNS members Mark Wood and Lauren Dolan from Ocean Sonics Ltd participated in judging the compeition’s the technical presentations and the pool side ROV mission.
There were 5 awards presented during the awards ceremony:
Judges Choice Award – Eastern Shore District High School
Spirit Award – Central Kings Rural High School
Communications Award – Prince Andrew High School
Excellence in Entrepreneur Award – Auburn Drive High School
Championship Award – Prince Andrew High School
Congradulations to all teams who participated and Best of luck to Prince Andrew High School, awarded the Championship Award as they move unto to the International Competition
It’s wonderful that students have the opportunities like this to learn the real-life valve of Nova Scotia’s Ocean Technology Industry and the importance of education in math and sciences. Congradulation to all of the students who participated in the ROV competition. Best of luck to Prince Andrew High Schofl, awarded the Championship Award as they move unto the International Competition on June 26-28in Michigan.
Click here to pictures of the MATE ROV compettion held at NSCC Akerley Campus.