Teams from schools around the Monterey Bay, Central Valley and San Francisco Bay area tested their skills in engineering, robotics and electronics—as well as their business acumen—at Watsonville High School on April 26.
The Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Monterey Bay Regional Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) Competition included hundreds of students from 41 teams, who swarmed the pool area to test their knowledge in science, technology, engineering and math as they dipped their ROV gadgets under water to perform a series of missions modeled on real-world events, combining technical knowledge and problem-solving.
“It’s definitely a good learning experience,” said Rodrigo Barranco, a Watsonville High sophomore. “It makes me think seriously about taking engineering in college. It’s a good class. We all work and communicate well together.”
Taking first place in the Scout division was the team Octonots from Aptos Junior High School.
This year’s tasks include simulated mission tasks in the Great Lakes, which contain 84% of North America’s surface fresh water, and where climate change threatens to wreak havoc.
Teams were tasked with documenting a shipwreck, installing sensors for long-term environmental monitoring, and collecting water samples to detect invasive species.
“The first team, the first year are always really tough because they want to make it perfect and they also have big ideas,” said Tim Sylvester, who founded the non-profit X Academy with his wife 10 years ago and the robotics program five years ago. But you have to build it, test it and fix all your problems out there and that’s difficult. But they are learning that. They have worked so hard at it. They are putting in a lot of after school hours.”
Their remotely controlled vehicles also had to install equipment that would generate renewable energy and monitoring hardware.
Sixth grader Lillian Bennett said she was happy to be on a team in the competition.
“It sounded really fun to be building one of these robots — something I’d like to learn,” she said. “We worked together really well. It was al ot of fun constructing our robot and making it our own.”
As part of the project, participants also had to create a mock business model, including design, marketing and presentation to a panel of judges.
Julie Edwards, career technical education coordinator, said that recent awards in grant funding has added critical support to the X Academy.
“We’re so happy Aptos, Watsonville and Pajaro Valley high schools are now taking part in this,” she said. “The grants help buy equipment, pay our teachers, coaches and mentors. The state of California is really behind funding K-12 education in engineering and a few other industry areas that lead to family sustaining wages.”
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Other winners
SCOUT
1st Place
Aptos Junior High School
Octonots
2nd Place
San Lorenzo Valley
SEL Blue
3rd Place
7 Hills School
Jaguar Engineering Solutions
NAVIGATOR
1st Place
St. Francis Catholic High School
Crocs
2nd Place
AFE
Merlins
3rd Place
X-Academy
Angry Otters
RANGER
1st Place
St. Francis Catholic High School
Geneseas
2nd Place
X-Academy
Hephaestus Robotics
3rd Place
Valley Christian School
WarriorTIDES
