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Students blast off to Houston for international ROV competition

A group of budding engineers from Menzieshill High School and Robert Gordon University are preparing to compete in the final of a global ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) design challenge next week.

The teams will battle it out for the world titles at junior and senior levels in the MATE ROV design challenge, taking place in the NASA Johnson Space Centre in Houston 16-18 June.

The challenge is coordinated each year by the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Centre in California, USA. The Centre co-ordinates the international competition which sees a network of 20 regional ROV contests taking place across the US, Canada, Europe, Japan and Hong Kong.

Student teams from primary and secondary schools, colleges, universities and community organisations participate in the events, which consist of two different classes according to the sophistication of the ROVs - Ranger and Explorer class.

The Menzieshill team will compete in the Ranger class final, having won first place at the European regional final at Robert Gordon University on 20 April where they competed with six schools from across Scotland including Bannockburn High, Brechin High School, Mearns Academy, Inverurie Academy, Bucksburn Academy and Robert Gordon's College.

The regional event also provided an opportunity for the Robert Gordon University student team to demonstrate their readiness to go forward to the Explorer Class international final, having already been selected to fly to Houston.

To secure their places in this month's international final, both teams have created ROVs from scratch which have been designed to carry out certain underwater tasks. This year's challenge is themed around the technology and methods that were utilised to seal the oil leak on the Deepwater Horizon platform in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010.

The theme, which is 'Offshore Oil Production and the Environment', requires the student teams to pilot their ROVs and use the specialist tools they had designed to repair and cap an improvised 'oil well' and then collect biological samples including models of crabs, sea cucumbers and sponges.

Sponsorship for the European regional final was provided by Subsea 7, a global leader in seabed-to-surface engineering, construction and services. In addition, OPITO, the industry's focal point for skills, learning and workforce development, contributed prizes and hardware to the competition, and promoted it through the Young Engineers and Science Clubs (YESC).

Grant Maxwell, Associate Head of the School of Engineering at the University

said:

"We are very pleased that the ROV competition has grown year on year and wish the competing teams all the best for the international final. The ROV project is part of a wider programme of joint working between Robert Gordon University and industry organisations. Such joint initiatives represent flourishing working relationships which continue to bring significant opportunities to the North- east of Scotland.

"The competition has had a positive effect on the teaching of technology in the area and has encouraged more pupils to study technology. Some of our graduates have gone on to work in the ROV industry as a direct result of this competition."

Maureen Traquair, OPITO & YESC said: "This project is very challenging and requires real commitment from the teams. The skills that they learn and the experiences they gain, gives them a solid and informed base on which to build their future careers."

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