Empowering the Next Generation of Engineers: Students Tackle ROV Design and Environmental Challenges

In July, the Innovations for the Environment program kicked off with a successful week-long program oriented toward students aged 14-17 with an ambitious goal to design, create, and deploy ROVs while facing a variety of challenges intended to push students in innovative and thoughtful ways.

Innovations for the Environment made its highly anticipated return in July 2024, welcoming a new cohort of ocean engineers who participated in a week-long ROV (remotely operated vehicle) program run by the ASU Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) Ocean Academy education team.

This award-winning capstone technology training opportunity is for students between the ages of 14–17. It fosters a relationship between creativity and innovation by allowing students to utilize all aspects of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). This program is a fundamental pillar of the Mid-Atlantic Robotics IN Education (MARINE) program, offered through ASU BIOS.

Students were nominated by respective teachers, mentors, and educators outside of a formal classroom, and thirteen students participated. Seven schools across the island and one overseas boarding school were represented during the 2024 program, with students from Bermuda High School for Girls, Bermuda Institute, Berkeley Institute, Cedarbridge Academy, Dellwood Middle School, Somersfield Academy, and Warwick Academy.

Students spent the week learning about the intricacies of ROVs, along with designing and building their ROVs with the goal of deploying a light sensor up to 80 meters underwater. The program encourages students to consider many factors when building their ROVs, such as the buoyancy of the vehicles' frame, ensuring the housing of the light sensor is waterproof and can withstand certain depths, currents, and pressures. The program encourages students to think on their feet and problem-solve in this fast-paced environment tailored to those wanting to further their engineering and design skills.

The curriculum taught through educational workshops included ROV design and competition, circuits and soldering, waterproofing, coding microcontrollers and light sensors, simulations, CAD (computer-aided design) modeling, and 3D printing. Toward the end of the week, students deployed their light sensors from our smaller research vessel, R/V Stommel, and participated in a pool-based deep-sea ROV competition.

This program has enabled students to demonstrate their progress in specific skills while igniting ongoing interest and passion for the sciences. We support the next generation through STEM education as they gear up to solve the world’s biggest challenges.

A special thanks to RenaissanceRe as lead sponsor of the program, and to Butterfield Group for their support, along with our collaborators the National Science Foundation (NSF) and URI Graduate School of Oceanography. Community sponsors support tuition fees and operational costs, and the number of placement awards varies annually. Placements for the 2025 Innovations program will open on January 15th, 2025, along with scholarship and funding information. For more on this program, click here. 

To watch a short video on this year’s Innovations for the Environment program, click here. 

Video credit to Marq Rodrigeuz.