A Milestone in Marine Education: Innovations Program Celebrates 5 Years

The 2025 Innovations for the Environment program empowered 14 Bermudian students to design, build, and deploy their own underwater Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) while exploring real-world ocean challenges.

This July marked the fifth anniversary of the Innovations for the Environment program, a hands-on ocean technology experience designed to empower Bermuda’s next generation of engineers and scientists. Hosted by ASU BIOS's Ocean Academy, the week-long capstone program brought together 14 students (aged 14 – 17) for an immersive exploration of ocean engineering. Working collaboratively, participants built an innovation ecosystem as they designed and tested their own remotely operated vehicles (ROVs).

Since its launch in 2020, Innovations for the Environment has introduced over 60 students to memorable STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) experiences, bridging classroom learning with real-world ocean challenges. As a flagship offering of ASU BIOS’s Mid-Atlantic Robotics IN Education (MARINE), the initiative continues to evolve, integrating new technologies, relevant global research, and an expanding network of mentors and alumni.

“It’s incredible to watch students go from sketching ideas to launching fully functional underwater vehicles in just a few days,” said Kaitlin Noyes, one of the program mentors. “They learned to troubleshoot wiring, waterproof electronics, and think like real ocean engineers, and they had to collaborate while doing it.”

Innovations scholars are nominated by teachers, mentors, and community leaders island-wide, and this year’s group represented a cross-section of Bermuda’s academic community. Throughout the program, students explored the engineering principles behind ROVs by designing, building, wiring and soldering their own vehicles. The mission revolved around waterproofing a camera for under $200 that could create a live feed to a coral reef. As part of ASU BIOS’s broader commitment to advancing ocean literacy, a new 2025 curriculum segment introduced students to the role of cameras in understanding deep sea ecosystems.

Through a combination of workshops in soldering, circuitry, waterproofing, CAD (computer-aided design) coding and 3D printing, students gained vital experience in engineering systems and underwater exploration. Their ROVs were tested and deployed aboard ASU BIOS’s research vessel, Stommel, with a culminating pool-based competition to demonstrate functionality and precision.

“My experience in the Innovations for the Environment program was amazing. I learned fundamental skills for engineering, including coding, CAD, soldering, and design, while also being able to apply these techniques when building an operational ROV with waterproof cameras and hydrophones. I had the opportunity to learn from experts at ASU BIOS about ROVs, design, and the data collection involved in real, current research. Through new technologies and snorkeling on a shipwreck, I explored opportunities in ocean sciences and concluded the week by testing my groups' ROV in the pool,” said Innovations scholar, Zoe.

With a growing alumni network, Innovations for the Environment has become a pipeline for STEM leadership, empowering students not only with technical skills but with the confidence to pursue careers in ocean science and engineering. Three graduates of the program have now gone on to work directly with research faculty on engineering and design projects at ASU BIOS as part of the Bermuda Program.

This transformative experience is made possible through the generous support of RenaissanceRe, along with Butterfield Group and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Philanthropic community contributions continue to offset tuition fees and material costs, allowing the program to remain inclusive, impactful and scholarship driven.

Applications for the 2026 program will open in January 2026, with information on scholarships and placement awards available on the ASU BIOS website. 

Click the below video to watch last year's 2024 Innovations for the Environment video.