Nimitz High School Robotics Team Advances to MATE International ROV Competition

The AISD campus is the only team that will represent Texas at the international event.

The [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Nimitz High School robotics team proved it has serious skills. The team took part in the [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”] 2015 Marine Advanced Technology Education underwater robotics regional competition. The event, also known as MATE, took place April 25 at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab at Space Center Houston. The Nimitz group did not disappoint. The team won first place at the MATE competition for Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs). The win also advanced the team to compete in the upcoming MATE International ROV competition this summer.

The annual competition poses scientific and engineering challenges for students. This year the theme is “ROVs in Extreme Environments: Science and Industry in the Arctic.” The 2015 MATE competition highlights the role that ROVs play in polar science and the offshore oil and gas industry.

Judges watch the teams compete in the underwater ROV competition.

The Nimitz team competed in the Ranger Class of ROVs. The team defeated middle and high school teams from across Texas and Mexico. It also defeated college-level teams from Texas A&M University and the University of Texas. Nimitz defeated a total of 30 teams.

[icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Last year, the team from Nimitz came in second place at the regional competition. The team fell short by just 2.5 points.

The MATE Center uses underwater robots to teach STEM. The acronym stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The MATE event also prepares students for technical careers. The competition is a way to:

[ul class=”list list-search”] [li]Engage students in STEM and expose them to science and technology careers[/li] [li]Encourage students to develop and apply technical, teamwork, and problem solving skills[/li][/ul] [ul class=”list list-search”] [li]Provide industry with skilled individuals who can fill workforce needs[/li][/ul]

Students from all over the world design and build ROVs. Their ROVs must tackle missions modeled after scenarios from the ocean workplace. The competition offers a class structure of beginner, intermediate, and advanced. This provides students with the opportunity to build upon their skills as well as apply those skills. As they gain more skills, students can engineer more complex ROVs for more complex mission tasks.

The MATE competition requires students to think of themselves as “entrepreneurs.” They must transform their teams into companies that manufacture, market, and sell “products.” Besides engineering their ROVs, the students must prepare technical reports and engineering presentations. They deliver these to working professionals who serve as competition judges.

At the regional event, Nimitz scored the highest amount of points for completion of missions. The team scored 215 points out of a possible 400. David Ericson serves as the robotics instructor at the campus.

Alcmene González receives the Outstanding Senior Award.

A Nimitz High School student also received special recognition. Alcmene González received the “Outstanding Senior” Award. Each year, the judges give the award to a senior at the event who contributed the most positively to the team. Alcmene certainly did that this year. She accounted for 85 of the team’s 215 points. This gave her the highest mission score points in the competition. The next highest score behind Alcmene was 55. Alcmene also received a $1,000 scholarship from [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Oceaneering Engineering International, Inc.

Two other Aldine ISD high schools competed at the regional competition. The team from MacArthur High School placed fourth. Aldine High School had two teams. One team placed 10th while a second team placed 14th.

The MATE Competition Network consists of 24 regional events that take place across the U.S. and around the world. Texas is a regional event site.

Again, Nimitz High School is the only campus or group to represent Texas at the international event. The international event will take place June 25-27 in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

Some Nimitz students with the team’s green mascot known as Allen Wrench.

Nimitz Robotics Team

Solomon Akande
Christian Castro
Nick Fogarty
Maurice Gilbert
Alcmene González
Theo Mallet
Malcolm McGee
Gregory Montelongo
Clavia Ntasin (student @ Nimitz Ninth Grade School)
Kenneth Omoruyi
Jesús Rangel
Víctor Rivas
Emanuel Sánchez
Rafael Soto
Derrick Tchety
Elisa Tyler
Rubén Valdillez

Ericson is proud of the Nimitz team. This is the second time a Nimitz team has advanced to the international event. Seven years ago, a Nimitz team competed in Hawaii.

JSC image of past MATE ROV regional competition.

“I am proud of the students’ achievement at the regional event,” Ericson said. “Going into the competition, I felt like we had preparation and confidence. We also had a bit of luck. Like everything, you want the students to succeed after seeing them work hard. So you hope that everything runs smoothly. And it did. I look forward to seeing the team compete at the international competition. These events are a great opportunity for the students. And they help motivate students to pursue STEM careers.“

He is not the only one excited about advancing. Students Nick Fogarty and Emanuel Sánchez are proud too.

“I am ecstatic and proud,” said Nick.

“The regional event was a wonderful experience for us and a great moment for Nimitz,” added Emanuel.

Congratulations to the Nimitz robotics team!