Southwest Virginia Community College’s new robotics team is currently in Long Beach, California competing in the 2022 MATE ROV Competition World Championship (June 22 – June 25). This is an underwater robotics competition and their robot is named SeaEagle! #goSouthwest
The Southwest team is competing in the PIONEER class. From the MATE Competition site, “Participation in the PIONEER class is open to students in technical and community colleges as well as four-year universities competing for the first time.”
Team members use their skills in research and development, finances, and media to run a mock business that aims to solve real-world problems. The MATE ROV Competition Manual provides a thorough description:
From harnessing the energy in light, wind, and waves to farming fish, shellfish, and blue carbon and deploying technology to monitor ocean health, individuals who possess entrepreneurial skills are in high demand and stand out in the crowd of potential job candidates. What are entrepreneurial skills? They include the ability to understand the breadth of business operations (e.g., finances, research and development, media outreach), work as an integral part of a team, think critically, and apply technical knowledge and skills in new and innovative ways. They also include the awareness to take environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into consideration when making business decisions. Individuals who develop a mindset for innovation, collaboration, and ESG will be well prepared for the global workplace and ready to tackle today – and tomorrow’s – societal and environmental challenges. To help you to better understand and develop these skills, the MATE ROV competition challenges you to think of yourself as an entrepreneur. Your first task is to create a company or organization that specializes in solutions to real-world marine technology problems.
MATE ROV Competition Manual
Our team’s competition schedule (all times are in Pacific time):
- Thursday, June 23 5:00 PM Product Demonstration 1 Station 5
- Friday, June 24 10:30 AM Engineering Presentation Room 3
- Friday, June 24 3:00 PM Product Demonstration 2 Station 3
- Saturday, June 25 10:00 AM Bonus Mission Station 3
The competition is live streamed on MATE’s twitch channel:
https://www.multitwitch.tv/mateinspires1/mateinspires2/mateinspires3/mateinspires4
Southwest Robotics Team members are:
- Joshua Thiel,
- Luke Jennelle,
- Elisabeth Presley,
- Anthony King,
- Kevin Brooks,
- James Hart
Instructors:
- Christopher Joe Godsey,
- Brian Hale,
- Charles Bundy (Not Pictured)
The robotics team would like to acknowledge and send out a thank you to all of the following for their support and contributions. Without their support, this opportunity would not be possible:
Southwest Virginia Community College,
MATE II (Marine Advanced Technology Education),
El Mariachi Restaurant in Tazewell, VA – Provided the maroon team polo shirts,
Town of Lebanon Virginia – Allowed us to practice at their pool,
Town of Richlands, Virginia – Allowed us to practice at their pool