was for the teams to set up their equipment in the 2nd floor gym. Round banquet tables were set up for each team to display their vehicles, their technical reports and their poster displays. The judging process begins with the engineering evaluations. The judges interview the teams to learn about the vehicle, the team, the process and lessons learned. The vehicle is sitting right there and each student is expected to explain the role they played in the project. The teams get points off if one student dominates the presentation. Demonstrating how to be a team player is another important element of this competition. The idea behind requiring an engineering presentation, a written report and a professional poster is to highlight the importance of being able to communicate technical information, a skill that will serve them well throughout their careers. After the safety check and the engineering evaluation, teams head down to the pool in groups of two and the pool judges help them get their equipment set up and provide last minute safety checks and guidance about how best to launch (drop) the vehicles in the pool. Judges: Eban Franks and Joe Sparks of Teledyne Benthos and Chris Jakobiak of SMAST at UMass-Dartmouth and his judging partner are the kindest "tough" judges around. They gently but expertly supervise the launching, testing, running and demobilizing procedures on the pool deck. One of two teams from the Marine Academy of Science and Technology (MAST) of Sandy Hook, New Jersey, had trouble with the pool demonstration due to the fact that the connection to the SBox 360 controller completely failed. The team worked feverishly and succeeded in engineering a keyboard override, which did not work either, due to a slight leak in the manipulator arm which may have caused circuits to fail. Although fully designed, the group started building their vehicle, named Autobot, two weeks prior to the competition, a common practice with these teams. The students work all semester, meeting after school or on weekends if need be. They divide up the work between themselves. And when push comes to shove and the deadline loom large, they focus and build the system. Of course when you ask the students what were the lessons learned, they all say they could have used more time to design the vehicle and they should have tested the
Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, L-R Daniel King, Mark Cellea, Evangelia Kostopoulos were pleased that they could get their vehicle to move forward and sideways.
(Photo Credit: Maggie L. Merrill, Marine Marketing Services)
18 marine technology professionals volunteered to judge the 2008 competition. Some of the judges met prior to the event. Pictured from L-R are: Bob Lobecker, Marty Klein, Matt Neiman, Jim Case, Anne Smrcina, Travis Barao, Ken Critz, Diane DiMassa, George Dossot, Marina Martini, Bob Fratatonio.
(Photo Credit: Maggie L. Merrill, Marine Marketing Services)
The Diman Regional Technical Vocational High School team and their entourage pause for a photo op right after their very successful pool mission.
(Photo Credit: Maggie L. Merrill, Marine Marketing Services)
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Marine Technology Reporter 27
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