ETSU hosts regional underwater robot competition

The swimming pool inside the Basler Center for Physical Activity at East Tennessee State University was the scene of underwater robotic activity throughout most of the day on Saturday. It was the ninth year of regional competition, for the Appalachian Highlands Region of MATE ROV competition. The winner of the region will be going to the world championships held in Newfoundland this year. MATE began in 1997 as the Marine Advanced Technology Education Center at Monterey Peninsula College. The abbreviation ROV stands for remotely operated vehicle. In this weekend's competition, that meant an underwater robot, operated by someone standing on the side of the swimming pool. Cindy Nickodam is the competition director for the Appalachian Highlands region. She said that while teams are from various high schools in the region, this is not a competition funded by the schools. The students don't walk into the training room on the first day of competition and get issued equipment, uniforms and the team's lineup of robots. She said part of the learning process for the MATE program is that the students organize themselves. Not only that, they raise the funds to begin building the ROVs and to travel to competition. The Elizabethton High School team is one example. The seniors on the team include Anna Blackwell, Xander Jones, Madelyn Stanberry and Bryson Roland. They not only had to learn the technical knowledge to build their ROV, they had to develop the salesmanship to approach potential sponsors to fund the project. Blackwell said their team found its principal sponsor with Toyota of Bristol, which provided the team with $4,000. Blackwell said other sponsors were added, with the agreement that their name would be added to the team's competition t-shirts for a $100 donation. Nickodam said that salesmanship and the ability to communicate with the public was an important challenge for many of the students, helping them become more confidant and able to achieve goals. It is the same with learning the technology, Ben Buchanan, the chief finance officer for Steamworks in Kingsport. He said as the students advance, they are learning technology that has not always made it to the textbooks yet. But this is not just theoretical stuff with no practical use. Both Buchanan and Nickodam said ROV's are currently being used in the sea. The robots are helping in the battle against invasive species, studying problems with coral, or recovering items from the bottom of the lake or sea.