FORT GORDON, Ga -- Georgia high school students in Columbia County made a splash at the courtyard outdoor pool as they put their handmade robotic operating vehicles to the test.
The first-ever underwater ROV competition for Columbia County school students took place May 2 thanks to an Armed Forces Communications Electronics Association, Central Savannah River Area STEM -- science, technology, engineering, math -- teaching tools grant that was awarded last year to Lakeside High School teacher Greg Shouse.
Chief Warrant Officer 5 Peter Winter, Cyber Center of Excellence regimental chief warrant officer, welcomed school representatives and competitors to the event.
"The CSRA community is very important to Fort Gordon," said Winter. "We are excited about being able to facilitate this competition and look forward to continuing to work closely to promote education among our students. Much of the training we conduct at Fort Gordon is technical in nature and requires an extensive background in math and science, so we are glad to see this interest in STEM."
The partnership between Fort Gordon and Columbia County schools developed when Shouse used the award to purchase an underwater ROV kit for his class.
During last year's award presentation Shouse and the other teachers who were recognized were asked if there was any way AFCEA could further assist them. Shouse stated that he needed an Olympic-size pool for his students to practice in for a competition in Savannah, Georgia. The AFCEA representatives coordinated with Jessica Todd, manager of the Fort Gordon indoor pool, to request access to the indoor pool this time last year. The result has been a continued partnership between the installation and local schools.
The competition began at 9:30 a.m. and finished at 1 p.m., with teams from the five county high schools -- Evans, Grovetown, Greenbrier, Harlem and Lakeside -- participating.
Competition judges, Winter and John Schipper, branch chief for the cable systems installer-maintainer course, stood by as students from each team presented a short presentation in front of their tri-board display before moving to the edge of the pool to observe the ROV's in action as they navigated the underwater obstacle course.
The submersibles were required to be able to explore and retrieve objects in an underwater environment and to dive, surface, turn left and right, and have the ability to attain a neutral buoyant state. The course was a timed task with two runs allowed. The lowest time of the two runs stood as completed or fastest time for the winning run with 15 minutes per run allotted.
Ben Strickland, a junior at Lakeside High School, and a member of team Turkey On Rye, enjoyed the competition saying it was tough yet realistic.
"This is the only class that teaches us a different perspective," said Strickland. "It treats it like a job rather than a class. It definitely doesn't baby you."
According to sophomore Austin Webb, another Turkey On Rye team member from Lakeside High School, the key is passion.
"You've got to be really passionate about it," said Webb. "It's more like a hobby. If you don't like this type of stuff then it's just a bunch of work. I loved it, our team loved it, it was kind of like a passion. We wanted to work on our sub. So we would stay after school and add whatever we thought we needed to our sub."
The winner of this year's competition with a winning time of 2 minutes and 15 seconds was team Turkey on Rye with Strickland, Webb, Nick Delorme and Trey Hawk from Lakeside High School.
Shouse said his hope is that this event will grow into a larger competition where Richmond, Aiken and other area counties can participate and get kids excited about STEM.
"As an Army veteran, I'm excited about working with Fort Gordon to support STEM education."
Delorme is one of those students who shares Shouse's excitement for STEM and one day hopes to become a mechanical or nuclear engineer.
"I enjoy STEM, basically all of it," said Delorme, who is a sophomore. "Even though it's work I like the work, unlike most schoolwork. I already knew about STEM before I actually came into this project. Whenever there was a class -- in middle school -- that had engineering of course I had to do it."
Whether the interest is science, technology, engineering, or math, Fort Gordon's partnership with local schools continues to grow.
"Fort Gordon is a technical post and we rely heavily on math and sciences," said Winter. "This interest in STEM is critical and I see CSRA and Fort Gordon as being the center of gravity as we establish the Cyber Center of Excellence and with that said now we're going to have a pool of some talented students in the future that could potentially feed the community, and we might have some contractor support, civilian support, and Soldiers."
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