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When the School District of Philadelphiaapproached Dr. "Nat"
Nataraj, Chair of theDepartment of Mechanical Engineering,last fall
to ask if Villanova could host anunderwater robotics competition in
thespring, his response was, "How sooncan we begin?" The program,
calledMarine Advanced Technology Education(MATE), seemed like a
logical progressionofthe College of Engineering's
extensiveparticipation in community outreachprograms.
Student teams from high school robotics clubs put their remote
operated vehicles (ROVs) to the test in Villanova's Olympic-sized
swimmingpool.
Dr. Nataraj and James O'Brien,Assistant Professor ofMechanical
Engineer-ing, have provided curriculum developmentfor the SeaPerch
competition, a national underwater robotics competition geared
towardmiddle and high school students throughoutthe region. But the
MATE program repre-sented a more sophisticated version ofSeaPerch ,
focusing mostly on high school andcollege students and taking the
contest to thenext level. Plus, it dovetailed nicely with
research Dr. Nataraj and other faculty withinthe College 's
Center for Nonlinear Dynamicsand Control had been doing with the
U.S.Navy on unmanned vehicles.
"We need to level the playing field formany kids who don 't have
access to some ofthe better schools - and programs like MATEgo a
long way toward doing this," says Dr.Nataraj, who regularly visits
area schools totalk about engineering. "So many kids are notaware
of what science and engineering are
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all about. These types of programs alert themto the potential
opportunities that exist.
. Granted, there's only so much science you canteach them
through a competition. The realvalue, however, is that they get
exposure and it's a glimpse at the excitement of theworld of
engineering."
One of many Villanova initiatives thatseek to enhance STEM
(science, technology,engineering, and math) education, MATEstrives
to help prepare America's futureworkforce for ocean-related
occupations.The program is part ofVillanova's commitment to a
national endeavor geared toincreasing America's global
competitivenessthrough improving interest and educationin the
sciences .
For the competition, teams of studentsdeveloped remotely
operated vehicles (ROVs)and put them through theirpaces in
anunderwater setting - in this case, Villanova'sOlympic-sized pool.
They also presented a technical report, underwent an engineering
evaluation, and displayed a poster of their project.International
CompetitionNew to Pennsylvania, MATE is an international
competition with 19 regions participating. Spearheaded regionally
by Velda Morris, arobotics education specialist with the
SchoolDistrict of Philadelphia's Secondary RoboticsInitiative, the
MATE competition took placeon May 22. Some 34 teams descended
onVillanova from Delaware, Maryland, NewJersey, Pennsylvania, and
South Carolina forthe regional event. The top two teams wenton the
international MATE competition inHilo, Hawaii, in June.
"This program was layered beautifullyamong the high school
students, the teachers,the Villanova students, the
MechanicalEngineering Department, and the industryfolks who came
out to judge," explainsMorris. "My promotional flyer said,
'Comemake history with us,' and people really
responded to that."With a grant from the Office ofNaval
Research (ONR), Dr. Nataraj and O'Brienplunged headfirst into
the MATE program,coordinating student mentors to help
teams,developing curricular ma terials for the teachers, and
organizing two professional days atVillanova to help teachers learn
how theycould better coach their teams.
"The ultimate goal of the MATE programis to increase awareness
of marine technicalfields," says Dr. Nataraj. "But it also
helpsstudents develop the skills necessary to workas a team, solve
problems, enhance criticalthinking, and improve 'soft' - but
important- skills such as effective communication andproject
management."
Regionally, the MATE competition fieldedtwo types of teams -
Scout and Ranger. Scoutteams were similar to SeaPerch teams,
wherethe students actually get into the pool withtheir ROVs. Ranger
teams had higher criteriaand were subjected to more complex tasks
andmissions. They guided the ROVs usingcameras and hydrophones.
Hosting such a huge competition requireda massive organizational
effort from Morrisand the Villanova team. "Safety firs t was
ourmotto," Dr. Nataraj says. "We had some 50volunteers managing
logistics, props, food,technical aspects, judging, and you name
it!Our chief engineer and right-hand man wasEric Baker, a
mechanical engineering studentwho graduated in May."
Villanova will host the regional competition again next year - a
reward for a job welldone. "As educators, it's our mission to
widenthe community to whom we teach," addsDr. Nataraj. "Education
is not limited to thefew people who come into our classroom we have
a societal responsibility, too."For more information about
theCollege's community outreach,
visitwww.Villanova.eduIEngineeringIService
MATE teams guided their ROVs into underwater targets.Guiding the
Next GenerationJoe Cunningham spent aweek attheMATE Center in
Monterey, Calif., last sum-mer, learning howto build aMATE ROV
inpreparation for the MATE competition atVillanova .A biology
teacher at MurrellDobbins Career and Technical EducationHigh School
in Philadelphia, Cunninghamstarted the school's robotics club 10
yearsago and has run it ever since.
"I've organized teams for the SeaPerchcompetition, so itwas
natural for me tomove on to the MATE competition,"says Cunningham,
who just finished his11th year ofteaching. "Velda Morrisgave us
supplies to get started, butwewere free to build the ROV using
anymaterials we chose."
Cunningham's Rangerteam of 10students included 10th, 11th, and
12thgraders. His school teaches business,cosmetology, fashion
design, culinary arts,and computer sciences. Surprisingly, afew
ofthe most involved students on hisMATE team were girls in the
fashiondesign sequence.
"Programs like MATE accomplish theobjectives of STEM since we
are usingscientif ic principles like thrust, buoyancy,and
propulsion and doing a ot of elec-tronic things that most kids
aren'texposedto in high school," saysCunningham. "My students got
experi-ences through MATE that they wouldn'thave gotten anywhere
else . In fact, mostof my students in the robotics programgo on to
college - frequently in technicalareas."
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