HKUST Won Four Awards in MATE International ROV Competition 2015
In 2015 the HKUST Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Team made history by trumping all of its previous performances, which marked the most unforgettable year for the team. The team received four awards at the prestigious Marine Advanced Technology Education International (MATE) ROV Competition, which was held on 25-27 June in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
Named Epoxsea, the HKUST ROV team consisted of 15 students from the Schools of Engineering, Science, and Business and were led by Prof Tim Woo, Director of the Center for Global & Community Engagement (GCE). The team competed against 31 strong qualified teams from 10 countries/ regions, including teams from Purdue University, Maritime State University from Russia, Washington University and Memorial University of Newfoundland. To qualify for the international competition, over 600 teams competed in MATE regional competitions all over the world, with only the top teams allowed to attend the international competition.
HKUST has been actively participating in MATE ROV competitions since 2011. The annual competition is sponsored by Marine Advanced Technology Education Center in collaboration with the Marine Technology Society's ROV Committee. Students participating in the competition are required to think of themselves as entrepreneurs who fabricate and sell ROV products. They are not only required to build a machine but also need to prepare technical reports, poster displays and deliver an engineering presentation to a panel of professional ocean engineering judges.
The HKUST team received Third Place in the Explorer Class, which was based on the overall score including the mission, engineering presentation, poster and technical report. Moreover, the advanced technology which the team developed and implemented for the machine led them to win the Sharkpedo Award, an award to recognize innovative and original design, and thinking outside the box.
Not only as a team, but also in terms of individual performance, they received two awards. One of the team members Rayan Armani, studying Dual Degree in Mechanical Engineering and General Business and Management, received the Marty Klein MATE MARINER Award. This award is to recognize a team or individual’s appreciation for the practical applications of their knowledge and skills as well as their passion for the field of marine science and technology. Another team member Johannes Thomas Maria Jaeger, studying Global Business and Information Systems in the Business School, received the Engineering Evaluation MVP – the most valuable person in the engineering presentation session.
This year’s competition highlighted the role that ROVs play in arctic science and the offshore oil and gas industry. To take part in the competition, the HKUST ROV team built a robot which was capable to perform 25 industrial ROV simulated tasks in extreme underwater environments, such as collecting algae samples, detecting and cutting corrosion area of a subsea pipeline, rerouting oil and many more. To follow what the team is doing, visit their website: www.epoxsea.com
by Robotics Team member Johannes Jaeger (GBUS - SBM, Year 2)
