FORKS — Forks students took top honors in the inaugural Olympic Coast Marine Advanced Technology Education remote-operated vehicles competition at the Forks Athletic and Aquatic Center.
Thirteen teams, which included 60 Olympic Peninsula students, competed in the contest, in which students demonstrated designing, developing and piloting with remote-operated vehicles (ROVs) and underwater robots.
The competition’s theme was “Port Cities of the Future: Commerce, Entertainment, Health and Safety.”
Students were required to pass multiple technical and safety inspections, deliver an oral presentation on their engineering design and provide a marketing display.
The final challenge was for students to complete missions in the pool that emulated real-world situations in which ROVs complete work.
The results are:
• Scout:First place, Girls Dominate, Forks, sixth grade; second place, Hash Slinging Slashers, Neah Bay High School; and third place, W.A.K., Forks, sixth grade.
• Navigator: First place, The Invaders, Forks Junior High; and second place, Chitwin Navigators, Taholah High School.
• Honorable mentions: Top Poster, Clallam Bay High School Robotics; Team Spirit, The Expeditioners, Lake Quinault School; Top Presentation, Savage Squad, Forks sixth-graders; Macgyver Award, Chitwin Navigators, Taholah High; and Excellence in Organization, Chitwins Scout, Taholah School.
Kim Kearns of Forks Intermediate School received the Mentor of the Year award.
Kearns was instrumental in building the ROV program and brought five teams from her sixth-grade classes, according to a news release.
The event was sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary and Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE).
For more information, contact Nicole Harris at nicole.harris@noaa.gov or 360-406-2082.
