July 1, 2024 — Clovis Community College (CCC) Engineering students competed and won first place in the Pioneer Class this past Saturday in Kingsport, Tennessee, at the Marine Advanced Technology Education Remotely Operated Vehicle (MATE ROV) World Championship.
The competition centers on underwater robots controlled by a remote and typically requires participants to perform several ROV / Engineering challenges that serve as analogs to coral reef data collection and analysis, performing rescue and recovery operations, debris removal, and other mission tasks.
Percy was the moniker the CCC team chose for their robotic creation, assuming the role of a first-year company named Crush Depth. They competed alongside teams from around the world such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, China, Germany, France, Uganda, Mexico, Italy, Turkey, UAE, and others.
While first place in the Pioneer Class – one of three classes within the competition rankings – was the highest honor Crush Depth could earn, it was not the only one they achieved.
Computer Science major Robert Voss won the role of Best Co-Pilot and the team overall won the GROVER Award, which was to recognize a team who went above and beyond in helping others. This award was given for the team loaning their robot for other teams to compete in the group challenge.
According to team Advisor and Engineering instructor Gurinder Khaira, the Engineering Renaissance (“ER”) Club is “led by engineering students dedicated to applying their technical acumen to specific engineering endeavors.”
The ER Club at CCC is not only designed for students desiring to perform technical achievements inside the classroom – it is for students to take that academic study and apply it to real life, according to Khaira.
He stated that “true engineering mandates venturing beyond the fundamentals and controlled environments of the classroom, and into the realm of application.” This real-life application, Khaira explained, was the primary motivation behind the forming of the club.
The students are not unfamiliar with achievements for their technical knowledge. Team CEO Daniel Silguero has also previously competed in the MATE ROV Competitions, and some of the students from the team have previously competed in other robotic competitions as well.
These students include Lauren McLaury (co-president), Rana Eyit (co-president), Maxine Catahan (safety lead), Alex Brezny (photogrammetry/float software), Olaf Martinez (design/mechanical), Gevorg Kareyan (design/mechanical), and Alex Liang (GUI Software).
These students, though alike in that they are part of this team and competed in the MATE ROV competition, are from a variety of disciplines in school. A few members of the team are Mechanical Engineering majors, whereas others are from programs such as Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, and Software Engineering.
This team certainly has a bright future ahead of them both in competing against other teams and in their own academic and personal endeavors, and this competition may very well be just one of many achievements to bolster Clovis Community’s reputation for academic excellence in the area.