Grove Academy crowned winners in ROV competition third year in a row

The team was taking part in the MATE Scotland ROV (Remote Operated Vehicles) competition, co-ordinated by RGU, which saw five secondary school teams from around the Northeast of Scotland put underwater robots, which they had designed and built, through a series of missions for a place in the World Championships.

A team of pupils from Grove Academy, ‘Discovery’ emerged victorious, after a panel of industry experts scored the teams on how well they completed the missions, as well as taking into consideration the technical reports, poster displays, and engineering presentations the pupils were required to produce. A second team from Grove Academy, ‘Nerv’ also took home the second place. Both Discovery and Nerv will be able to compete in the MATE’s 20^th World Championship which is scheduled to take place in Long Beach City College from June 23 to 25.

Every year, the pupils are tasked with tackling real-world problems from around the world. The themes for this year are based around the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, and included Marine Renewable Energy, Offshore Aquaculture and Blue Carbon, and The Antarctic: Then and Now.

The major STEM initiative aims to inspire future engineers through hands-on experience of designing ROVs used underwater in the oil and gas, defence, oceanology and marine renewables industries. The MATE competition requires students to think of themselves as entrepreneurs and transform their teams into companies that manufacture, market, and sell ‘products’. 

RGU engineering lecturer James Philp said: “This year marks not only our return to the pool at RGU:Sport after COVID-19, but also MATE’s 20^th World Championship. The event really did highlight the importance of collaborative effort in STEM, and I hope all the participants gained valuable experience of real-world Engineering and Business Management, while also engaging in some friendly competition.”.