FFHS ROV Team Executes First Place Regional Finish
From left, members of the 2010 First Flight High School ROV team - David Spruill, Charles Brady, Chris Brennan, Patrick Gray, Barry Lawler, Coach FFHS Science Teacher Andrew Thomas and Sean O'Neal. With their regional win, the group is preparing for international competition at the University of Hawaii-Hilo. The team has a website, compliments of Bold Print Design that accepts donations from individuals, businesses or groups who would like to support their efforts a thttp://firstflightrov.com/. With perfect scores on both their poster and engineering review, the guys are motivated to refine their ROV to maximize their odds for winning at the international competition this summer.
The First Flight High School (FFHS) Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Team won the Mid-Atlantic Regional Marine Advanced Technology Education Centers (MATE) ROV Building Competition at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA on Saturday, May 15. Coached by First Flight High School Science Teacher Andrew Thomas, members of this year's team are Barry Lawler, Patrick Gray, Sean O'Neal, David Spruill, Charles Brady, and Chris Brennan. This is the third year in a row that FFHS has taken an overall 1st place finish in the competition. With this win, they now advance to the international competition in June on the big island at the University of Hawaii-Hilo.
The location of Hawaii may seem a little over the top, but it was chosen for good reason.
2Loihi Seamount, sometimes known as the "youngest volcano" in the Hawaiian chain, is an undersea mountain rising more than 3000 meters above the floor of the Pacific Ocean. Current thought has it that the Loihi Seamount is being formed by the same hot spot that formed the Hawaiian Island chain; apt to become the newest Hawaiian Island in the distant future (tens of thousands of years).
Thomas explains that "there have been several attempts to place monitoring equipment (by the Hawaii Undersea Geological Observatory) at the site but due to the dynamic nature of the location the communication lines have been severed several times. This year's mission is centered around restoring the monitoring equipment and to collect new data and specimens while on the site. That's why the competition is in Hawaii at the University of Hawaii at Hilo."
Following their 6th place overall finish last year at the international competition at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay, MA, the team is preparing for another strong finish this year in Hilo.
Admittedly, Thomas' team "wanted a shot at Hawaii. Our ROV, named Romvy (a scramble of My ROV) was definitely in the spotlight at the regional competition. Other teams took more photos of our ROV than they did of their own."
"This year, we earned perfect scores on our (click to see) poster and the engineering review. Now we really have to prepare, because the scores at the regional are typically more generous than the international."
To help raise funds for travel and costs of continuing to refine Romvy, Susan and Scott Lawrence of Bold Print Design have created a website that is informational as well as set up to accept donations by check or by credit cardhttp://firstflightrov.com. All contributors will be listed on the donor page and Platinum sponsors will have their logo or name affixed to the ROV, as will Outer Banks Chapter Surfrider Foundation, Kitty Dunes Realty, Village Realty, Ace Hardware, SubConn, East Carolina Bank, Resort Realty, Victory Chevrolet and Dowdy and Osborne, CPAs - the newest platinum sponsors. Other sponsors and donors include John McCord and the Coastal Studies Institute for his unending knowledge and support, SubConn Underwater Connectors, Diamonds and Dunes, Drew Wright, Home Depot of Kitty Hawk, ACE Hardware of Kitty Hawk, and the teachers and staff of Dare County Schools who helped get the team's project started this year by purchasing cheesecakes and cakes prepared by Becky Miller of Outer Banks Cheesecakes.