Dozens of Milwaukee area students spent much of Sunday poolside at UW-Milwaukee, testing their skills in an underwater robotics competition.
35 teams battled it out at the 6th annual Milwaukee Navy League’s regional SeaPerch Competition, an event focusing on submersibles, judging for speed, maneuverability, and strategy.
Group President Erik Wolbach told TMJ4’s Tahleel Mohieldin that the competition is a vital opportunity to get more young people excited about careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
“We’re getting competed by other countries—outcompeted. We’re not graduating enough engineers every year,” Wolbach said. “Some kids don’t even know about engineering or know that’s something they can go into.”
Participants, like 15-year-old Justus Ganey, have to make their way through two underwater challenges.
The first is a five-ring obstacle course testing speed, and the second is a mission course where robots have to do things like open hatches and carry weighted items.
“It’s really cool to me what all of these robots go through, all the design processes and stuff,” Ganey said. “[It’s] exciting, stressful—it’s a cauldron of emotions.”
Sometimes things underwater don’t go as planned but Wolbach said that’s an important part for students: developing their problem-solving skills.
“So that process is foreign to some kids, they see failure as their first time as ‘oh I’m going to quit.’ Well no, this is how engineers do it,” he said. “Nobody gets it right on the first try.”
It’s a competition where trial and error are just as important as win or lose.
“Those skills whether they go into STEM or not are going to carry them throughout their life,” he added.
The top three teams to place at Sunday's regional competition will go on to compete in an international tournament at the University of Maryland.
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