Highlighting engineering students and alumni during Black History Month

Provincial teams win at world remotely operated vehicle championship

Newfoundland and Labrador teams captured major awards at the 2022 MATE ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) World Championship in Long Beach, Calif.

Laughter Afolabi is a fifth-year mechanical engineering student from Kwara and Oyo states in Nigeria.

Ms. Afolabi has competed in entrepreneurial competitions, and recently received a fellowship from Ventures for Canada. She chose engineering to combine her creative and technical skills.

Success Aifuwa is a fifth-year student from Lagos, Nigeria.

Whenever she designs a new device or improves an existing one, she is happy knowing she is helping at least one person.

From Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria, Hadiza Babatunde has used LinkedIn during her undergraduate studies with great results.

Ms. Babatunde encourages other students to be active on LinkedIn because, while the faculty supports students with securing work terms, the platform can help introduce students to recruiters and hiring managers.

Roxanne Balemaken is a third-year mechanical engineering student from Cameroon, who has been named to the Dean’s List and says she is a work-in-progress when it comes to staying disciplined.

Chinedu Obi is a second-year computer engineering student originally from Imo State, Nigeria.

While Mr. Obi has become quite good at juggling hackathons and his studies, there is something else that he prioritizes above everything else—his mental health.

When Ebbetien Bullard (B.Eng.’18) came to Memorial, she was the only Black person in her class. But, she quickly formed strong friendships and valuable connections with other Black students across campus.

Today, Ms. Bullard works as a manufacturing engineer with Irving Shipbuilding.

Cleverson Esene (M.Eng.’15, PhD’19) is currently a reservoir advisor with Suncor, and a strong advocate for mentorship.

He believes that an effective and well-defined relationship between a mentor and a mentee can have significant impact. He says he has seen many smart young individuals who need help putting their “right foot” forward, and would like to see more active mentoring. ■■■

Memorial University’s Eastern Edge Robotics team placed third overall and was awarded Best Engineering presentation in the Explorer category for post-secondary students. The team is comprised of more than 30 students from the Marine Institute and faculties of Science and Engineering and Applied Science at Memorial.

Mount Pearl Senior High’s Husky Explorer team received Best Engineering presentation in the Ranger class, the Guts and Glory Award and a Most Valuable Player honours for team member, Eric Goulding.

Twenty international teams competed in the Explorer class, while there were 25 teams in the Ranger class this year.

The MATE Center’s annual ROV competition, now in its 20th year, challenges international high school and post-secondary students to learn and creatively apply STEM skills to solve real-world problems using ROVs, as well as strengthen their critical thinking, collaboration, entrepreneurship and innovation.

Provincial high school and post-secondary teams excelled in the competition during the past two decades. Eastern Edge Robotics placed in the top three spots nine times, taking first place four times.

This year’s competition highlighted the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science and urged participants to embrace environmental, social and governance efforts.

Students were challenged to design and build an ROV and the necessary sensors and tooling to support work to combat climate change, provide clean energy, feed the growing global population, monitor ocean health and preserve maritime history.