The STEM Challenge Inspiring the Next Generation of Subsea Talent

INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION OF SUBSEA TALENT

The STEM challenge, led and organised by Subsea UK and supported by the Smallpeice Trust, saw 60 teams of secondary school students compete in regional heats to earn their place in the final. The winners from each re gional heat; St Damian's RC Science College, Manchester; St Mary’s Catholic School, Port of Blyth; Northgate High School, Norwich; Hyndland Secondary School, Glasgow; Millburn Academy, Inverness and Bristol Free School, travelled to P&J Live in Aberdeen to take part in the final.

The subsea challenge saw the teams design and programme ROVs using Lego Mindstorms EV3 kit, an integrated platform that enables the development of programmable robots using Lego building blocks. An intelligent brick computer operates the system, including modular sensors and motors, with Lego Technic sections to construct the automated systems.

During the regional competitions, teams were asked to de sign and build an ROV which would survey a marine habitat to determine the accumulated levels of plastic. In the final, teams had to design and build an ROV with additional capa bility to retrieve the plastic. The teams then had to test their design and present their findings to a panel of judges, which included representatives from Subsea UK and industry sponsors, BP and TechnipFMC. Judges assessed the teams throughout the day and points were awarded for teamwork, design and manoeuvrability of their model, marketing mate rial and the final delivery of their sales and marketing pitch.

Now in its third year, the STEM Challenge has been devel oped to encourage pupils to study STEM subjects and con

Photo: Ross Johnston/Newsline Media (Courtesy of Subsea UK)

sider a career in the UK’s £7.8bn subsea sector. This year’s challenge was sponsored by SMD, Fugro, Teledyne Marine, Helix Energy Solutions, Saab Seaeye, OPITO, Flowline Spe cialists, DOF Subsea, Subsea 7, TechnipFMC, BP and supported by LoganAir. Pupils also had the chance to interact with displays presented by the sponsors.

Trish Banks, operations manager at Subsea UK, said: “We set the annual STEM Challenge as inspiration for pupils to learn more about the career possibilities which exist in engineering and the subsea industry. Witnessing the inge nuity, ambition and enthusiasm shown by all pupils taking part in this year’s STEM challenge has been tremendous, and I want to congratulate the team from Northgate High School on their winning design.

“This year we chose the topical theme of removing plastics from the sea as we want the next generation to under stand the breadth of challenges which subsea engineering can tackle. I want to thank everyone who has taken part in this year’s challenge and our sponsors who have helped make the 2020 STEM Challenge such a huge success.”

Maddison Fleming (14), a pupil on the winning team from Northgate High School, said: “The STEM challenge has been a really exciting experience and it made me realise that I can do more than I thought possible. It was a really fun challenge, and everybody has been absolutely amazing, from the organisers to the sponsors. I am incredibly proud to be a part of Northgate High School.”

ROV PILOT TECHNICIAN Training for professionals

We provide innovative professional training courses for the marine industry that meet the highest standards.

Realistic ROV Training

Training Supplier Member of IMCA

The features of our TRAINING

Our trainees receive a thorough ROV Pilot education along all over the courses, which includes a professional development module program with experts from across the marine industry to enhance your understanding, achieve and develop the professional skills required for a successful career as a Commercial ROV Pilot Technician. Coming soon: An Innovative E-Learning online ROV Training Campus so students can achieve theory knowledge’s before arriving to QSTAR facilities to complete the training. QSTAR is known throughout the world for the high standard of the training it provides. Our unique training philosophy aims not only to achieve excellent test´s results, but also to build a solid foundation of knowledge that will enable you to progress to basic, intermediate and advanced ROV training – and beyond to an ROV Pilot career..