JOHNSON CITY – East Tennessee State University and STREAMWORKS will host an “Advanced
Underwater Vehicle Workshop” at the ETSU-Eastman Valleybrook Campus in Kingsport from
July 12-16. This professional development workshop will focus on the soon-to-be-released
remotely operated vehicle (ROV) SeaMATE Barracuda 2.0.
This workshop is just weeks ahead of the 2021 Marine Advanced Technology Education
(MATE) International ROV World Championship, an underwater robotics competition, which
will take place on the main ETSU campus Aug. 5-7.
“There’s a need for educators to have access to real-world learning experiences, and
part of that is training educators outside of the academic institutions and also partnering
with industry, communities and different initiatives like this,” said STREAMWORKS
Director Dennis Courtney. “ETSU gets that – understanding that STEM education is relevant
to everyday life – and they help us facilitate these efforts that impact students’
learning outcomes and futures.”
The workshop will take place on the university’s Valleybrook campus, where around
20 participants from across the U.S. will have access to the STREAMWORKS STEM Gym.
The week will end with an ROV challenge in the Basler Center for Physical Activity
pool on ETSU’s main campus.
The program is taught by Courtney, Tony Suppelsa of Motorola Solutions, and Matt Gardner
of MATE.
The workshop is designed for instructors and mentors who have competed in at least
one MATE ROV Competition. Participants will improve their skills and knowledge to
incorporate programming into their ROV lessons with students. They will assemble the
Barracuda 2.0 in analog mode, then convert the Barracuda to digital mode, programming
the built-in software to control the ROV underwater. 
By training educators, the goal is to encourage their students to pursue STEM paths
and build skills in critical thinking, creative problem solving and group collaboration.
“We’ve found that children who participate in programs like this are now more interested
in science, engineering and technology jobs,” Suppelsa said. “It gives exposure to
technology they wouldn’t necessarily get to see in the classroom, and it solves real-world
problems. Who’s going to be the next Graham Bell or Tesla? You’re not going to get
there playing Fortnite every day. We need these children to be the next generation
of inventors.”
The workshop is provided through STREAMWORKS, MATE Inspiration for Innovation and
the National Center for Autonomous Technologies. Underwater robotics inspire students
to sharpen their STEM and creative problem-solving skills.
For more information, visit materovcompetition.org and streamworkseducation.org.
To apply, contact Courtney at dcourtney@streamworkseducation.org.
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