TOPICS & CATEGORIES
The Central Florida Navy League (CFNL) hosted its first robotics camp at the University of Central Florida, June 17-21.
This experience provided 20 middle and high school students with an intensive crash course in electronics, soldering, and the engineering design process through SeaPerch, an underwater, remotely operated vehicle (ROV) robotics program sponsored by the Office of Naval Research.
The campers’ week of tireless hours spent creating, modifying and troubleshooting their ROVs culminated in a competition where individual students and teams tested their skills in a simulated, regional SeaPerch event with parents cheering at every successful finish.
A great deal of work went into organizing and executing the camp behind the scenes. Emily Sherkow, CFNL deputy vice president of Youth Programs and Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division’s (NAWCTSD) STEM Education Outreach program manager, was instrumental in bringing the idea to life. Sherkow taught with other guest instructors: Miguel Villarreal, mechanical engineer with Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR); Ameerah Seepersaud, NAVAIR intern and Florida Polytechnic University student; Aidan Matthews, Florida Polytechnic University student; and Asher Sherkow, logistics manager for Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division.
“We’re so appreciative to our guest instructors for stepping up to teach the students essential skills needed to build robots,” Emily Sherkow said. “They were able to see the students utilize their new skills as they completed a simulated mission in the final day’s competition.”
CFNL thanked retired Navy Cmdr. Rick Lecky, CFNL’s treasurer, and retired Navy Capt. J.C. “Pancho” Villa, CFNL’s vice president of corporate partnerships, for serving as judges for the mission and obstacle course races.
Retired Navy Capt. Dan “Stuckey” Covelli, CFNL vice president of Youth Programs, and Noah Sherkow, Long Island University freshman, played key roles by serving as divers, rescuing tangled robots, and resetting the courses so all students could finish the races. The students also had a visit from Navy Capt. Tim “Rook” James, NAWCTSD commanding officer, to congratulate them on their dedication to STEM.
The CFNL plans to make this camp an annual event and looks forward to more adventures with their Youth Programs team.
People who read this article also found these articles interesting :
