SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - Jesuit High School students recently beat 11 university-age teams to take top honors in an international science and engineering contest. The teenagers designed a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that plunged, swooped and swept debris from underwater. The invention scooped major awards at a robo-clash convened by the Marine Advanced Technology Education -- an organization supported by the National Science Foundation. This annual event aims to encourage future technicians to tackle man-made oceanic problems.

Staged at East Tennessee State University, the competition assembled teams from USA, China, Singapore, Macau, Turkey and Egypt.  Facing collegiate-level rivals up to five years older than themselves barely daunted Jesuit’s 15 to 18-year-olds. “They didn’t worry about the other teams,” considers adult team coach Cheryl Kiyama. “They’d built a capable robot that met the expectations of the competition. It demonstrated the awesomeness of tools they created.” Prizes included Amazon gift vouchers, valuable robot parts (for next year’s team) and the honor of being published in a major oceanography journal.

The team calls itself the Rovotics. Dressed in Jesuit’s signature red shirts, the 12 techies are dubbed ‘Men in Red’ when competing. By whatever name, the kids returned from Tennessee – on the first day of fall semester -- as champions.  Though the Catholic school traditionally takes MATE honors, a near slam-dunk dazzled pupils, priests and principal. “I got to school and thought, wow,” says team captain Charlie Diaz, “I guess everybody’s heard the news. Kids I didn’t know were saying congratulations. I heard our win even sparked outside interest, for kids to come to Jesuit for its robotics program.”

A technical program manager for the Intel Corporation, Cheryl Kiyama was one of four team mentors. “Everyone’s very proud,” she reports. “With COVID, the boys had to modify their meetings to work with ZOOM. It’s hard to build a robot that way. Parts had to be sent home for students to work on. They had a lot to deal with, but they did everything possible to make it happen.”

The Rovotics include students from Fair Oaks, Carmichael, Sacramento, Rancho Cordova, Elk Grove, Roseville and Eldorado Hills. With mentors and many parent chaperones, the Jesuit contingent practically took over a Tennessee hotel, even commandeering a swimming pool for last-minute trials. Their robot – named Nautilus in honor of vessels conceived first by Robert Fulton and later by Jules Verne -- arrived courtesy of Fed Ex. Team captain Charlie Diaz had sleepless pre-contest nights. “We were all anxious,” he says. “We coped by focusing on our tasks and trusting the plan we’d created.”

Contest challenges were not just underwater. Beyond proving their machine’s capability, teams made technical and marketing presentations. The Men in Red spent weeks on their speeches. “We were nervous about talking in front of judges,” says Diaz. “But we learned our presentations by heart, and we really believed in what we had to say. That gave us confidence.”

Neither did Nautilus let them down.  The boys watched their creation dive 18 feet to the pool floor. At pilot commands, it grabbed plastic bags and fragments of simulated coral. “When we sent our mini-ROV down the drainage pipe to retrieve a sediment sample, we knew we had a chance,” says Diaz. “We were the only team that did this task successfully. We didn’t go to Tennessee thinking we were going to win, so everyone got super excited. We felt like all the work we’d done had paid off.”

“I hope our victory inspires other students to get interested in robotics,” says the technician. “Working for the MATE event has opened our eyes to ocean pollution. The program’s emphasis on fixing man-made problems through technology has helped us grow in understanding. We’re encouraged to try to find solutions.”

Jesuit’s team members are: Andrew Grindstaff, Luke Rosellini, Charlie Diaz, Nick Venegas, Taylor Vicente, Daniel Kriefels, Timothy Monroe, Michael Solis, Dylan Olsen, James Randall, Jonah Reynolds, Adon Sharp.