Recruiters with Navy Recruiting District (NRD) San Antonio partnered with the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) to judge a SeaPerch (underwater robotics) Competition at the Ann Barshop Natatorium as a part of the MiniGEMS (Girls in Engineering, Math and Sciences) program.

Twenty-six middle school girls from local independent school districts participated in the one-day competition.

According to Tomas Goldaracena, an engineering student attending UIW, the Engineering Department sponsors programs targeted at women and minorities in the summer to encourage them to major in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields.

"MiniGEMS is aimed toward young girls in grades 6-8 to participate in various activities throughout a week, which encourages them to major in engineering and perhaps become scientists one day," said Goldaracena, who is a native of San Luispotosi, Mexico. "We have a shortage of engineers in the country and only 20 percent of the engineering workforce is comprised of women."

This is UIW's second year sponsoring MiniGEMS. In its first year 28 girls participated, and 26 this year.

"You can see the difference in the girls once they complete the week," said Goldaracena. "First, they thought all engineers did was boring math and be trapped in a lab all day, but now they realize that there are a lot of hands-on projects and problem solving involved in engineering. I do believe they enjoy it."

During the competition, the girls assembled an underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and maneuvered their ROVs through an obstacle course.

NRD San Antonio contacted UIW to introduce Seaperch in 2015.

"After reviewing the information, UIW decided that the program would be beneficial for the school and that it was a good idea to be exposed to a different type of robotic, especially underwater robotics," said Goldaracena. "We knew it would be a good hook for the girls and they have really enjoyed it."

San Antonio native, Chief Engineman Miguel Cantu, Nuclear Field and STEM coordinator at NRD San Antonio, and other recruiters attended to setup the course and judge the competition.

"It is important for the Navy to showcase STEM to children in middle school, for it provides us the opportunity to talk with children about the various STEM careers the Navy possesses," said Cantu, who is also the NRD SeaPerch coordinator. "Programs such as SeaPerch allows recruiters to spread Navy awareness not only to the children, but teachers and parents as well. Not all schools have a SeaPerch program, so the SeaPerch competition held at UIW allows girls from various middle schools to be exposed to the program."

The Office of Naval Research is one of the primary sponsors of the SeaPerch program, and it is managed by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Foundation.

SeaPerch is an innovative underwater robotics program that equips teachers and students with the resources they need to build an underwater ROV in an in-school or out-of-school setting.

Students build the ROV from a kit comprised of low-cost, easily accessible parts, following a curriculum that teaches basic engineering and science concepts with a marine engineering theme.

For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Commander, Navy Recruiting Command, visit www.navy.mil/ or www.facebook.com/NavyRecruitingSanAntonio.