Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) Mechanical Engineer Bill Porter and NSWC PCD Physicist Dan Flisek partnered with local academia to present a Sea Perch seminar to Northwest Florida's teachers, Sept. 30.

Academic partners included Bay County School District, Gulf Coast State College (GCSC), Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU), and Florida State University Panama City Campus (FSU PC).

"This is the beginning of the Yellow Brick Road to immerse students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) thinking," said Porter. "It's also used to prepare them for challenges they're going to face should they consider becoming a naval engineer."

Flisek said he also considered the Sea Perch program as a long-term recruitment campaign for the U.S. Navy.

"Sea Perch is an underwater robot that kids can build. It's an underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) built out of PVC pipes, DC motors and a control box. This project requires them to learn skills to build ROVs, which is a big part of what our Naval Surface Warfare Center researches," said Flisek.

According to NSWC PCD STEM Outreach Coordinator Ed Linsenmeyer, only five percent of native-born U.S. graduates are obtaining STEM-related degrees.

"It's a problem causing our nation to fall in rank from 3rd to 17th in the world regarding engineering graduates," said Linsenmeyer.

The Sea Perch robotics program is sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and managed by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Foundation.

"It is structured, of course, to inspire students in the STEM disciplines and to increase our nation's STEM graduates," Linsenmeyer said.

According to GCSC Associate Dean of Program Development Dr. Steve Dunnivant, direct funding for this Sea Perch campaign was being provided by ERAU, a new partner to GCSC and FSU PC.

The funding for this particular Sea Perch Competition campaign is providing Sea Perch kits for a large part of Florida's Panhandle school districts, including: Escambia; Santa Rosa; Okaloosa; Walton; Holmes, Washington, Calhoun, and Bay County District Schools, too.

"The Sea Perch, as an ROV, is a fundamental step toward building unmanned systems. And, unmanned systems are reliant upon sensors," said Dunnivant. "So essentially, you're putting sensors on unmanned systems to gather data, geospatial intelligence and those activities help create careers."

Dunnivant said GCSC and ERAU have partnered to create a 'Two-plus-Two' program.

"Essentially this will require students to study two years at GCSC, then transfer to ERAU to earn certifications and/or bachelor degrees in drone technologies and related career fields," Dunnivant said.

Porter told teachers from various districts that this Sea Perch campaign wasn't just to introduce the program for teachers to get students excited about building the underwater ROVs.

"We're introducing teachers to how fun this hands-on Sea Perch activity can be for their students. And, once the teachers come back in late October to get their full training in how to build these, they'll be able to initiate STEM clubs for their students at their schools," said Porter. "But, this doesn't end there. We intend to arrange our own regional competition. This will give the teachers something to work towards with their students. What we're introducing to the Florida Panhandle is the opportunity for teachers to prepare classroom champions to win a regional competition, so those students have a chance to compete with their peers in the National Sea Perch Challenge."

Rutherford High School biology teacher, Beverly Barron said she couldn't wait to get started. According to Barron, her daughter experienced a Sea Perch introduction mentored by engineers from NSWC PCD approximately five years ago.

"My daughter's name is Abby Barron and she told me navy engineer Paige George inspired her so much when coaching her that she knew right then that she wanted to become an engineer too," said Barron.

Surfside Middle School math and pre-engineering teacher Eddie Mills said he has had his students involved in the Sea Perch program for the past five years.

"When my students are introduced to STEM projects like Sea Perch, I get inspired. I've actually seen students, who normally didn't care for the STEM courses, change their attitudes entirely," said Mills. "Not only is this a great way for our students to learn, but it's a great opportunity for us as teachers to learn, too. This is truly one of the best ways to teach in the world!"


For more news from Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division, visit www.navy.mil/local/NSWC/.